Contacts in Xero can be setup with “default” account codes and tax types for sales and purchases. If set, Xero will use these to pre-populate the account code or tax type fields during bank statement reconciliation.
What you need to know:
- Contact Defaults is available for Xero clients only.
- If you use supplier rules in Dext Prepare those rules will override these settings for contact defaults.
Using Contact Defaults
For contacts that your client has a recurring relationship with (e.g. a supplier that bills monthly), setting these defaults in Xero can dramatically speed up the reconciliation process.
Figuring out which contacts are eligible for setting up these defaults can be time-consuming. This feature in Precision analyses each contact’s transaction history and searches for contacts where either sales or purchase invoices have been consistently assigned the same account code or tax type, and presents these up to you in a handy list.
To review and set these defaults to Client Overview >Clean Up >Contact Defaults
You can review the transaction history of these contacts and decide whether or not to apply Dext Precision’s suggestion.
Clicking Set as default does what is says on the tin – Dext Precision will set as the default for either Sales or Purchases in Xero.
Xero’s support documentation on settings for Contacts is here.
Dismissals
If you think the suggested default is not suitable, you can dismiss it. Any dismissed suggestions can be viewed by selecting dismissed from the filter at the top of the screen, where you can then review and undo any accidental dismissals. Dismissed items do not contribute to the Health Score.
The dismissal covers the combination of contact name and the type of suggested account code; account code or tax type. If you dismiss a suggested account code default for a contact, for example, you will still be suggested potential default tax types if one becomes suitable.
Next Steps:
- Review your Duplicate Contacts to clean up your supplier and customer contact ledger.