Integrations

Connecting Xero: certified valuations as sales invoices

3 min read · Checked against the product 3 October 2026

Not yet switched on: the Xero connection is built and being tested, with no date yet. When it is on, a certified valuation becomes a sales invoice with retention on its own account, and a paid invoice marks the valuation paid.

Status: not yet switched on. The Xero connection has been built and is being tested. It is not switched on for customers yet, and we cannot give a date. Until it is, the Xero card in Settings, Integrations stops at “Setup pending” where “Connect Xero” will be, and nothing reaches Xero. Meanwhile the register exports as CSV, and the whole account as JSON, for your accounts team. The rest of this guide is how the connection will work once it is switched on.

What it will do

With Xero connected, the certificate you record in VariationFlow becomes the sales invoice in your accounts, and when Xero shows the invoice paid, the valuation follows. It is for UK organisations on the paid plans (Builder, VariationFlow and VariationFlow + QA Flow), and an admin or director sets it up. An interim application is not a sales invoice, so nothing goes to Xero until the valuation is certified.

Connect it, once it is switched on

1. Go to Settings, Integrations. If the Xero card shows “Activate Xero”, choose it. Then choose “Connect Xero” and authorise the connection in Xero.
2. Under Invoicing settings, enter the sales (revenue) account code. Use a CIS or reverse-charge configured sales account in Xero, so its CIS feature and tax rate apply. It is required before anything can be pushed.
3. Enter a retention account code if you post withheld retention separately. It defaults to the sales account.
4. Choose the invoice status on push. Draft, the recommended setting, lets someone check the VAT and retention before the invoice is issued; Authorised issues it straight away.
5. Decide on “Auto-push on certification”. On, the Xero invoice is raised when a valuation is certified; off, you send each one with “Send to Xero”. Save the settings.

Day to day, once it is switched on

• Record the certificate on the valuation as usual. Until then the valuation shows “Certify to send to Xero”.
• Once certified, “Send to Xero” raises one invoice for the valuation and the badge shows the invoice as sent. If a push fails, the badge says so and “Retry Xero push” sends it again. An unpaid invoice that has been sent can be refreshed with “Update Xero invoice”.
• When the invoice is fully paid in Xero, the valuation is marked paid with the payment date and a Xero reference, unless you had already recorded a payment on it yourself. Then settle its variations as usual.
• Customers marked “This contractor self-bills” are always skipped, because they issue the invoice themselves.

What good looks like

• Every certified valuation in Xero within a day of the certificate, with retention on its own account.
• Draft status for the first few months, until the accounts team trusts the invoices.

Common mistakes

• Pushing to an ordinary sales account, so the CIS deduction and reverse-charge VAT are wrong in Xero.
• Not marking self-billing customers, so an invoice is raised for a job where the contractor issues its own.
• Ignoring “Reconnect needed”. When the Xero authorisation expires, invoicing stops until an admin reconnects.