Closing the books with Xero sync
How Printer's Friend invoices land in Xero, how to handle credits, and the one reconciliation trap to avoid.
End-of-month reconciliation is where small print shops bleed time. Here's how to get it from 8 hours a month to 30 minutes.
The connection
Settings > Accounting > Connect Xero. OAuth flow, two clicks, done. Pick the org you want invoices to land in. Pick a default account code for sales (most shops use 200 - Sales). Pick a default tax rate (GST on Income for AU shops).
What syncs
- Invoice issued in PF: creates an Accounts Receivable invoice in Xero within 60 seconds.
- Customer paid via Stripe: Stripe pushes the payment to Xero, marked against the matching invoice via the order number reference.
- Customer paid via bank transfer: when you mark the invoice paid in PF, the sync writes a payment to Xero.
- Credit notes from RMA: RMA credit-note action writes a credit note in Xero against the original invoice.
The trap to avoid
Don't manually edit a synced invoice in Xero. The next change in PF will overwrite your edit. If you need to amend an invoice, do it in PF; the sync will push the change.
If you're tempted to "just fix this one thing" in Xero, use a manual journal entry instead. It sits alongside the synced invoice and survives the next push.
Reconciling at month end
Pull the Xero AR aging report. Pull the PF invoices report (Reports > Invoices, last month). The two should reconcile to the dollar.
If they don't, the most common reason is a part-paid invoice: PF marks it paid when the total hits zero, Xero might still show $5 outstanding if you took a part-payment by cash. Fix the part-payment in PF by adding a manual payment line and the sync will catch up.
The 30-minute month-end
- 5 min: pull AR aging from Xero, AR from PF, eyeball the totals.
- 10 min: chase any invoices in PF marked overdue. The chaser is automatic but the personal nudge moves the needle.
- 10 min: check that all RMAs from the month either refunded or credited. None should be stuck at "received".
- 5 min: lock the month in Xero. PF keeps writing into the next month; the lock just stops you accidentally backdating.
That's it. Eight hours a month of reconciliation pain is now thirty minutes of glance-and-confirm.