This guide provides step-by-step instructions to setup and configure a third-party integration with Xero in Flow.
Time required: Less than 10 minutes
User role: Administrator
Permissions: Data streams enabled
Module: System Configuration > Data streams
Overview
Connect your Xero account to create or update your customers and invoices. Increase your team’s productivity by keeping your account up to date - without manual data entry.
This integration enables you to:
- Create contact records for customers who require an invoice
-
Create invoice records for those customers
Before You Start
The following will need to be completed before setting up Xero in Flow:
Steps
The OpenPlay team will have completed some initial configuration when enabling data streams. Once the OpenPlay team have confirm you should:
- Navigate to System Configuration > Data Streams > Integrations > Third-Party integrations
- No changes should be required on the Detail tab, so navigate to the "Events" tab and select the events you would like to enable. For Block booking invoicing use cases, it will be:
- Invoice Drafted (v1)
- Invoice Opened (v1)
Note: The OpenPlay team may have already done this for you.
3. Navigate to the Connections tab to see all available integrations, for example:
4. Click "Connect" on the integration you would like to authenticate and configure
5. Once you have authenticated with Xero using your credentials, view the Configuration tab where you can enable the data stream workflows desired:
The data should now be flowing between Flow and Xero.
To test the connection and workflow, navigate to a Block booking and create a draft invoice.
- Navigate to a Block booking: Activities V2 > Block Bookings
2. Select the Invoicing tab
3. Select one of more bookings which have not been invoiced yet
4. Click "Generate invoice" which should thenn open the draft invoice in a slide over such as:
5. In Xero, you should now see the contact record for the customer which was assigned to the block booking; in this example Jane Doe:
6. In Xero, you should also see the draft invoice in the Sales > Invoices section with the Ref which was defined in Flow:
Note: Xero will create its own Invoice number which is shown in the Number column.
7. The invoice should show all of the data which was shown in Flow for example:
Xero will also show that the invoice was created via the Xero API from OpenPlay Flow in the History and notes section for full transparency.
From here, you can use the invoice in Xero as you usually would such as approving and sending to the customer.
Coming soon
- Changes in Xero will sync back to Flow such as changing the status
- Making payments for an invoice via Front of house
Default Data mapping
Customer (Contact)
| Flow | Xero | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Recipient name | Contact Name | The full name of the customer on the block booking |
| Recipient email | Contact Email | The email address of the customer on the block booking |
Note: A new contact will only be created by Flow if the contact is not already in Xero based on the email address. If the email address is found in Xero then the invoice will be assigned to that contact.
Invoice
| Flow | Xero | Description |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | Contact ID | The invoice will be mapped to Contacts based on Recipient email as noted above |
| Invoice Created at | Invoice date | The date the invoice was created in Flow |
| Invoice Due date | Invoice Due date | The date the invoice due date was set in Flow |
| Invoice net amount currency | Invoice currency | The currency of your Flow account |
| Invoice Line Description |
Invoice Line Description |
The description of the block booking in the format: Type - Customer - Datetime |
| "1" | Invoice Line Quantity | This value is always 1 for the Block booking use case |
| Invoice Line Net Amount | Invoice Line Unit Amount | The price of the booking including tax defined in Flow |
| Invoice Line Tax Amount |
Invoice Line Tax Amount |
The applicable tax of the booking defined in Flow |
Troubleshooting
Data is not showing in Xero for Invoices drafted or created
For data to flow, the following things must be in place:
- Data streams and Third-party data stream must be enabled on your account: Contact OpenPlay to enable these
- Invoicing must be enabled on your account: Contact OpenPlay to enable this
-
Events must be ticked: At least one event must be enabled as outlined in Step 2
- Invoice Drafted (v1)
- Invoice Opened (v1)
- Xero must be authenticated: You will "Connect" to Xero as outlined in Step 4
Can I change the field mapping?
We are targeting to make the field mapping available in March 2026 with the configuration. In the meantime, if you would like to discuss different field mapping please contact the OpenPlay team.
Can account codes be passed across or mapped?
We are aiming to add this flexibility as an improvement firstly with custom field mapping and then directly from Flow.