Xero FAQ

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Overview

Once you’ve integrated Anrok & Xero, configured your Xero account, and checked out our best practices for invoicing in Xero, we understand you may encounter situations you haven't experienced before — which can bring about a few questions. Let's work through some of these commonly asked questions together:

Why is my invoice's tax amount showing as $0.00 in Xero?

1. See if you've saved the invoice yet.

For Anrok to calculate sales tax, the invoice must first be sent to Anrok. The invoice is sent to Anrok immediately after you click Save & close at the top of your Xero invoice. For this reason, before you save the invoice, the calculated tax amount will be shown as $0.00. The tax calculation will be displayed after you save and reloaded the invoice.

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Once the invoice has been sent to Anrok, it will appear on your Transactions page — along with the customer and product/service information, the calculated tax amount, and the jurisdiction's return period.

2. Check if the accounting date is before the jurisdiction's tax collection start date.

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If you've confirmed that the invoice has been saved and is present on your Transactions page, there is a chance that the accounting date listed is before your tax collection date. To check a jurisdiction's tax collection start date:

  1. In the Anrok app CleanShot 2023-07-20 at 12.02.21@2x.png, go to Jurisdictions. Take me there!
  2. Select the Remitting tab, then select the jurisdiction.
  3. Under Jurisdiction details, review the Tax calculation state date. 

3. Make sure you've selected the invoice's amounts to be Tax exclusive. 

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If the invoice is present on your Transaction page and is dated after the jurisdiction tax collection date, there is a possibility the amounts on the transaction have been marked as Tax inclusive instead of Tax exclusive. At this time, Anrok does not support tax inclusive pricing model, so all transactions are required to be tax exclusive. To mark a transaction as tax exclusive:

  1. In the Xero app CleanShot 2023-07-19 at 15.00.52@2x.png, go to the invoice you would like to edit.
  2. Under Amounts are, select Tax exclusive.  
  3. When you are finished, click Save.
  4. Reload the invoice to view Anrok’s updated tax amount.

Why am I receiving an "Unknown product ID" error on my Unprocessed Transactions page?

Configure the Xero item into Anrok as a product ID.

This error occurs when Anrok receives a Xero item that does not have a corresponding Anrok product ID. For Anrok to calculate tax on an item in your invoice, you will need to configure the item as a product ID in Anrok. Doing so ensures that the correct tax rate and taxability are applied to the item — based on the configured product type and tax category. To configure a Xero item into Anrok as a product ID:

  1. In the Anrok app CleanShot 2023-07-20 at 12.02.21@2x.png, go to Data sources. Take me there
  2. Under Integration sources, click the options menu button anrok_option_menu.png next to Xero, then select Configure new products.
  3. Under New products detected, select a corresponding Product type and Tax category for each product detected. See What tax configuration should I select?
  4. If you'd like to assign a Product type and Tax category to multiple products at once, click the checkbox  anrok_checkbox.png  next to each product, then select Batch assign.
  5. When you are finished, scroll down and click Add products.

 

Why am I receiving an "Internal" error on my Unprocessed Transactions page?

1. Make sure you've included an item on the invoice, not just a description. 

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For Anrok to calculate tax on an invoice, the invoice must include an item, not just a description. To add the item to your invoice:
  1. In the Xero app CleanShot 2023-07-19 at 15.00.52@2x.png, go to the invoice you would like to edit.
  2. Under Item, click the empty box, then select an item to include on the invoice.
  3. When you are finished, click Save.
  4. Reload the invoice to view Anrok’s updated tax amount.
If you have not created an item for this product or service yet:
  1. In the Xero app CleanShot 2023-07-19 at 15.00.52@2x.png, go to Products and services. Take me there!
  2. Click New item, then under New item, add the following information:
    • Code:  add an item code to find and organize your items.
    • Name: add an item name for internal use only.
  3. Next to Purchase, deselect the checkbox   xero_empty_checkbox.png.
  4. Under Sell, add the following information:
    • Sale price: add the sale price of the item in your base currency.
    • Sales account: select the default chart of accounts code for revenue received when selling the item.
    • Tax rate: select Tax on Sales.
  5. When you are finished, click Save or Save & add another.
 

2. Make sure Tax on Sales has been selected as the tax rate.

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For Anrok to read an invoice, all products and services included on the invoice must be marked as taxable. To mark all products and services as taxable:

  1. In the Xero app CleanShot 2023-07-19 at 15.00.52@2x.png, go to the invoice you would like to edit.
  2. Under Tax Rate, select Tax on Sales (if not already selected).
  3. When you are finished, click Save.
  4. Reload the invoice to view Anrok’s updated tax amount.

If you are worried about a non-taxable product having getting taxed, you can always adjusts the product/service's product ID product type and category on the Product IDs page. If the customer is tax exempt, you can add the customer's tax exemption certificate on the Certificates page. If you are concerned the customer will be taxed in a jurisdiction you are not collecting sales tax, Anrok will determine every invoices taxability based on the customer's address and billing location.

How does Anrok process Xero's credit memos?

Anrok's Xero integration assesses taxability for your transactions by taking into account Credit Notes. The following is intended as a guide to help you understand the tax implications for applying them. 

Credit Memos

Credit Notes in Xero are post-tax, meaning that the amount credited back to your customer is inclusive of tax. This means that if you issue, for example, a $50 credit on an invoice then that amount will be proportionally applied to include a refund of the relevant tax and the remaining amount towards the purchased items. Alternately, if you wanted to credit back 50% of a purchase, you'd need to credit half of the invoice total, inclusive of tax.

Please note that Xero uses Credit Notes for refunds and Anrok updates the original transaction when they are received (instead of creating a new transaction). For this reason, Credit notes/memos are a required way of recording credits/refunds.

 

What Xero tax rate should I select if there is no "Tax on Sales" default tax rate?

Anrok's Xero integration works with any non-tax-exempt tax rate. You are free to choose another option if you do not have the default "Tax on Sales" tax rate in your Xero account.

What should I do if my Xero invoice is showing the incorrect tax rate?

Based on your choice of Xero tax rate, it's possible your invoice layout is showing a tax rate label that includes an incorrect tax rate. To remove this tax rate label from your invoice layout:

Go to Settings -> Invoice Settings -> Edit Branding Theme. For "Show tax subtotals by", choose option "a single tax subtotal".

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