Email PDF Bills into Your Xero Organisation
Managing bills efficiently is one of the most important tasks for any business. Manual data entry is slow, prone to errors, and a poor use of your team’s time. Xero offers a feature that allows you to email PDF bills directly into your organisation. Each email becomes a draft bill ready for review and coding
Email PDF Bills into Your Xero Organisation
Introduction
Managing bills efficiently is one of the most important tasks for any business. Manual data entry is slow, prone to errors, and a poor use of your team’s time. Xero offers a feature that allows you to email PDF bills directly into your organisation. Each email becomes a draft bill ready for review and coding.
This process helps businesses streamline accounts payable, save hours of administrative work, and maintain cleaner records. In this blog, we explain how the feature works, why it matters, and how to make the most of it for your business.
What is the Email-to-Xero Feature?
Email-to-Xero is a built-in function that lets you forward supplier invoices as PDF, JPG, or PNG attachments. Xero reads the files and creates draft bills inside your account.
Key points:
- Each attachment becomes a draft bill.
- Drafts default to tax inclusive.
- File size limit is 25 MB per email.
- One email can hold multiple attachments.
- Draft bills are always placed in the “Bills to pay” area.
Once the drafts are in Xero, you review, assign account codes, and approve.
Why Businesses Should Use Email-to-Xero
Businesses benefit in several ways:
- Save time by avoiding manual bill entry.
- Reduce mistakes from retyping figures.
- Ensure bills are stored in one central place.
- Speed up the approval process.
- Give accountants and bookkeepers a consistent workflow.
Compared with manual entry, emailing bills straight to Xero ensures greater accuracy and less risk of missed invoices.
How to Set It Up
- Log into your Xero account.
- Go to “Business” then “Bills to pay”.
- Select “Create bill from email”.
- Copy the unique email address generated by Xero.
- Save this email address in your contacts as “Xero Bills”.
- Forward supplier invoices as PDF attachments to this address.
Tips for success:
- Always send invoices as attachments, not embedded in the email body.
- If using forwarding rules in Outlook or Gmail, update them whenever Xero refreshes the bills email address.
- For frequent suppliers, ask them to copy your unique bills email address directly when sending invoices.
How the Process Works in Practice
When you email a bill:
- Xero scans the PDF.
- It attempts to pre-fill contact name, invoice date, due date, and total.
- A lightning bolt icon shows where automation has worked.
- If multiple attachments exist, Xero creates multiple draft bills where possible.
The system is not perfect. Some invoices may require manual correction. Always check details before approving.
Common Limitations and Troubleshooting
Even with automation, issues can arise.
- Multiple PDFs in one email: Sometimes Xero groups them as one bill with several attachments.
- Unreadable PDFs: If the file format is unusual, Xero will upload it as an attachment only.
- Contact mismatches: Xero may not match the supplier if contact names are inconsistent. Clean contact records reduce this risk.
- Credit notes: These will upload as draft bills and need to be manually changed to credit notes.
- Special characters in the Xero email address: If an auto-forward fails, regenerate your bills email address and update your email rules.
Comparing Email-to-Xero and Hubdoc
Both tools serve different needs.
Email-to-Xero:
- Simple and fast.
- Free with every Xero subscription.
- Best for small businesses and straightforward invoices.
Hubdoc:
- Reads invoices with Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
- Splits multi-page invoices.
- Extracts line items.
- Best for businesses with complex supplier bills.
For most small businesses, email-to-Xero provides enough automation to cut admin time while keeping the process easy.
Tips for Optimising Workflow
To get the best results:
- Ask suppliers to always send invoices in PDF format.
- Forward invoices as soon as they arrive to avoid delays.
- Review draft bills daily to approve or correct.
- Keep supplier names consistent in your Xero contacts.
- Use a shared mailbox so all team members can forward bills.
- Periodically test the process after Xero updates its platform.
Case Study: How a Small Business Benefits
A trades business receives dozens of supplier invoices weekly. Previously, admin staff spent hours re-entering details. By setting up email-to-Xero, staff now forward invoices directly, and bills appear as drafts. Coding and approval takes minutes instead of hours.
The result:
- Reduced data entry errors.
- Faster monthly reporting.
- Clearer cash flow forecasting.
Expanding to Larger Organisations
For larger businesses, the system scales. Multiple team members can forward bills into the same Xero account. Finance managers can then review and approve centrally.
Adding simple controls like forwarding rules and supplier education ensures smooth operation across the organisation.
Security and Data Management
Businesses should also consider security:
- Only share your unique bills email address with trusted suppliers.
- Regenerate the address if it is ever compromised.
- Monitor draft bills regularly to avoid spam entries.
- Store sensitive documents only through secure channels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I email JPG or PNG invoices?
Yes, Xero accepts PDF, JPG, and PNG.
Q: What if the total doesn’t match?
Always check before approving. Automated data can miss certain layouts.
Q: Can I send multiple invoices in one email?
Yes, but results vary. Sometimes they upload as one bill with multiple attachments.
Q: Will credit notes upload correctly?
No, you must manually convert them.
Conclusion
Emailing PDF bills into Xero is a practical, time-saving feature for businesses of all sizes. It reduces manual data entry, improves accuracy, and centralises your bill management.
For businesses seeking greater efficiency, this feature provides a straightforward way to simplify accounts payable. For more advanced needs, tools like Hubdoc may complement the workflow.
Trinity Accounting Practice helps businesses across Australia get the most from Xero. We set up processes, train staff, and ensure compliance. If you want to simplify your bill management and streamline your bookkeeping, contact our team today.
Our team helps businesses set up and manage Xero efficiently. Learn more on our Xero Accounting Page
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