Shopify Xero Integration: Automate Your Ecommerce Accounting (2025)

Xero’s cloud accounting combined with Shopify creates a powerful system for ecommerce financial management. This guide walks through everything you need to connect and configure the integration properly.

Shopify

integrates with

Xero

Accounting 4.9

Xero 2025 Quick Stats

Related: Internal Link Finder.

Sources: About Xero, Xero Central: Bank reconciliation.

Why Connect Shopify to Xero?

Related: QuickBooks Online integration.

Ecommerce accounting without automation means:

• Manually entering every order (or summarizing with spreadsheets)
• Reconciling Shopify payouts with bank statements line by line
• Tracking sales tax collected across multiple jurisdictions
• Risk of human error in financial reporting

After integration:

Top Shopify Xero Integration Apps

A2X (Recommended)

Best for: Accuracy-focused stores, accountant-managed books

A2X is designed specifically for ecommerce accounting. It posts summarized settlement entries that match exactly to your Shopify payouts.

Key advantage: Bank reconciliation matches perfectly because A2X posts entries that correspond to actual bank deposits.

Amaka

Best for: Simple setups, budget-conscious stores

Amaka offers straightforward order-by-order syncing at a lower price point.

OneSaas

Best for: Multi-app ecosystems

If you need to connect Shopify, Xero, and other tools (inventory, CRM, etc.), OneSaas provides a central integration hub.

Step-by-Step Setup with A2X

Prerequisites

Before starting:

• Active Shopify store with sales history
• Xero account with chart of accounts configured
• Admin access to both platforms
• 30 minutes of uninterrupted setup time

Step 1: Install A2X

1. Open the A2X listing in the Shopify App Store
2. Click Add app and complete installation
3. Create A2X account when prompted

Step 2: Connect to Xero

In the A2X dashboard:

1. Click Connect to Xero
2. Sign in to your Xero account
3. Select your Xero organization (if you have multiple)
4. Authorize A2X access

Step 3: Map Accounts

The most critical step. Configure where Shopify data posts in Xero:

Shopify Revenue Types → Xero Income Accounts
├── Product Sales    → "Sales" (Revenue)
├── Shipping Income  → "Shipping Revenue" (Revenue)
├── Gift Cards Sold  → "Gift Card Liability" (Liability)
└── Tips             → "Tips Revenue" (Revenue)

Shopify Fees & Costs → Xero Expense Accounts
├── Transaction Fees → "Merchant Fees" (Expense)
├── Shopify Fees     → "Platform Fees" (Expense)
└── Refunds          → "Sales Returns" (Revenue - negative)

Tax Collected → Xero Tax Accounts
└── Sales Tax        → Appropriate tax rate code

Step 4: Configure Settlement Posting

A2X groups transactions by Shopify payout. Configure:

• Posting date: Settlement date (recommended) or order date
• Invoice prefix: “SHOP-” or similar for easy identification
• Sync frequency: Daily or manual

Step 5: Test with Historical Data

Before going live:

1. Import one historical settlement
2. Check entries in Xero
3. Verify account mapping is correct
4. Reconcile against bank statement

Step 6: Enable Automatic Sync

Once verified:

1. Enable automatic syncing
2. Set notification preferences for errors
3. Schedule weekly review of sync status

Account Mapping Best Practices

Revenue Accounts

Create separate income accounts for better reporting:

Fee Accounts

Track costs separately:

Tax Configuration

For stores collecting sales tax:

1. Enable sales tax in Xero settings
2. Create tax rates matching your jurisdictions
3. Map Shopify tax collection to appropriate Xero tax codes

Multi-jurisdiction example (US store):

California 7.25%  → CA Sales Tax (Xero)
New York 8.0%     → NY Sales Tax (Xero)
Texas 6.25%       → TX Sales Tax (Xero)

Handling Multi-Currency Sales

Xero handles multi-currency well, but configuration matters.

Setup Requirements

1. Enable multi-currency in Xero (paid feature)
2. Add currencies you transact in
3. Configure A2X to match currencies

How It Works

Customer pays €100
├── Shopify records €100 sale
├── A2X converts to your base currency (e.g., USD)
├── Xero records transaction in base currency
└── Exchange gains/losses tracked automatically

Currency Reconciliation

Monthly, review the “Unrealised Currency Gains” account in Xero to understand FX impact.

Reconciliation Workflow

Daily (5 minutes)

1. Check A2X dashboard for sync errors
2. Review Xero bank feed for new Shopify deposits
3. Match deposits to A2X settlements

Weekly (30 minutes)

1. Run A2X settlement summary report
2. Compare to Shopify Analytics revenue
3. Investigate any discrepancies > $50
4. Review refunds and chargebacks

Monthly (1-2 hours)

Reconciliation Checklist:
□ All Shopify payouts matched in Xero bank
□ A2X settlements total matches Shopify
□ Sales tax collected reconciles to Shopify tax report
□ Gift card liability reflects outstanding balance
□ Merchant fees match Shopify bills

Common Issues and Fixes

Issue: Entries Don’t Match Bank Deposits

Cause: Usually timing differences or missing settlements

Fix:

1. Verify A2X posting dates match payout dates
2. Check for any skipped settlements in A2X
3. Ensure all payment gateways are connected

Issue: Tax Amounts Don’t Reconcile

Cause: Tax rate mismatches or rounding

Fix:

1. Review tax code mapping in A2X
2. Check for manual tax overrides in Shopify
3. Verify tax-inclusive vs. tax-exclusive settings match

Issue: Duplicate Transactions

Cause: Multiple sync methods active

Fix:

1. Use only ONE integration app
2. Disable any manual import processes
3. Set clear start date for automatic sync

Cost-Benefit Analysis

True cost of manual bookkeeping:

• Time spent: 5-15 hours/month
• Error correction: 2-4 hours/month
• Delayed decisions from stale data: Hard to quantify but significant

Advanced Configuration

Inventory Tracking

While Xero can track inventory, it’s limited. For basic tracking:

1. Enable inventory in Xero settings
2. Create inventory items matching Shopify products
3. Configure A2X to update inventory quantities

For complex inventory needs, consider:

• Cin7 integration for warehouse management
• TradeGecko (now QuickBooks Commerce) for multi-location

Class/Category Tracking

If you sell across multiple categories or brands:

1. Set up tracking categories in Xero
2. Map Shopify product types to Xero categories
3. Generate reports by category for brand-level P&L

2025 Snapshot

Quick benchmarks for the Xero workflow. Use these as planning ranges, then validate against your own data.

Next Steps

With Shopify-Xero integration running:

1. Automate tax filing with Avalara or TaxJar integration
2. Add expense management connecting business cards to Xero
3. Set up financial dashboards using Xero’s reporting tools
4. Consider inventory integration if tracking stock closely

# List the 5 most recent orders (GraphQL)
curl -X POST "https://your-store.myshopify.com/admin/api/2025-01/graphql.json" \
  -H "X-Shopify-Access-Token: $SHOPIFY_ADMIN_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"query\":\"{ orders(first: 5, sortKey: CREATED_AT, reverse: true) { edges { node { id name createdAt totalPriceSet { shopMoney { amount currencyCode } } customer { email } } } } }\"}"

Sources

• Xero on Shopify App Store
• Shopify: Ecommerce accounting guide
• Shopify: Online payments guide