This guide is for course providers who keep their accounts in Xero, an online accounting system. It explains what Cademy sends to Xero and how to connect and set up Xero. If an invoice or payment is missing in Xero, see Fix Xero Sync Problems.
The standard Teams plan includes the Xero integration and allows one connected Xero account. Other plans do not include Xero by default; an account-specific arrangement may differ. To compare plans, see What Each Cademy Plan Includes and Costs.
An invoice is the bill Cademy issues for an order. A credit note reduces what a customer owes, or records money owed back to them. A Xero organisation is one company’s set of accounts in Xero; Cademy calls each organisation you connect a Xero account. An account code is the number of one account in the organisation’s chart of accounts, for example a sales account or a bank account.
What Cademy Sends to Xero: Invoices, Payments and Credit Notes
After you connect Xero, Cademy sends accounting records to Xero in the background, separately from saving, whenever they change in Cademy. If a record is still missing a few minutes later, see Fix Xero Sync Problems.
Invoices - each invoice that Cademy issues with a total above zero becomes one invoice in Xero. If an order is split into one invoice per course, each Cademy invoice becomes its own Xero invoice. A draft invoice is not sent until it is issued.
Payments - payments collected or recorded in Cademy, including part payments, are added to the matching Xero invoice. Value redeemed from a Cademy gift card is not sent as a payment, so record that amount in Xero yourself.
Credit notes - when Cademy issues a credit note, it creates a matching approved credit note in Xero and allocates it to the invoice it corrects. Credit that stays on the customer’s account is not set against any invoice in Xero until it is applied.
Refunds - a refund recorded against a credit note in Cademy is added to the Xero credit note as a payment. Value returned to a gift card is not sent.
Voided invoices - when an unpaid invoice is voided in Cademy, for example when it is reissued after an order change, Cademy voids the Xero invoice, or deletes it if it is still a draft or awaiting approval in Xero. An invoice with a payment in Cademy or in Xero is never voided or deleted automatically.
Applied credit - applying a customer’s credit to an invoice in Cademy, or removing it, makes the same change in Xero when both invoices use the same Xero account.
Each Xero invoice carries the customer’s billing name, email address, VAT or tax number and billing address, a line for each course and ticket, any add-ons and discounts, and the invoice date and due date. A line for a course with a date shows the course name, the session’s own name if it has one, and the date, and its attendees are listed as zero-value lines.
Custom items, such as room hire or catering, are sent as lines with their description, quantity and unit price. They use the default Xero connection and its account code. A repeated sync updates the existing Xero record instead of creating another one, and Cademy sends a payment only for an amount that Xero does not already show as paid.
Important: When an order changes, Cademy sends updated details for its synced unpaid invoices, which replace changes typed directly into the invoice in Xero. If the invoice is already paid or partly paid in Cademy and has payments or credits in Xero, Cademy keeps its existing Xero details. Make order corrections in Cademy and check the result in Xero.
Payments Recorded in Xero: What Comes Back to Cademy
Cademy reads back two things from Xero: the invoice or credit note number, and full payments. When a synced invoice becomes fully paid in Xero while its Cademy order still has an amount to pay, Cademy records the missing payment amount for that invoice as a payment labelled Xero. Cademy does this once per invoice.
A part payment entered in Xero does not change Cademy, so record part payments in Cademy. Editing, voiding or deleting an invoice in Xero does not change Cademy either.
What Cademy Does Not Send to Xero
Connecting Xero does not send your existing invoices all at once. An issued invoice that has never been sent is created in Xero the next time its order changes, for example when a payment is recorded.
Zero-total invoices are not created in Xero. An invoice already linked to Xero can still be updated.
After an order is cancelled, Cademy stops creating or updating that order’s invoices in Xero. Its credit notes and voids are still sent.
Cademy does not send a tax rate, a tax amount or a currency. It tells Xero whether prices include tax, exclude tax or carry no tax, and Xero applies its own tax rate and currency. Xero uses the tax rate set on the account code, so check it in Xero and compare your first synced invoices with Cademy, including the currency.
Cademy does not send the date of an invoice payment. Check it in Xero if it matters for your records.
Change the Due Date of an Invoice Linked to Xero
When you change the due date of a Cademy invoice linked to Xero, Cademy sends the new date to the same Xero invoice, if the Xero account is still connected and syncing is not switched off for any course on the invoice. It does not change the invoice’s amounts, payments or credits, or email the customer. You change the date from the order: expand Invoices & Payments, then choose More > Change Due Date on the invoice; for a linked invoice the window says “The invoice in Xero will be updated to match.” For the full steps and the invoice statuses that allow a change, see Change an Invoice You Have Already Sent. To check the date in Xero afterwards, open the invoice from Cademy as described in Fix Xero Sync Problems.
Invoice Not Showing in Xero? Why It Is Missing
Why an invoice or payment is missing from Xero, and what to check, is in Fix Xero Sync Problems.
Find a Cademy Invoice in Xero
How to check that an invoice synced and open it in Xero from Cademy is in Fix Xero Sync Problems.
What You Need Before You Connect Xero
A Cademy login with the System Admin role. The Apps menu is shown only to System Admins. If you are a System Admin and cannot see Apps, it has been hidden from your menu: look under More.
A Xero login with access to the organisation you want to connect. Xero asks you to approve Cademy’s access to its accounting settings and transactions.
Two account codes from that organisation’s chart of accounts: one for invoice lines, for example a sales account, and one that can receive payments, for example a bank account. Ask your bookkeeper if you are unsure.
Important: Syncing starts as soon as the account is connected. The next new order, or the next change to an existing order, sends that order’s issued invoices to Xero with the settings in place at that moment. Until you choose settings, invoice lines use account code 200 and invoices are sent as approved. Choose your settings straight after connecting.
Connect Xero to Cademy
In Cademy, select Apps in the menu, then select Xero.
Select Install.
Xero opens. Log in, choose the organisation to connect and allow access.
Xero returns you to Cademy. If your Xero login gave access to more than one organisation, Cademy shows Select Xero Organization. Select the organisation you want. Closing this window without choosing connects nothing.
Cademy shows the message Xero connected! The Xero page now lists the organisation under Connected Xero Accounts with a DEFAULT badge, and the Install button changes to Installed.
If Install is greyed out and a plan badge appears above it, your plan does not include the Xero integration; select the badge to see plan options. If you see Xero install failed or Failed to connect Xero account, start again from step 2. If it fails again, contact Cademy Support with the message, the time and the Xero organisation name.
Connect More Than One Xero Account (Default Account)
A standard Teams account can connect one Xero account. It appears in Connected Xero Accounts on the Xero page; the cog icon in the ACTIONS column offers Configure and Remove. If your account has an individual arrangement with Cademy, contact Cademy Support to confirm your Xero limit. Once you have reached it, Connect Another Xero Account shows Failed to install Xero instead of opening Xero.
If your arrangement allows more than one, for example when different companies invoice different courses, select Connect Another Xero Account and choose an organisation that is not already connected (Cademy does not stop the same one being connected twice). The account marked DEFAULT, at first the one you connected first, is used for every course without its own Xero account. To change it, choose Set as Default in another account’s cog menu.
Important: Cademy does not record which Xero account an invoice was sent to. Later payments, credit notes, voids and due-date changes go to the account the course uses at that time, which may not hold the original invoice. Check for open invoices before changing a course’s account, and contact Cademy Support if you need to move courses between Xero accounts.
Choose Xero Account Codes, Invoice Status and Template
These settings decide how Cademy fills in Xero records for one connected account.
Select Apps, then Xero.
In Connected Xero Accounts, select the cog icon next to the account and choose Configure. The Configure Xero Account window opens.
Complete the settings described below.
Select Save. Cademy shows Xero account updated.
The settings are:
Account Name - the name of this Xero account in Cademy, at first the Xero organisation’s name.
Account Code for Invoices - the Xero account code used for invoice and credit note lines unless a course has its own code. Custom items always use the connected account’s code. It is 200 unless you change it. Enter a code that exists in your Xero chart of accounts.
Default Payment Account - the Xero account code for payments when no Card Payments Account is entered, and for refunds other than Stripe and PayPal refunds. If blank, Cademy uses the Account Code for Invoices. Xero accepts payments only into a bank account or an account with Enable payments to this account switched on.
Card Payments Account - described as the account for Stripe, PayPal or Klarna payments. When it is filled in, Cademy uses it for every invoice payment it sends to Xero, including payments you record yourself, and for Stripe and PayPal refunds.
Default PO / Reference Value - text sent as the Reference of the Xero invoice when the order has no PO / Reference. If you leave it blank, Cademy sends the order code and order ID.
Invoice Status - the status Cademy gives each invoice in Xero. With Xero Default Invoice Status or Authorised, the invoice is approved and awaiting payment. Draft and Submitted create the invoice without approving it, and Cademy sends that status again each time it updates an unpaid invoice. Xero accepts payments only on approved invoices, so contact Cademy Support before you choose Draft or Submitted. Credit notes are always sent as approved.
Invoice Template - the Xero branding theme (invoice layout) for the invoices and credit notes Cademy creates. Default Theme leaves the choice to Xero. If you see Unable to load branding themes instead of the list, Cademy could not reach that Xero organisation.
Use Different Xero Settings for One Course or Stop It Syncing
Each course uses the default Xero account and its settings unless you choose otherwise in the course, which needs access to edit the course.
Open the course and go to Edit Course > Settings > Payments.
Find the Xero Integration section. It appears only when at least one Xero account is connected.
In Xero Account, choose your connected account by name, or leave Use Default Xero Account & Settings.
If you chose a specific account, set the options described below.
Select Save at the top of the course editor.
When a specific account is chosen, these options appear:
Sync invoices and payments automatically to this Xero account - on unless you switch it off. When it is off, Cademy sends nothing to Xero for any invoice that includes this course: no invoice, payment, credit note, refund, applied credit, void or due-date change.
With the sync option on, you can enter a different Account Code for Invoices, Default PO / Reference Value, Invoice Status and Invoice Template for this course. A cleared box returns to the account’s value.
Payment accounts cannot be set for one course. Set them on the Xero account, under Apps, then Xero.
To stop one course syncing while it uses your default Xero account, choose that account by name in Xero Account, then switch the sync option off.
When one invoice covers more than one course, Cademy uses the first course’s Xero settings. If any of its courses has syncing switched off, or they use different Xero accounts, the invoice is not sent.
Refund a Payment Made Outside Cademy When Xero Is Connected
Cademy sends money back automatically only for Stripe and PayPal payments. For a payment shown on the order as Xero or Manual, Cademy records the refund, creates the matching credit note in Xero and adds the refund to that credit note, but you move the money yourself. The refund window shows these payments, labelled Xero and Recorded manually, with “you move this money yourself” next to the amount.
Remove or Disconnect a Xero Account
Select Apps, then Xero.
In Connected Xero Accounts, select the cog icon next to the account and choose Remove.
In the Remove Xero Account window, select Remove. Cademy shows Xero account deleted.
This cannot be undone. You can connect again only while your plan includes Xero; without it, Install is greyed out. After you remove an account:
Cademy stops sending records to that Xero organisation. Nothing already in Xero is deleted or changed.
Xero numbers and View in Xero links already saved in Cademy stay in place.
If you removed your default account while others remain connected, the oldest remaining account becomes the new default.
Courses set to the removed account stop syncing and do not switch to the default account. Cademy has no list of those courses, so note them before you remove it, then reset each one as described below.
To withdraw Cademy’s access inside Xero, also disconnect Cademy in Xero’s connected apps settings.
After Removing a Xero Account, Reset Its Courses
Do this for each course that was set to the removed account, even if its Xero Account box appears to show the default option.
Open the course and go to Edit Course > Settings > Payments.
In Xero Integration, choose a connected account by name in Xero Account. If the course had its own Invoice Template, choose it again, because the earlier choice belonged to the removed account.
Select Save at the top of the course editor.
If the course should use your default account, choose Use Default Xero Account & Settings in Xero Account and select Save again.
If no Xero account is connected, the Xero Integration section is not shown: connect an account first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Cademy choose or change contacts in Xero?
No. Cademy sends the customer’s billing name, email address, tax number and address with each invoice. Xero decides whether to match an existing contact or create one, and whether to update its details.