One of the best things about cloud accounting apps such as Xero is that you can connect them easily to other powerful cloud apps. As Xero has developed it has added more connections to one of the biggest cloud companies of them all, Google.
Each year it feels like another part of Xero connects to another part of Google. In this post we look at all the ways the two apps work together and how you can use these linkages to save you a lot of time.
Exclusive Bonus: Download the two step-by-step checklists that show you how to connect and use Google Maps and Gmail with Xero. Feel free to share with your staff or clients.
The most important connection between Xero and Google is in publishing reports. Xero can export any report to a Google Sheet (formerly Google Spreadsheet) as well as downloading XLS or CSV formats for Excel.
Why would you want to open the report in Google Sheets?
Google Sheets will automatically save itself to Google Apps or Gmail in Google Drive, the storage app in Google Apps. You can then file it into a folder if you wish, but the file is saved and backed up online from the very beginning.
This removes one extra step of saving an Excel spreadsheet to an online storage drive instead of just on the hard drive of your computer. It’s much safer to store files online where they can be viewed, edited and downloaded regardless of what happens to your laptop.
Another great advantage with Google Sheets is that it is much easier to allow others to view and edit the spreadsheet than it is with Excel. Microsoft has added co-editing to Microsoft Office but it’s easier with Google Apps and free if you use the consumer version of Google Docs and Google Sheets.
There are plenty of scenarios for exporting a report to Google Sheets rather than showing someone in Xero.
For example:
If you want to keep the financials to yourself this is a nice way to share information in a controlled way.
Summary (this one's a little long):
Xero Contacts is intended to be more than a static address book. The standard contact details (phone number, email, address, etc.) are listed in the right-hand sidebar. The main part of the screen is taken up with your transactional history with that contact.
The first section shows how many invoices are awaiting payment or bills are waiting to be paid. The second section shows all the activity with that contact, summarised as a graph showing money in or out over the past 12 months.
The idea is that with a glance you can get an up-to-date view of recent history and see any matters that are outstanding.
The Google connection happens underneath that graph in a section with three tabs; Activity, Notes and Email.
The Activity tab shows all the actions by users in that Xero account affecting that contact. This includes “invoice sent” notifications, edits to invoices and bills, and any notes created on invoices and bills.
You can view just the notes by looking at the second tab, Notes. Notes include auto-generated messages such as “This invoice has been sent to (contact name)” or “Statement generated by (user name)”.
However, it also includes manually entered notes, either on the invoice or billing screens or in the contact screen itself. (See the Add Note in the top right corner of the section, opposite the three tabs.)
The third tab, Email, is where you can connect a Gmail account. This can be a free Gmail account or the business-grade Gmail which is part of Google Apps, Google’s online productivity suite.
Click on the tab and then on the blue Connect to Gmail button. Your browser will load a Gmail screen asking you to approve the connection, and once approved your Gmail is now connected to Xero Contacts.
The connected email address doesn’t have to be the same one that you use to log into Xero. You can log in with one Gmail address and connect a second Gmail address to Xero’s contacts section.
Once connected the Email tab in Xero Contacts will display all the emails sent to and from your Gmail account and the email address listed for that contact.
The list of emails in the Email tab can only be viewed by the Xero user that connected the Gmail account. Other users in the same Xero account, even those with the same access permissions, won’t be able to see any of your personal emails under the Email tab.
There is a way to add single emails to a contact so other Xero users can see them – more on that in a bit.
The emails are listed in reverse date order (latest first) and can’t be filtered or searched.
Each email has a dropdown menu in the right-hand corner – it’s a tiny grey chevron, or downwards facing arrow, that is easy to miss. The first and most important menu option is “Add email to activity”.
Clicking on this option will save a copy of the email to the Activity tab. It can then be viewed by all other users in that Xero account by looking through the activity stream.
The original email is still viewable by the original user in the email stream under the Email tab. It will also still show the option to “Add email to activity”; clicking that option will add a second copy of the email to the activity stream.
Besides adding the email to the activity stream, you can add the email directly to a new invoice, quote or bill. Selecting any of these three options will open a new invoice, quote or bill screen with the email added to the notes section underneath. Any attachments will also be added to the new invoice, quote or bill.
Attachments are shown as little icons in each email in the Email tab but are not viewable within the email itself. You need to add them to the contact first before you can view them.
A fifth option on the email menu appears if the email has an attachment. “Download attachments to contact” saves the attachment directly to the contact. It appears at the top of the right-hand sidebar to the immediate left of the Options button. A number will appear on the document icon showing how many attachments you have saved to the contact.
This is the first brush at integrating Gmail into Xero Contacts. Some of these limitations will hopefully be addressed in later updates.
The Gmail integration can be a great way for external accountants to see what is happening inside the client’s business in relation to that customer or supplier.
If you’re running an outsourced accounting service it’s worth showing the integration to your clients and suggesting they save important emails or documents to relevant contacts. This will cut down the back-and-forth questions about documents relating to deals or payment dates for invoices.
Here’s how to add your sales staff or backoffice admin to Xero.
Google Maps is such a useful app. It’s a great addition to any program and Xero uses it well. The Google + Xero connection is visible in Xero Contacts and the Xero Mobile app.
Both places show the location of a customer or supplier on a map. You can click on the map to see an expanded view of the area or click on the address marker to look up directions.
In Xero click on Contacts in the main menu, then All Contacts and select one of your customers.
In the customer’s contact screen at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar headed “Contact Details” you will see a little map underneath the listed street address. (This map is only visible if you have entered a street address for the contact.)
The map has two clickable elements, discounting the “report an error with this map” link tucked into the bottom right corner.
The big orange marker in the middle of the map shows the location of the business. If you hover your cursor over it a pop-up graphic will display the street address. If you click on the marker your browser will open up Google Maps in a new tab centred on the marker for your contact’s street address.
The second element is the multi-coloured Google logo in the bottom left. Clicking on the logo also opens up Google Maps in a new tab. However, while the location is roughly similar (it’s zoomed out to show the suburb) the marker for the contact isn’t visible.
The Google Maps+Xero connection works best on a mobile device. It’s very easy to see it in action. Just open up the app on your iPhone or Android smartphone, select Contacts from the menu at the bottom of the screen and pick a contact.
The mapped address is visible immediately under the email and name for the contact person in the contact record.
Need to visit a client? Here is a quick way to get directions.
Security should be top of mind for everyone these days, regardless of whether you use online or desktop accounting software. Most people assume that desktop software is safer than online accounting software but in fact the reverse is true.
Online accounting software is far better protected against ransomware, viruses and data theft than the desktop accounting file sitting on your hard drive.
Xero uses a Google app called Google Authenticator to boost security even further. Two-step authentication (better known in IT circles as two-factor authentication or 2FA) requires a user to enter a temporary password created by a trusted device, usually a smartphone.
Google Authenticator randomly generates a six digit number that changes every 30 seconds as a secondary password to your regular password.
This means that if someone knows your work email address and guesses your password they still can’t access your Xero file. They would also need to steal your mobile phone, unlock the phone with your smartphone code, launch Google Authenticator and enter the random number.
This is obviously a much tougher task for a hacker sitting behind their computer in Vladivostok or Shanghai.
What happens if you lose your smartphone and can’t enter your secondary passcode? When Xero asks you for the Google Authenticator passcode click “I can't use my authentication app”. Xero will then ask you a series of security questions to prove your identity. Once in Xero turn off two-step authentication until you find or buy another smartphone.
Another a bonus tip. Here’s how to launch Xero from Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc. with two clicks.
You can log into Xero by connecting it to Google Apps, a process called Single Sign-on because you only need to log into Google Apps. Google Apps is like an online version of Microsoft Office; it includes email (Gmail), word processing (Google Docs), spreadsheets (Google Sheets), and presentations (Google Slides), plus several other apps you don’t find in Office.
You can connect your Google ID to your Xero account for a faster and more convenient way to login. Instead of entering Xero.com into your browser, clicking login and entering your password, you just select Xero from the menu in the top right corner of any Google Apps screen.
For extra security, I strongly recommend setting up two-step authentication with Google Apps. You can do this yourself if you have admin access or ask your IT support to do it for you.
N.B. This only works with Google Apps, Google’s paid-for productivity suite. It won’t work with a free Gmail account.
And you must use the same email address to log in to both Google Apps and Xero. Change your Xero login email address to match your Google Apps email if you use different email addresses.
If Xero prompts you to create a password and you already use Xero, it means your Google Apps login and Xero login don't match. You'll need to log in to Xero, change your email address, then access Xero from Google Apps again.
3. Once installed, you can click on on the Google Apps icon on any Google apps screen, then click More to access Xero directly.
If you take the time to set up these connections between Google and Xero you will find yourself saving small amounts of time here and there, which all adds up. Particularly if you encourage your staff to do the same. And, with two-step authentication, you will be much safer.
I have created two free step-by-step cheat sheets that outline the exact process outlined in this post. You can send around to your employees to make these productivity improvements themselves. Or you can forward them to your clients to help them save time using Xero.
Just enter your email and hit the download button below to get the free checklists.
Exclusive Bonus: Download the two step-by-step checklists that show you how to connect and use Google Maps and Gmail with Xero. Feel free to share with your staff or clients.
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