Reconciling Payments in Xero

Overview

Once an invoice has reached Xero, Xero is where you record the payment. Reconcile it there and Astalty reads the Xero invoice update, then creates the matching payment allocation against the same invoice.

This is the flow for plan managed and self managed invoices. NDIA managed invoices work differently. See NDIA Managed Invoices.

Before You Start

Three things have to be true before a payment recorded in Xero can find its way back:

1. The invoice batch has synced to Xero. Astalty matches on the Xero invoice identifier. With Sync invoices automatically on, finalising the batch queues the sync. If it is off, use Actions > Sync with accounting on the finalised batch. See Sync With Xero.
2. The invoice can accept a payment in Xero. Xero does not let you record a payment against a draft invoice. New Invoice Status defaults to Draft; the other choices are Awaiting Approval and Approved. Complete the required approval in Xero first.
3. The invoice still has an amount outstanding in Astalty. A payment already recorded manually in Astalty leaves nothing for the Xero payment to fill.

Reconciling the Payment in Xero

Reconcile in Xero using the workflow approved by your organisation. Astalty reads payment records attached to the linked Xero invoice, including payments created through:

• Bank reconciliation - match the deposit in your bank feed to the invoice.
• Batch payment - the usual case for a Plan Manager paying several invoices in one deposit.
• Add a payment directly on the invoice in Xero.

The Xero invoice update normally triggers the payment pull automatically. The manual sync action is available as a fallback.

What Happens in Astalty

Astalty processes the Xero invoice update in the background. When the pull succeeds, the payment carries:

Astalty applies the payment to the invoice, reducing its outstanding amount. When the payment clears the remaining balance, the invoice status becomes Paid. The invoice batch's Outstanding total refreshes to match.

Plan Managed and Self Managed

The reconciliation itself is identical for both. The only differences are who the invoice is addressed to in Xero, and how the resulting payment is labelled in Astalty.

Everything else, including approval and payment reconciliation, is the same.

Partial Payments

A part payment is handled the same way as a full payment. Astalty creates a payment for each distinct Xero payment record and reduces the invoice's outstanding balance by that amount. Until the balance is cleared, the invoice remains Awaiting Payment before its due date and becomes Overdue after the due date. Once the balance reaches zero, it becomes Paid.

Payments From Xero Are Managed in Xero

Once a payment has come across, Xero owns it. In Astalty, a payment with a Xero source can't be edited, can't have its allocations cleared, and can't have documents attached. Trying to delete it gives you a Cannot Delete Payment message:

This payment has been synced with Xero and cannot be deleted. Please delete it in Xero first.

To remove a Xero sourced payment from Astalty, delete it in Xero and sync the invoice again. Astalty removes the stale Xero allocation and recalculates the invoice and batch totals. Manual payments are left alone.

Changing the amount, date, or reference on the same Xero payment does not update the existing Astalty payment. If those values need to change in Astalty, delete the payment in Xero, create the corrected Xero payment, and let Astalty sync again.

If the Payment Hasn't Appeared

Check the three conditions above, the batch sync state, and any sync errors first.

If everything looks right and the payment still hasn't come through, you can ask Astalty to go and check:

1. Open the batch from Invoice Batches.
2. Click Actions.
3. Choose Sync payments.

Astalty confirms with Payments will be synced shortly. Please check back in 5 - 10 minutes. Return to the batch after processing and check the result. The message is a wait suggestion, not a guarantee that an ineligible or mismatched payment will be created.

What Doesn't Come Back From Xero

Only payments are read from Xero. In particular:

• Credit notes and write-offs applied in Xero do not reduce the outstanding amount in Astalty. Handle the balance in Astalty as well. See Writing Off an Unpaid Balance.
• Changes to the invoice amount in Xero don't flow back, and editing an invoice in Xero after it has synced is what produces the total mismatch error described above.
• Invoices imported into Xero from a CSV export aren't linked to Astalty at all, so they never reconcile. This flow only works for invoices Astalty created in Xero through the integration.

NDIA Managed Invoices

NDIA managed invoices are deliberately kept out of this flow. Astalty never brings a Xero payment back onto an NDIA managed invoice, because it reconciles NDIA claims line by line from the receipt file instead. That exclusion always applies - it isn't something you can switch on.

Whether the invoices themselves reach Xero is controlled separately by Send NDIA invoices. It is off by default and Astalty recommends leaving it off. See Send NDIA Invoices.

Either way, reconcile the payment itself in Astalty using Reconciling NDIA Payments. What you do on the Xero side depends on that setting:

• Setting off (the default) - the NDIA invoices do not reach Xero, so record the total the NDIA paid as a single Receive Money transaction.
• Setting on - reconcile the NDIA deposit against the Xero invoices there. Do not also add a Receive Money transaction. Xero reconciliation still does not create the NDIA payment in Astalty.

Video Walkthrough

Related Guides

• Sync With Xero - manually syncing a batch or its payments.
• Configuring the Integration - the New Invoice Status and plan managed contact settings.
• Plan and Self Managed Payments - recording a payment manually when you are not using Xero.
• Reconciling NDIA Payments - the separate NDIA process.
• Deleting Payments - removing a payment recorded in Astalty.