Automate Xero Accounting with Make.com

Automating Xero with make.com allows you to streamline accounting workflows, remove manual data entry, and keep your books consistently up to date without coding expertise.

This how-to guide walks you through planning, building, and optimizing a Xero automation scenario based on the official tutorial from make.com. You will learn how modules, triggers, and actions work together so you can adapt the example to your own accounting processes.

Why automate Xero with make.com

Before building scenarios, it helps to understand the benefits of connecting Xero to make.com. Automations built on scenarios can mirror the way your business already works and run reliably in the background.

• Eliminate repetitive copying of data between systems.
• Reduce the risk of typos and missed transactions.
• Standardize how invoices, contacts, and payments are processed.
• Get near real-time synchronization between Xero and other apps.
• Scale your accounting operations without adding manual workload.

The original guide from make.com focuses on a clear example scenario: when a new invoice appears in Xero, the scenario collects related data and can pass it to another tool or perform additional accounting actions.

Key concepts for Xero automation in make.com

To follow the how-to, you need a basic grasp of three core concepts in make.com: scenarios, triggers, and actions. These form the structure of any Xero automation.

Scenarios in make.com

A scenario in make.com is a visual workflow that connects Xero with one or more other apps. It is built from modules linked together on a canvas.

Each scenario usually includes:

• One trigger module that starts the data flow.
• One or more action or search modules that process data.
• Optional filters and routers to branch the logic.

You can turn scenarios on or off and schedule them to run on demand or at regular intervals.

Triggers and actions for Xero in make.com

In the Xero app within make.com, you will use specialized modules to react to data changes and perform accounting tasks.

• Triggers start a scenario when something happens in Xero, such as a new invoice or a new contact.
• Actions create or update items in Xero, including invoices, payments, credit notes, or contacts.
• Search modules find existing records to enrich the data flowing through the scenario.

The official how-to from make.com focuses on a new invoice trigger, but you can swap it for other triggers depending on your needs.

Preparing your Xero account and make.com workspace

Before building, ensure that both Xero and make.com are ready to connect. This avoids interruptions later when the scenario starts pulling live accounting data.

1. Check your Xero access
   • Confirm you have permission to connect third-party applications.
   • Verify the organization you want to automate is available under your Xero login.
2. Create or log in to your make.com account
   • Sign in and open your dashboard.
   • Review existing scenarios if you already use make.com, to avoid overlapping automations.
3. Plan your workflow
   • Decide which Xero event should initiate the scenario.
   • List the fields you want to read from and write back into Xero.
   • Identify the other apps that will be connected through make.com.

Building your first Xero scenario in make.com

The steps below reflect the structure described in the original tutorial from make.com and can be adapted to many accounting workflows.

Step 1: Create a new scenario in make.com

1. From the make.com dashboard, click the option to create a new scenario.
2. On the empty canvas, choose Xero from the list of available apps.
3. Add the Xero module that will serve as the trigger.

When prompted, you will connect your Xero account using secure OAuth authentication so make.com can read and process your accounting data.

Step 2: Set a Xero trigger module

For the tutorial-style example, you can use a trigger like “Watch Invoices” so make.com runs the scenario whenever new invoices appear.

1. Select the appropriate Xero trigger module.
2. Choose the Xero organization you want to monitor.
3. Define the event type and time frame, such as invoices created since the last run.
4. Run a sample to pull a recent invoice and confirm that data is available.

This sample data will be reused as you add more modules onto the scenario canvas in make.com.

Step 3: Add processing modules in make.com

Once your trigger works, place additional modules to shape and route the invoice data. The original guide illustrates how you can customize this chain.

• Add Xero search modules to look up contacts or items related to the invoice.
• Use filters between modules to process only invoices that match specific criteria, such as status or total amount.
• Insert tools modules in make.com for formatting dates, rounding numbers, or manipulating text fields.

You can also add other apps to the scenario so the data leaves Xero and enters your CRM, help desk, or project management tool.

Step 4: Map fields and test the scenario

Every module in make.com includes a mapping panel where you connect data from previous steps to the fields required by the current module.

1. Open each module and map the Xero invoice fields, such as contact name, invoice number, due date, and line items.
2. Set default values for optional fields or handle missing data with conditional logic.
3. Run the scenario once with the sample data to verify that all modules complete successfully.

If any module fails, check the error details in make.com, adjust the configuration, then retest until all steps run cleanly.

Step 5: Schedule and activate your make.com scenario

When you are satisfied with the behavior, configure how and when the scenario should run on live data.

1. Open the scenario schedule settings.
2. Choose a run mode, for example, every few minutes or hourly.
3. Turn the scenario on so make.com begins monitoring Xero for new events.
4. Review the first successful live executions and confirm the data in Xero and any connected apps is correct.

Optimizing and extending your Xero workflows in make.com

After the initial scenario is live, you can iterate to improve reliability and coverage across your accounting operations.

• Add routers in make.com to branch logic for different invoice types or customers.
• Include additional Xero modules to create payments, credit notes, or statements based on the same trigger.
• Combine Xero with email and chat apps to send automatic notifications when invoices meet certain thresholds.
• Reuse scenario templates from the make.com library as starting points for more advanced workflows.

As your automations become more complex, consider documenting each scenario’s purpose, trigger, and logic flow so your finance team can manage changes with confidence.

Next steps and further resources

To explore more accounting automation ideas beyond this Xero example, you can read the official tutorial directly on make.com. It demonstrates detailed module screenshots and additional configuration tips.

If you need strategic help designing large-scale automation architectures, process mapping, or scenario audits for make.com and other workflow platforms, you can reach out to automation specialists at Consultevo.

By combining Xero’s accounting features with the flexible visual scenarios in make.com, you can build a reliable automation layer that supports faster, more accurate financial operations with far less manual effort.

Need Help With Make.com?

If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your Make scenarios, work with ConsultEvo — certified workflow and automation specialists.

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