Connecting to Xero

If not already connected, click Connect button to open "Connect to Xero" dialog; or go to (Act) - Tools - Xact Link for Xero - Xero Authentication.

Click Connect to Xero to login and authorize Xact Link for Act! to access your Xero account.

Go to support.xactsoftware.co.nz/xlax/install_guide/setup_wizard#authentication for more details.

 

Back to top ^

Managing existing contacts

If you already have Act! and Xero the first thing you will want to do is consolidate your databases.

Performing AutoLink wizard is a good starting point.

By default, a set of matching criteria are defined and can be modified to suit your requirements:

• To add a criteria, on an empty row select a field in Act! and a field in Xero from the dropdown box.
• To remove a criteria, click on the row header and press Delete key (on the keyboard)
• Check Allow multiple link to allow a Xero contact to be linked to more than one Act! contact.

It it however has some limitations for example, if the company name is written as “CH TechOne Ltd” in Act! and “CH TechOne Limited” in Xero the auto-link wizard will not ne able to match the records. Likewise if the phone number is “093776516” in one “(09) 377 6516” in the other, the records will not be matched.

Once the auto-link wizard is complete you can identify which records in Act! are linked to Xero accounts by performing a lookup of all records by opening the Tools menu (in Xero tab) and select "Lookup Contacts".

By process of elimination you can also identify records in Act! that are not linked to Xero and, if required, manually link these to existing Xero cards, or create new Xero cards either manually or by using the export wizard.

 

Import Contacts wizard

Secondly, after AutoLink was performed, you may want to (in bulk) bring accross contacts from Xero to Act!.  To do this you will need to run the Import Contact Wizard.

Some pointers:

• If you have a small list of records that you want to import select the option to “Choose contacts to import”
• Selecting the option “Do not import Xero Contact that is already linked” will ensure only un-linked contacts are imported into Act.

 

Check for duplicates in Act!

If you think you may have created some duplicate contacts in Act! you can perform a duplicate lookup by going to “Tools - Scan for Duplicates” from the main menu toolbar. The duplicate checker requires you to select criteria to match on so it is important that your database is cleaned. You may also need to do this a number of times, matching on different criteria to find all of the duplicates.

Once you have found the duplicates go to “Tools - Copy/Move Contact Data” from the Act! main menu toolbar and complete the Wizard, or delete the duplicate contact.

 

Export Contacts wizard

Lastly, as an optional step, you may wish to push contacts in bulk from Act! to Xero, use Export Contacts Wizard to do this.
We recommend performing Act! contact lookup to select the contacts to export and selecting "Current lookup" option in the Wizard.Note,

Important note:

• Export Wizard does not check for duplicates and also does not exclude already-linked contacts, so make sure the contacts were carefuly selected, otherwise some duplicates may be created in Xero.
• Due to limitations from Xero, you may encounter failure to export after a large number of contacts (e.g. over 2000 records).
  Xero limits the number of (API) calls made per day.
  When this happens, try to enable Send multiple contact records at a time to send the data in batches (of 20 records per call).
  Alternatively, create a lookup for a range of contacts and run the export for the lookup, and repeat the process the next day, until all contacts are copied over.

 

Back to top ^

Importing Xero Items List

If you plan on using Act! Opportunities you will need to import Xero inventory items to Act! Product List. To do this go to “Tools - Xact Link for Xero” from the Act! main menu toolbar and choose the option to “Import Items”.

Please note:

• You do not need to Import Xero Product List to create Xero Invoice from Act!, the only reason to import Xero item list is to be able to create Act! opportunity that contains Xero items which then allow them to be turned into a Xero Invoice.
• If an Act opportunity item did not originate from Xero inventory item, it is still possible to create a Xero invoice, it will however show "Item Code" as blank in the invoice, other fields will retain the user entered data (description, quantity, price).

Back to top ^

Email Options and PDF

Invoice PDF (and other transaction types) can be viewed, attached to Act! history, or saving against the Act! documents tab, or save the PDF file to disk.

PDF can be created in one of two ways:

1. Use Xero invoice branding (default): When this option is selected, a request is made to Xero to create the PDF file. As such, any changes to the template must be done via your Xero account. For more information on how to modify Xero templates visit http://help.xero.com
   
   When you email an invoice, the PDF file will be downloaded and attached to the email message;
   Alternatively, enable "Send invoice directly from Xero" option to instruct Xero to send the invoice. A copy of the PDF will be attached to the Act contact's history.
   
    
2. Use a built-in invoice template: When this option is selected, the PDF will be generated locally using invoice templates stored by the Xact Link.
   

   Xact Link for Act! and Xero supports the use of built-in HTML document templates . To access the Invoice template area go to “Tools > Xact Link for Xero > Email Options” from the Act! toolbar.

   By default the link comes with two sample templates which can be accessed by going to the ACT! Plugins directory (usually found under C:\Program files\ACT\Act for Windows\Plugins) and opening the folder called “XactXeroData”.

   You can choose to edit the default template and/or build your own using the built-in html text editor (or any other editor of your choice). There is no restriction to the number of templates you can have.

Back to top ^

Merge Fields

The following merge fields are supported by (built-in invoice) HTML template and email template.

Note: these fields are case sensitive and does not contain any space.

Field	Description
[[SaleType]]	Draft Invoice or Invoice
[[ContactName]]	Xero contact/company name
[[ContactFirstName]]	Xero contact person's first name
[[ContactLastName]]	Xero contact person's last name
[[Company]]	Act contact company name
[[MyCompany]]	Company name on my Act record
[[BillAddress]]	Xero contact postal address exclude country
[[BillCountry]]	Xero contact postal country
[[ShipAddress]]	Xero contact physical address exclude country
[[ShipCountry]]	Xerp contact physical country
[[InvoiceNumber]]	Invoice number
[[ReferenceNumber]]	Invoice reference number
[[CreateDate]]	Invoice date
[[DueDate]]	Invoice due date
[[SubTotal]]	Invoice total less tax
[[TaxLabel]]	‘Total tax’ or ‘Includes tax’
[[TaxAmount]]	Total tax amount
[[Total]]	Invoice total
[[AmountDue]]	Amount remaining to be paid
[[AmountPaid]]	Total payments applied to this invoice
[[AmountCredited]]	Amounts credited to this invoice
[[PaidStatus]]	‘PAID’ or blank

Apart from invoice data, there are additional merge fields designed to make customisations easier. These are used when you fill in the “Quick customisations” fields.

Field	Description
[[LogoPath]]	File path or URL of the logo image file
[[CompanyName]]	Company name
[[CompanyAddress]]	Company address
[[GSTRegNo]]	GST registration number
[[ABN]]	ABN number
[[BankAccNo]]	Bank account number
[[TAC]]	Terms and conditions (may contain other merge fields)

• Logo: Common image formats are accepted, including .bmp, .jpg, .gif and .png. The file can reside locally or located on the web.
• Company name: Company name to appear on invoices and may differ than entered on your ACT! record.
• Terms and conditions: Terms and conditions may contain merge-fields

Important: Upon product upgrade or uninstalling, these default templates will be overwritten/deleted. To avoid this, create a copy of these files before upgrading/uninstalling the product.

Back to top ^

<< Previous Next >>