Customize the Emburse Xero Connector

Customize the Emburse Xero Connector

After you configure the Emburse Xero Connector, customize how approved expense data exports from Emburse Spend to Xero. These settings control how reimbursable and company-paid expenses post as Xero Bills, Manual Journals, or Account Transactions.

For an overview of the full connector workflow, see Get Started with the Emburse Xero Connector. To connect your Xero organization, see Connect the Emburse Xero Connector.

This article applies to accounts that use the Emburse Connector on the Accounting Integration page. To confirm which integration you use, go to the Accounting Integration page. If the Connect action displays Connect via Emburse Connector, or your connected accounting integration description states that your account is syncing via Emburse Connector, use this article.

Connect via Emburse Connector button and View requirements link.

If the Emburse Connector path does not apply to your account, see Connect Xero to Emburse Spend for the native Xero integration.

This article is intended for administrators who manage accounting integrations in Emburse Spend. Import synchronization settings are documented in Configure the Emburse Xero Connector.

Prerequisites

Access Xero Expense Export Settings

To customize export behavior:

  1. In Emburse Spend, go to Company Settings.
  2. Select Accounting Integration.
  3. Select CONFIGURE SETTINGS.

  4. Open the Expenses tab.

The Expenses tab displays the settings to determine how approved expenses post to Xero after export.

Export Reimbursable Expenses

You can turn on the Export Reimbursable Expenses feature for reimbursable user expenses. The Emburse Xero Connector supports Export as a Bill or Export as a Manual Journal. Enable only the export method your organization uses.

Emburse Spend Xero ERP Configuration Expenses tab showing reimbursable and company-paid export options.

Export as a Bill

When you enable Export as a Bill, reimbursable user expenses export to the Bills module in Xero and assigned to the Supplier contact who submitted the expense.

Xero connector Expenses tab with Export as a Bill enabled for reimbursable expenses.

The Xero contacts list contains Customers, Suppliers, Supplier + Customer, and No Type. Users are only synched when they have at least a Supplier flag in Xero.

Setting Description
Set Approval Status Sets the approval status applied when expenses export as Xero Bills. Options are Use default Xero approval status, Draft, and Approved.
Reference Prefix Optional prefix to the Bill Number in Xero. For example, a prefix of EMB and bill number 1 displays as EMB-1 in Xero.

Example Bill in Xero

After export, a reimbursable expense can display in Xero as a Bill similar to the following example.

Export as a Manual Journal

Alternatively, you can enable Export as a Manual Journal to post reimbursable expenses (general ledger journal entry) in Xero.

Xero connector Expenses tab with Export as a Manual Journal enabled and Offset Account selected.

Setting Description
Narration Prefix Add an optional prefix to the document number in the Narration field of the Xero Manual Journal.
Offset Account Select the required account used for the offsetting journal line. For positive transactions, the expense account from the Emburse expense is debited and the configured Offset Account is credited. For negative transactions, the primary line is a credit and the debit line uses the Offset Account.
Refresh Lets you re-import the list of Offset Accounts from Xero after your chart of accounts changes.

Manual Journals support only your organization's base currency in Xero, even when currency sync is enabled for import. See Configure the Emburse Xero Connector.

Example Manual Journal in Xero

After export, a reimbursable expense can display in Xero as a Manual Journal similar to the following example.

Example Xero Manual Journal with debit and credit lines from an exported reimbursable expense.

Export Company-Paid Expenses

You can turn on the Export Company-Paid Expenses section to configure export settings for company-paid credit card transactions.

Xero connector Expenses tab company-paid credit card export settings.

Export as Account Transaction

When enabled, Export as Account Transaction is used for company-paid credit card expenses. It exports your Emburse Corporate Card transactions to the Xero's Accounting Transaction module.

Xero connector Expenses tab showing Export as Account Transaction and optional Card Expense prefix.

Setting Description
Reference Prefix You can enter a optional text prefix to apply to the exported company-paid card expenses.

Example Account Transaction in Xero

After export, a company-paid card expense can display in Xero as an Account Transaction similar to the following example.

Example Xero Account Transaction for a company-paid credit card expense.

Save Export Settings

When you finish configuring export options on the Expenses tab:

  1. Select Review.

  2. Select CHECK YOUR CONFIGURATION. A confirmation message will display: "Success! Your current configuration settings have been validated."
  3. Select SAVE AND CLOSE so they apply to future exports to Xero.

First-Delivery Scope

The following capabilities are not included in the Emburse Xero Connector and are not covered in this article:

  • Xero Invoices and accounts payable bills beyond the Bill export options described here
  • Xero Projects premium synchronization

For the full connector topic set, see Get Started with the Emburse Xero Connector.

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