Xero email integration

Why you need ForwardThis

Email is messy, every message asking for something different. It means constantly leaving your inbox and juggling tabs. ForwardThis skips all of that: forward an email along with some simple instructions, and it’s handled. Compatible with every email provider, and it works across the apps you’re already using.

Questions

How does the Xero email integration work?

In Xero the supplier's email becomes a draft bill with the PDF attached straight from the message, or a draft sales invoice, quote or purchase order, and every one of them waits as a draft until you approve it in Xero, because approving is what issues it. Forward the email to your ForwardThis address with a simple instruction saying what it is, like "record this as a bill from Meridian Supplies for £1,240, due 24 September". ForwardThis drafts it and replies to confirm with a link. The first time, you'll need a free account with Xero connected, which takes about 30 seconds, and that's the entire Xero email integration. Emailing invoices into Xero has a page of its own, and so does emailing receipts: Email invoices into Xero and Email receipts into Xero.

Can it pay an invoice or send one to a customer?

No, and it never will. ForwardThis never moves money. It can draft a sales invoice, a quote, a supplier bill or a purchase order, and that is where it stops: nothing is approved, issued, emailed to your customer, or paid. In Xero, approving a document is what issues it, so everything ForwardThis creates waits as a draft until you approve it yourself. It also means nothing arriving in Gmail can cause a payment, however it is worded: a supplier's email only ever puts details on a draft.

Can it attach the invoice PDF to the record?

Yes, and that's the point of forwarding it: the file is read out of the email, so there's nothing to download and re-upload. It can attach to a bill, an invoice or a contact. Xero has no way to remove an attachment afterwards, so that one step can't be undone, and ForwardThis won't offer you an undo it couldn't honour.

Can it answer questions about my accounts?

Yes. Ask what's unpaid, what a particular customer still owes, or for a profit and loss, aged receivables or balance sheet over a date range, and the answer comes back in a reply. Xero works out every figure, so the numbers are Xero's own. Reading changes nothing in your books.

What if it drafts the wrong thing?

The confirmation email includes an undo that works for 24 hours, which deletes the draft. Nothing had been issued or posted to your accounts in the first place, so there's nothing to correct after the fact. You can also just reply and tell it what the right amount or date was.