Xero Automation

Automate accounting, invoicing, and financial reporting via Rube MCP.

Install

npx promptshop add Xero

Details

AutomationAuto-detects your installed agents and installs the skill to each one.

What This Skill Does

The Xero Automation skill enables users to automate accounting tasks within Xero, a popular accounting software. It's designed for businesses and developers who want to streamline bookkeeping processes by managing invoices, contacts, payments, and other financial data. The skill requires a connection to Xero via Rube MCP.

When to Use

List and filter invoices by status.
Manage contacts and customer data.
Automate payment processing.
Retrieve bank transactions.
Manage chart of accounts.
Search for specific financial records.

Key Features

Automates Xero accounting operations.
Uses XERO_LIST_INVOICES to retrieve invoices.
Uses XERO_GET_CONTACTS to manage contacts.
Supports filtering and pagination.
Requires active Xero connection.
Supports multi-tenant Xero organizations.

Manual Installation

Automate Xero accounting operations including managing invoices, contacts, payments, bank transactions, and chart of accounts for small business bookkeeping.

Toolkit docs: composio.dev/toolkits/xero

Setup

This skill requires the Rube MCP server connected at https://rube.app/mcp.

Before executing any tools, ensure an active connection exists for the xero toolkit. If no connection is active, initiate one via RUBE_MANAGE_CONNECTIONS.

Multi-tenant: If you manage multiple Xero organizations, first call XERO_GET_CONNECTIONS to list active tenants and obtain the correct tenant_id for subsequent calls.

Core Workflows

1. List and Filter Invoices

Retrieve invoices with filtering by status, contact, date range, and pagination.

Tool: XERO_LIST_INVOICES

Key Parameters: Statuses -- Comma-separated status filter: "DRAFT", "SUBMITTED", "AUTHORISED", "PAID" ContactIDs -- Comma-separated Contact IDs to filter by InvoiceIDs -- Comma-separated Invoice IDs to filter by where -- OData-style filter, e.g., "Status=="AUTHORISED" AND Total>100" order -- Sort expression, e.g., "Date DESC", "InvoiceNumber ASC" page -- Page number for pagination If-Modified-Since -- UTC timestamp; returns only invoices modified since this date tenant_id -- Xero organization ID (uses first tenant if omitted)

Example: Tool: XERO_LIST_INVOICES Arguments: Statuses: "AUTHORISED,PAID" order: "Date DESC" page: 1

2. Manage Contacts

Retrieve and search contacts for use in invoices and transactions.

Tool: XERO_GET_CONTACTS

Key Parameters: searchTerm -- Case-insensitive search across Name, FirstName, LastName, Email, ContactNumber ContactID -- Fetch a single contact by ID where -- OData filter, e.g., "ContactStatus=="ACTIVE"" page, pageSize -- Pagination controls order -- Sort, e.g., "UpdatedDateUTC DESC" includeArchived -- Include archived contacts when true summaryOnly -- Lightweight response when true

Example: Tool: XERO_GET_CONTACTS Arguments: searchTerm: "acme" page: 1 pageSize: 25

Note: On high-volume accounts, some where filters (e.g., IsCustomer, IsSupplier) may be rejected by Xero. Fall back to searchTerm or pagination.

3. Create Payments

Link an invoice to a bank account by creating a payment record.

Tool: XERO_CREATE_PAYMENT

Key Parameters: InvoiceID (required) -- Xero Invoice ID the payment applies to AccountID (required) -- Bank account ID for the payment Amount (required) -- Payment amount (number) Date -- Payment date in YYYY-MM-DD format Reference -- Payment reference or description CurrencyRate -- Exchange rate for foreign currency payments

Example: Tool: XERO_CREATE_PAYMENT Arguments: InvoiceID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890" AccountID: "b2c3d4e5-f6a7-8901-bcde-f12345678901" Amount: 1500.00 Date: "2026-02-11" Reference: "Payment for INV-0042"

4. Create Bank Transactions

Record spend (payments out) or receive (money in) bank transactions.

Tool: XERO_CREATE_BANK_TRANSACTION

Key Parameters: Type (required) -- "SPEND" (payment out) or "RECEIVE" (money in) ContactID (required) -- Xero Contact ID BankAccountCode (required) -- Bank account code from chart of accounts LineItems (required) -- Array of line items, each with:

Description (required) -- Line item description
UnitAmount (required) -- Unit price
AccountCode (required) -- Account code for categorization
Quantity -- Quantity (default 1)
TaxType -- Tax type: "OUTPUT", "INPUT", "NONE" Date -- Transaction date in YYYY-MM-DD format Reference -- Transaction reference Status -- "AUTHORISED" or "DELETED" CurrencyCode -- e.g., "USD", "EUR"

Example: Tool: XERO_CREATE_BANK_TRANSACTION Arguments: Type: "SPEND" ContactID: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890" BankAccountCode: "090" LineItems: [ { "Description": "Office supplies", "UnitAmount": 75.00, "AccountCode": "429", "Quantity": 1, "TaxType": "INPUT" } ] Date: "2026-02-11" Reference: "Feb office supplies"

5. List Payments and Bank Transactions

Review existing payments and bank transaction history.

Tools: XERO_LIST_PAYMENTS -- List payments linking invoices to bank transactions XERO_LIST_BANK_TRANSACTIONS -- List spend/receive bank transactions

Common Parameters: where -- OData filter, e.g., "Status=="AUTHORISED"" order -- Sort expression, e.g., "Date DESC" page -- Page number for pagination If-Modified-Since -- Incremental updates since timestamp tenant_id -- Organization ID

6. View Chart of Accounts and Connections

Tools: XERO_LIST_ACCOUNTS -- Retrieve all account codes for categorizing transactions XERO_GET_CONNECTIONS -- List active Xero tenant connections XERO_LIST_ATTACHMENTS -- List attachments on an entity (invoice, contact, etc.)

Known Pitfalls

Pitfall	Detail
Multi-tenant routing	If tenant_id is omitted, the first connected tenant is used. Always verify the correct tenant with XERO_GET_CONNECTIONS when managing multiple organizations.
High-volume filter rejection	On large accounts, some where filters like IsCustomer/IsSupplier may be rejected. Fall back to searchTerm with pagination.
OData filter syntax	Use double-equals (==) in OData filters, e.g., Status=="AUTHORISED". Single = causes errors.
Pagination required	Most list endpoints paginate results. Always check for additional pages and continue fetching until complete.
Date format	All dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format. Timestamps for If-Modified-Since must be full ISO 8601 UTC datetime.
Bank account codes	BankAccountCode in bank transactions must match a valid code from the chart of accounts. Use XERO_LIST_ACCOUNTS to discover valid codes.

Quick Reference