📋 Requirements
Before you begin, make sure:
Your Buildern account is connected to Xero.
You have permission to create and manage invoices.
A project and client exist in Buildern.
Required Cost Codes, Clients, Projects, and Tax Rates have been synced with Xero.
Invoice Field Mapping
The following fields are synchronized between Buildern and Xero:
Buildern | Xero |
Client Invoice | Invoice |
Project Client | Contact (To) |
Project | Tracking Category Option |
Date | Issue Date |
Due Date | Due Date |
Invoice ID | Reference |
Attachments (first 10 files only) | Related Files |
Amounts Are | Amounts Are |
Invoice Line Name | Description |
Cost Code | Item or Account (based on integration settings) |
Claim | Price |
Account | Account |
Tax | Tax Rate |
Invoice Payment | Payment |
Retainage | Invoice Line with Negative Amount |
Understanding Cost Codes on Invoice Lines
Invoice lines in Buildern do not always contain Cost Codes.
Cost Codes are assigned only in the following scenarios:
Schedule of Values Invoices - When The project invoice type is Schedule of Values, and the Estimate Grouping option is set to Show by Cost Codes.
Cost Plus Invoices - When timesheet records are included on the invoice.
Custom Invoice Lines - When a custom line item is manually added to the invoice.
Outside of these scenarios, invoice lines do not contain Cost Code information. An Account can be selected manually, or Buildern can automatically assign a default Account based on the Accounting Integration settings. When synced to Xero, no Item information is sent.
Cost Code Sync Behavior
When Cost Codes are synced with Xero, the behavior of invoice line items depends on the selected synchronization method.
If Cost Codes are synced with Xero Accounts, the Account field on invoice lines is automatically populated based on the selected Cost Code and cannot be edited manually. When the invoice is synced to Xero, the Item field remains blank, and only the Account field is populated.
If Cost Codes are synced with Xero Products & Services, the Account field can be selected manually on invoice lines. When the invoice is synced to Xero, the corresponding Product/Service is populated in the Item field, while the selected account is populated in the Account field.
Enable Automatic Invoice Synchronization
Client invoices can be automatically synced to Xero when they are created.
To enable automatic synchronization:
Navigate to Settings → Accounting Integration.
Under Project Default Settings, locate Client Invoices.
Enable the checkbox.
Once enabled, all newly created invoices will automatically sync to Xero. For existing invoices, open the invoice, enable Send to Xero, and save the record.
Verify Invoice Synchronization
When an invoice is successfully synced:
Navigate to the project's Invoices page.
Locate the invoice in the list.
Review the Sync column.
A Xero icon indicates that the invoice has been synchronized successfully. Clicking the icon opens the corresponding invoice directly in Xero.
Resolve Synchronization Errors
In some cases, synchronization may fail because information referenced on the invoice has not yet been synchronized with Xero.
Common causes include:
New Cost Codes
New Projects
New Tax Rates
New Clients
When this occurs, Buildern displays an error message identifying the missing information and may provide an option to resolve the issue automatically.
To resolve the issue:
Ensure the missing records have been synchronized with Xero.
Verify:
Cost Codes exist as Products & Services or Accounts.
Projects exist as Tracking Category Options.
Clients exist as Contacts.
Save the changes.
Retry the synchronization.
Once the required records exist in Xero, the invoice can be synchronized successfully.
Find Synced Invoices in Xero
To verify that an invoice has been synchronized:
Open Xero.
Navigate to Sales → Invoices.
Locate the invoice.
The invoice created in Buildern should now be available in Xero.
Transaction Updates
Updates Synced from Buildern to Xero
When an invoice is synchronized with Xero, most changes made in Buildern are automatically reflected in Xero. This includes updates to the client (provided the invoice has not been paid in Xero), invoice ID, invoice date, due date, invoice status, tax calculation method, invoice line accounts, cost codes on custom lines, invoice line amounts, descriptions, tax values, and quantities.
Updates Synced from Xero to Buildern
Certain changes made directly in Xero are also synchronized back to Buildern. These include invoice date updates, due date updates, invoice status changes, payment creation and deletion, and invoice deletion. If an invoice is deleted in Xero, the synchronization link between the invoice records in Buildern and Xero is removed.
You're all set to start using this feature and improve your project management process.
Happy Building!