Xero Automation

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

Quick Reference

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