By integrating your TryBooking account with Xero, TryBooking will post a reconciled bank transaction to Xero for each:
Ticket Booking
Ticket Refund
Donation via Fundraising Pages
Donation refund via Fundraising Page
Gift Certificate Purchase
The integration is one way, and the above will be posted to Xero automatically.
We will not post to Xero
Gift Certificate Redemptions
Bank Transfers
Set up your Xero integration
Those with the role of Account Owner or Finance User will have permission to set up and manage the Xero integration. To view these roles and their permissions see: Setting Up and Managing Team Members
Step 1: Connect your Xero account to your TryBooking account
To connect your TryBooking account to your Xero account:
Login to your TryBooking account
On the left menu, select Dashboard
On the left menu, select Xero integration under Integration tools
On the Xero integration page, click Connect to Xero
You'll be directed to Xero where you can log in, select an organisation and give TryBooking permission to post your Xero account
Once you've given TryBooking permission to post to your Xero organisation, you'll be redirected back to TryBooking
Step 2: Contact Creation Setting
You will have the choice as to whether you would like the Booking Name contact to pull through to the transaction in Xero or whether you would prefer to have the all pull through under the one generic contact.
If you select Use Booking contact details, a new contact will be created in Xero for the each transaction. Should you have a returning customer, they will come under the one contact in Xero, should they use the same name and email address for each booking.
If you select Use one generic contact for all bookings, the following contact will be created in Xero for all transactions:
First Name: TryBooking
Last Name: Customer
Email: noreply@trybooking.com
Step 3: Select a Xero Bank Account
In order for TryBooking to send booking transactions to Xero, you must first select a Xero Bank Account, this is a mandatory field. We strongly recommend setting "TryBooking" as the Bank Account. Click here to learn how to create a Xero Bank Account.
We strongly recommend creating a Bank Account within Xero named "TryBooking", then treating this as an external bank account. This means that the balance in your TryBooking account should match the balances in your "TryBooking" Bank Account within Xero.
Step 4: Mapping TryBooking fields to Xero accounts
The following components of a booking transaction are sent as line items of a bank transaction:
TryBooking Field | Description |
Ticket Sales | Each ticket type will be a separate line item. Ticket Sales will include booking first name and last name, event name and ticket type for paid tickets only. |
TryBooking Fees | The processing fees if paid by the event organiser will be posted as a line item |
Donations | Donations made by ticket buyers on an event will be posted as a line item |
Gift Certificates | Separate line items will be posted when a gift certificate is purchased, redeemed and refunded |
Promotions/Discounts | The promotion name and value of discount will be posted to Xero |
To map a TryBooking field with a Xero account:
Select the Xero Account dropdown and click on the appropriate Xero account. It's mandatory to map all TryBooking fields to Xero accounts. Your integration will not work otherwise
If you have set up tracking codes within Xero, you can also choose to map tracking codes to your TryBooking fields in this section. If no tracking codes have been set up, this column will not be displayed
Once all the fields and Bank Account are mapped, click Save
The integration with Xero and TryBooking is now live
Step 5: Override the Xero account code or tracking code for each ticket type (not mandatory)
With the mapping of the TryBooking fields to Xero accounts complete at the account level, you will have the option of overriding the Xero account at the ticket level.
If you have set up tracking codes within Xero, you may choose to select a different tracking code for each ticket type you create on an event, this will override the default tracking code you have set for ticket sales.
To override the Xero account or tracking code at the ticket level:
Click Dashboard from the left menu
Under Manage Events Overview, click on the name of your event
Select Pricing Groups (Ticket Prices), then click on the name of the Pricing Group you wish to edit
Click on the name of the ticket you to apply the override
Navigate to the Xero tab
Select the desired Xero account and/or tracking code(s) from the drop-down fields
Click Save
Step 6: Enabling GST (not mandatory)
Unless you have input your ABN/VAT/GST/IRD number and enabled GST/VAT on your account, all line items will be input into Xero as BAS or Tax Excluded.
How to update your tax details within TryBooking:
From the Account Dashboard, click on Account Settings
Scroll down to Tax Details, enter your ABN/VAT/GST/IRD number
Select Enable GST/VAT
Click Save
How the Xero integration works
The Xero integration is one way and works by posting a sale or refund as a reconciled bank transaction. The following table shows you the typical journal for each transaction type and whether the transaction will be posted automatically to Xero or not.
Transaction Type | Typical Journal | Integrated |
Sales transaction (paid tickets only) | Debit Bank Credit Sales Credit GST Payable (if enabled) Debit Processing Fees | Yes |
Refund transaction | Credit Bank Debit Sales Debit GST Receivable (if enabled) Credit Processing Fees | Yes |
Donation Via Fundraising Pages | Debit Bank Credit Sales Debit Processing Fees | Yes |
Donation Refund Via Fundraising Pages | Credit Bank Debit Sales Credit Processing Fees | Yes |
Gift Certificate purchase | Debit Bank Credit Liability (100%) Debit Processing Fees | Yes |
Gift Certificate Redemption | Credit Sales Credit GST Payable Debit Processing Fees Debit Liability | No |
Bank Transfer | Debit Bank (CBA, NAB etc) Credit TryBooking | No |
When tickets are sold / bookings are made the balance of your TryBooking account should increase (as would the bank account within Xero), conversely when refunds are processed the balance of these two balances will likewise decrease.
Manually processing bank transfers
The only expected manual step is when funds are withdrawn from TryBooking via the bank transfer process. Once these are processed by TryBooking it will not be reflected within Xero meaning the balances will not align.
To reconcile the bank transfer in Xero:
With the transfer request completed in TryBooking, once the physical cash lands in the actual bank account, it will reflect in your Xero Account.
In Xero, complete an internal bank transfer of this money from your "TryBooking" Bank Account to your "general" bank account e.g. ANZ, NAB, CBA etc
The "Trybooking" bank account will now show an imbalance between the Statement value and the Bank Statement value due to the transfer to the "general" bank account being unreconciled
Open the transfer transaction marked as unreconciled
From Options select Mark as Reconciled
The balance will now show as reconciled
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Why are my exports failing?
Xero exports can fail for a number of reasons. One of these may be that a mapped Xero account has been deleted or edited, this can happen if changes are made to an account within Xero. If there is an error, TryBooking places all failed exports into a queue.
To post queued bookings to Xero:
Login to TryBooking
On the left menu, click Dashboard
On the left menu, under Integration tools, select Xero integration
In the Map account section, ensure that all TryBooking fields are mapped to Xero accounts
Once changes are made, click Save
Click Manual Export
Once the export is complete, the account holder user will receive a confirmation email
Another reason why exports could fail is from time to time the connection between TryBooking and Xero can go offline. Once the connection is live again, you can manually export your failed exports
How do I disconnect my Xero account from my TryBooking account?
If you no longer wish to export bookings from TryBooking to Xero, you can disconnect your integration.
To disconnect:
Login to TryBooking
On the left menu, click Dashboard
On the left menu, under Integration tools, select Xero integration
In the Connect to Xero section, click Disconnect Xero
You can also disconnect your TryBooking Xero integration within Xero's settings.
I connected my TryBooking account to Xero, and now it says my integration is disconnected within TryBooking
As you can disconnect integrations within Xero itself, sometimes this may mean that your integration is accidentally disconnected.
You can simply reconnect to Xero using the instructions above, if there were any bookings made in the time the integration was disconnected you can do a manual export
Remap your Xero Bank Account and Xero Account Codes
Click Save
Click the Manual Export button
Once the manual export is complete, your admin user will receive a confirmation email
What do I do when my manual export fails?
If your manual export fails, firstly please ensure that the Xero Bank Account and Xero Account Codes are correctly mapped and saved plus the accounting periods which you are trying to post to are not closed.
If your exports are still failing, please get in touch with our local support team at info@trybooking.com.
If you are trying to post to a closed accounting period and don't wish to open them your options are to contact us and we can delete from the pending transactions.
The bank account or Xero account I want to use isn't showing as a possible option
If the bank account or Xero account isn't showing as a possible dropdown option, try pressing the Refresh Accounts button to refresh the options in these lists. If the account is still not showing, please speak with your Xero administrator as only unlocked and unarchived accounts will display in this list.
How do I create a TryBooking Bank Account within Xero?
Within Xero:
Select Accounting on the top menu then select Bank Accounts
Click the Add Bank Account button
Enter 'TryBooking' for the Bank Account Name
Click Add it anyway
Enter 'TryBooking' into the Account Name
Choose Other for Account Type
Enter 0's for the BSB and Account number
Click Save
We recommend that you ensure the balance of your dummy TryBooking account within Xero matches your actual TryBooking balance.