Connecting your Dext and Xero accounts lets you send your items directly from Dext to your accounting software - with all the relevant details applied.
Once connected, Dext syncs your key lists from Xero and enables the Publish button, allowing you to export your costs and sales data seamlessly.
Important: Only Admin users can connect Dext to accounting software. This includes accountants and bookkeepers accessing a client account.
What connecting does
Connecting Dext and Xero will:
Sync your Chart of Accounts, Suppliers, Customers, Tax rates, Tracking Categories, Products and services, and Payment methods.
Activate the Publish button in Dext, which allows you to send your processed items and Expense claims directly to Xero.
Once connected, Dext will automatically sync your Xero data every 48 hours to keep your lists and categories up to date.
Tip: You can apply your synced categories and tax rates manually to items in Dext or automate this process using Supplier and Customer rules.
How to connect your Xero account
Go to Business settings in the sidebar
Select Connections
Under Accounting software, click Connect
Select Xero from the list
Click Connect software
Log in to Xero
Click Allow access
Select the organisation you want to connect to
Click Finish
Once connected, your Chart of Accounts will appear under Business settings > Lists > Categories.
If the organisation appears greyed out in Xero
When you’re redirected to Xero to authorise the connection, you may see the organisation you're trying to connect to greyed out in the dropdown list.
In this case, you do not need to select it again - click Continue with [number] organisations.
This will complete the authorisation process and return you to Dext to finish the connection.
Configuring your Xero integration settings
After connecting, configure how Dext publishes data to Xero from your Xero settings page.
To access these settings:
Go to Business settings > Connections.
Click Manage next to Xero, then select Settings.
From here, you can adjust publishing preferences, default destinations, tax behaviour, and more for your Xero integration.
Manage how suppliers sync from Xero
Within the Xero settings page, you can choose whether Dext displays:
All Xero contacts, or
Only Xero suppliers
Use the Supplier list dropdown to select your preferred option.
After changing this setting:
Go to the Costs tab
Open Suppliers
Click Reload
This refreshes the supplier list based on your selected option:
If Only suppliers is selected, contacts that are not suppliers will be removed (unless already used on items).
If All contacts is selected, all Xero contacts will be available as suppliers in Dext.
Note: If your Xero organisation has more than 3,000 contacts, Dext will automatically limit the sync to suppliers and contacts that already have invoices in Xero.
Related articles on integration settings
These guides explain how to control what happens when you publish from Dext to Xero, including how tax is applied and where items are published.
How to publish to Xero
Once your integration settings are configured, you can start publishing your items to Xero.
Before publishing, make sure each item has the correct category, tax rate, and payment status.
Related articles on publishing
Troubleshooting publishing errors
If you experience any issues when publishing to Xero, check the Xero publishing error messages guide.
It explains the most common publishing errors and how to resolve them.
How to reconnect your Xero account
If your Xero connection expires or stops working, you’ll need to reconnect it to restore publishing.
Follow the steps in our dedicated article on how to reconnect with Xero.