Syncing Invoice Comments to Xero

Overview

Comments on an invoice record the context that isn't on the invoice itself — a disputed travel charge, a bounced email, a payment arrangement. By default that context stays in Astalty.

Turn on Sync invoice comments to Xero and each invoice's comments are added to the matching Xero invoice as history notes. Your bookkeeper or accountant then sees the same context in Xero, without having to open Astalty.

Turning it On

The setting is off until you enable it.

1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Xero (or click here).
2. On the Xero Integration Settings card, click Edit.
3. Tick Sync invoice comments to Xero.
4. Click Update.

You'll find the checkbox in the first group of settings, below Sync invoices automatically and Sync leave automatically — not under More. Underneath it, Astalty repeats the key caveat: When a batch is synced, comments on its invoices are added to Xero as history notes. Xero notes can't be edited or removed once added. That description covers the batch case; comments on an invoice that is already in Xero are sent without a batch sync, as described below.

Only Invoice Comments Sync

This setting applies to comments on individual invoices only.

• Invoice comments — sync to Xero as notes on the matching Xero invoice.
• Invoice batch comments — never sync. Batch comments are about the invoicing run itself, and there is nothing in Xero for them to attach to. They stay internal to Astalty regardless of this setting.

When Comments Are Sent

Commenting starts at finalisation. Invoices are created at the moment you finalise the batch — a draft batch holds charges, not invoices — so there is nothing to comment on beforehand, and no comment can be waiting on an invoice before its batch is finalised.

From there, when a comment reaches Xero depends on whether its invoice has made it to Xero yet.

• The invoice is already in Xero. The comment is sent on its own within moments of you saving it — you don't need to sync anything, and you don't have to wait for the next batch. This is the usual case.
• The invoice isn't in Xero yet. The comment waits and goes across when the batch is synced. This only applies in the window between finalising a batch and its invoices reaching Xero — most often because Sync invoices automatically is off, so the invoices sit on the finalised batch until you click Sync with Xero. Everything commented up to that point is included.

With Sync invoices automatically on, that window is very short: the sync starts the moment the batch is finalised, so in practice the invoices are already in Xero by the time anyone opens one to comment. You'd only catch the waiting case if the sync is still running or has failed.

The Sync Confirmation

When you sync a batch manually, the Sync with Xero confirmation tells you how many comments will go across, so there are no surprises:

The invoices in this batch will be sent to Xero.

12 invoice comments will also be added as notes on their invoices.

Xero notes can't be edited or removed once added.

The comment line only appears when there is at least one comment to send, and it counts only the comments still waiting — anything already in Xero is left out. With a single comment it reads 1 invoice comment will also be added as a note on its invoice.

Because the Sync with Xero button disappears once a batch has synced, you won't see this confirmation again for that batch. Comments added afterwards go across on their own instead.

What the Note Looks Like in Xero

In Xero, open the invoice and expand History & Notes. Each synced comment appears as its own row with the action Note, logged against System Generated.

The note text is the comment author's name, then the comment — for example Sarah Whitfield: Resent after the original bounced.

Checking a Comment Reached Xero

You don't have to open Xero to know whether a note landed. In the invoice's Comments list, each comment carries a small icon beside its timestamp once Astalty has tried to send it:

• A green tick — the comment is in Xero. Hover it and the tooltip reads Added to Xero.
• A yellow warning triangle — the attempt failed. Hover it to see the reason Xero gave, such as Astalty could not reach Xero to add this note. or Xero rejected this note without giving a reason.
• No icon — nothing has been sent yet. Either the comment is waiting for its batch to sync, or it is not going to Xero at all.

The icons appear on their own as notes land, so you don't need to refresh the invoice while a batch is syncing.

Editing and Deleting After Syncing

Astalty and Xero keep separate copies once a comment has synced.

When you edit a comment that has already gone to Xero, the drawer warns you:

This comment was added to Xero. Editing it here won't change the Xero note.

Deleting shows the equivalent warning — This comment was added to Xero. Deleting it here won't remove the Xero note. The comment disappears from Astalty, but the note stays in Xero.

An edited comment is not re-sent, either. Xero keeps the wording as it was at the moment the note was created.

Comments That Won't Sync

Even with the setting on, a comment is skipped when:

• The invoice never reached Xero and no longer can. Comments follow the invoice. If an invoice isn't in Xero and its batch has already been through a sync, there is nothing left to attach a note to.
• The invoice is NDIA managed and you haven't enabled Allow NDIA managed invoices to be Synced with Xero via the Integration. See Configuring the Integration.
• The invoice has been voided. See Voiding Invoices.
• The comment has no text — for example a comment containing only an image or empty formatting.
• It's a batch comment, which never syncs.
• The Xero connection isn't usable — the connection has been disconnected or has expired, or no Default Sales Account is set. Nothing syncs until that's fixed. See Connecting and Disconnecting.

Comments are never sent twice. If an invoice is pushed again, comments already in Xero are skipped rather than duplicated.

Related Guides

• Commenting on Invoices — how to add, read, edit, and delete invoice comments.
• Commenting on Invoice Batches — internal notes on an invoicing run.
• Configuring the Integration — the rest of the Xero integration settings.
• Sync With Xero — manually syncing batches and payments.