Xero Integration Intro

What EPONA sends to Xero, what it reads back, and the order to set it up in

EPONA manages the day-to-day of your horse business — procedures, movements, daily charges and billing. Xero is your general ledger. The Xero integration connects the two: each invoice and credit note created in EPONA is sent to Xero on its own as soon as it's created, usually within a minute, as a real Xero document against the right contact, account and tax rate, without anyone re-keying it. Payments recorded in Xero come back to EPONA when someone opens the Invoices list, so EPONA knows what is still owed.

Nobody has to export a file, such as a CSV or sales journal, at month end and import it into Xero. End of Period (or Create Invoice on the Transactions view) is what creates the invoices, and each one is sent to Xero as it's created.

This guide is for EPONA administrators and for the accountants and bookkeepers who look after their Xero file. It is split into numbered articles, in the order you work through them.

IMPORTANT - one Xero organisation per workspace. An EPONA workspace connects to a single Xero organisation, and once connected it can only ever be reconnected to that same organisation. If the wrong organisation is chosen, or the business later moves to a new Xero file, contact EPONA support — it cannot be changed from within EPONA. Check the organisation name carefully when you connect.

What moves between EPONA and Xero

Information	Direction	When
Invoices and credit notes	EPONA to Xero	As soon as they are created in EPONA, through End of Period or Create Invoice — usually within a minute
Invoice status, totals and amount due	Xero to EPONA	When the Invoices list (or a contact's Invoices tab) is opened, or an invoice is refreshed
Contacts you invoice	Both ways	When the contact is invoiced, or when Sync with accounting is clicked on the contact
Contacts (bulk import)	Xero to EPONA	When you run the import under Settings/Accounting Settings/Contacts
Products and services	Xero to EPONA	When you run the import under Settings/Accounting Settings/Products and Services
Chart of accounts and tax rates	Xero to EPONA	When you connect, or reconnect
Default payment terms	Xero to EPONA	The first time you connect only
Supplier bills (and new suppliers)	Xero to EPONA	When the Bills list is opened, or a bill is refreshed

What stays where

Payments are recorded in Xero. EPONA reads the amount still due on each invoice from Xero.
Statements are produced in EPONA and are not sent to Xero.
EPONA doesn't set Xero tracking categories, branding themes or item codes — Xero's defaults apply, so clients see the invoice in your default Xero branding theme.

Which system is in charge

Invoice lines — what was charged, and for which horse — come from EPONA, as do the people who receive invoices.
Once an invoice is in Xero, its status, totals and balance come from Xero. If an invoice is edited in Xero, EPONA follows Xero and flags the difference (see Xero 6).
Accounts and tax rates come from Xero.
Contact details are compared each time the contact is synced, and the more recently changed version wins (see Xero 4).

Who can do what

Connecting, disconnecting and running the imports - Settings/Accounting Settings, available to admins only
Creating, refreshing and voiding invoices - Financials, available to admins and managers (Financials is not available to users on the User role)
The person connecting also needs a Xero login with permission to connect apps to the Xero organisation

Setting up, in order

Xero 1: Prepare Xero Before You Connect
Xero 2: Connect EPONA to Xero
Xero 3: Import Products and Services
Xero 4: Contacts and Xero

The order matters. EPONA reads your chart of accounts and tax rates from Xero at the moment you connect, so Xero needs to be ready first.

Then, for how the integration behaves day to day: