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Xero Integration

Transfer your Abacus reporting into Xero

Kevin Cheav avatar
Written by Kevin Cheav
Updated over 6 months ago

In this article:

Before you connect

In order to connect Xero with Abacus, you will need to have already

We also highly recommend that you speak with your accountant about how to best set up your Xero accounts to match with Abacus.

Connect to Xero

  1. Go to Add-Ons > Xero > Connect To Xero

  2. Click Connect to Xero

3. Log into your Xero account. You will be prompted to allow access to "Abacus POS". Click Allow access for 30 mins.

4. You will be redirected to the Export Daily Sales page.

Abacus will have access to your Xero data for 30 minutes, then this error will appear: Token has expired, please authorise again. When this happens, you will have to repeat the above steps to allow Abacus access to your Xero data again.

Set up Default Accounts

  1. Go to Xero > Default Accounts

2. Click Load Accounts From Xero to make each Xero account available in the drop-down boxes.

These options in the dropdown boxes are default accounts automatically created by Xero (Xero > Accounting > Advanced Accounting > Chart of accounts), but we will need to make more from here as well.

You can also create the new accounts directly in the Xero chart of accounts, but you will still need to load them in Abacus and assign them accordingly.

3. You will need to select a Xero account for each Abacus category using the drop down lists. This will determine the destination of the data for each Abacus category when you export to Xero.

Each Abacus "account" must be linked to a unique Xero "account".

4. Let's start with Sales:

Search "Sales" in the drop-down list, and the Xero "Sales" account will appear. Select it.

This is where all product sales will go to, if the products are taxable.

Note: You can also assign specific accounts for specific products, which we'll go into later.

5. Next, let's try to attach the Sales - No Tax account. You will notice that if you try to search "Sales - No Tax" in the drop-down box, there will be no results, so it cannot be attached. This is because Xero's default accounts do not include a Sales - No Tax account. We will create one in a moment. For now, leave it blank.

6. Skip to Wages and Salaries. Search for "Wages and Salaries" in the drop-down box. There is a default Xero account for this, so you can select it.

7. At this point, you must click Save. This is because we're going to create a new account, and the page refreshes every time you create a new account. Any selections you make before creating a new account will be lost, unless you save.

8. Let's create a new Xero account for Sales - No Tax. Click New Account.

9. You will be prompted to enter the New Account's details. This will be added straight to Xero, and instantly accessible via Abacus.

Enter the account details for Sales - No Tax. It should have:

  • Account Type: Sales

  • Tax Type: GST Free Income

  • Name: Sales - No Tax

The Code and Description are up to you.

Note: If a product is taxable in Abacus, but linked to a Xero account that has no tax, then in Xero it will not have tax.

10. Click Save. This will create the new Xero account and refresh the page.

11. Repeat steps 8-10 for every "default account" . Remember:

  • Each one of the Abacus Default accounts should have a matching unique Xero account (created in step 9)

  • You must Save after each time you select a default account, because creating a new account will refresh the page

  • The rest of your accounts - Cash, Credit Card, and any other custom Payment Methods (e.g. Uber Eats), should have the "Revenue" Account Type and "BAS Excluded" Tax Type

Attach specific accounts to specific products

If you want to separate the sales of specific products to separate accounts:

  1. Create the accounts in Xero, e.g. "Drink sales - tax", "Drink sales - no tax"

  2. Go to the Products list

  3. Go to the Product Details of a specific product, then the Advanced tab.

  4. Scroll down to Accounting

5. Select the Sales Account and Purchases Account for that product.

Note:

  • If there is a discount applied to a whole invoice, when your invoices are synced to Xero, the discount will be split among its products' accounts

Export Daily Sales

  1. Go to Export Daily Sales

  2. You will see a daily sales invoice for each time the register was open, which should be once a day. The Total Sales for that listing corresponds to the sales between the register's opening and closing.

3. The export a daily sales invoice:

  • Click the cloud icon

  • Tick the boxes and click Export Selected

Note: when a listing is exported to Xero, it is removed from this page.


4. If you wish to see these imported daily sales invoices on Xero, log into your Xero account, and go to Accounts > Sales > Invoices > Draft

5. Click an invoice to see:

  • Your total POS Sales

  • Cash received

  • Cash variance

  • Cash pay in/out

Export Invoices

You can also export sales by individual invoices.

  1. Use the Date Picker under Created From and To to select the range of invoices that you want to export

  2. Click Export Invoices

If you wish to see these invoices on Xero, log into your Xero account, and go to Accounts > Sales > Invoices > Awaiting Payment.

3. Click an invoice to see the items ordered.

Notes on Abacus Payment (Online Ordering invoices)

If you are using Online Ordering with Abacus Payment, each invoice will have:

  • The "POS Sales" amount (excluding tax)

  • The "Abacus Payment Fee"

  • The "Abacus Payment" amount

Export Timesheets

Before you start: If you are using the Abacus Rostering system (no longer supported), you will need to have entered a date of birth for each employee in order to export timesheets to Xero.

  1. Log into Xero (www.xero.com/au)

2. If you have not already set up your expense account with Xero, go to Accounts > Chart of Accounts and then click Add Account. Enter the details of the account you will use to pay employees.

3. Go to Settings > Payroll Settings.

Navigate to the Calendars tab and click Add.

4. The Pay Calendar defines the frequency of payment for your employees. Follow the prompts and click Add.

5. The Pay Calendar entry will be added to the Calendars page.

6. Go to the Abacus backend (app.abacus.co), and navigate to Add-Ons > Xero > Default Accounts

7. Click Load Accounts from Xero.

8. Scroll down to Wages and Salaries. Select "Wages and Salaries", then Save.

9. Go to Xero > Export Timesheets. Click Export Pay Rates to Xero. The timesheets will not appear yet.

10. Go to Xero > Employees

11. Click the pencil button next to an employee. Select the Payroll Calendar (as configured in Xero) and the Earning Rate that pertains to them (select earning rates beginning with "Abacus"). Click Save.

12. You will see the information be added to the table. Repeat for all other staff, with the relevant payroll calendar and earning rate for each of them.

13. Click the Sync icon to synchronise this information to Xero.

14. Go to Xero > Timesheet. All timesheets pertaining to the staff whose payroll details you just updated and synced will be visible.

15. Ensure that all timesheets that you wish to be synced have the blue tick next to them. Click Sync Timesheets and they will be sent from Abacus to Xero.

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