Xero
Xero accounting software platform that is designed for small and medium-sized businesses. The software allows users to manage their financial records, including invoicing, expenses, payroll, and bank transactions, all in one place. But did you know that Portant can also use Xero to generate invoices & documents from Xero data? This article will explore the various ways in which Xero data can be used to create customized documents, such as invoices.
In this article, you’ll learn how to:
Login to Portant and create a workflow
Select Xero as your Workflow Source
Format and customize your document template
Generate your first document
Login to Portant and create a workflow
If you don't already have a Portant account, you can sign up for one for free here: app.portant.co/signup
![](https://docs.portant.co/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets-global.website-files.com%2F5f3b57b5405f8bd0f98b5e14%2F63d45f5703e041ca6f259b77_HubSpot%2520Screenshot%25201%2520%25E2%2580%2593%252010.png&width=768&dpr=4&quality=100&sign=16a2d33d&sv=1)
After you have signed up, click the blue button in the top right-hand corner: New Workflow.
Select Xero as your Workflow Source
The next step is to select Xero as the source for your workflow.
The first time you select Xero as a source, you will have to authorise Portant to connect to your Xero account. This only has to be done once and you can manage this connection at any time here: app.portant.co/settings/permissions
When you set up your first workflow with Xero, Portant also assumes you want to make an invoice, so we automatically upload an invoice template like this:
![](https://docs.portant.co/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets-global.website-files.com%2F5f3b57b5405f8bd0f98b5e14%2F6413ffebdba3675508b2b5b0_Xero%2520Screenshot%25201%2520%25E2%2580%2593%25203.png&width=768&dpr=4&quality=100&sign=394022fc&sv=1)
If you already have a document template you'd like to use, you can change this file by clicking the 'Change selected file' button under the document name and picking a document from your Google Drive.
Then you can customise your document document by placing Xero tags from the Source table into the document. To insert a tag, click Copy and then insert your cursor where you'd like the tag to be placed and hit CTRL + V or CMD(⌘) + V
You can also customise the file name in the right panel and select if you'd like the document to be saved as a PDF.
Note: All PDFs in the Free tier have a Portant watermark in the footer. To remove the watermark, please upgrade to our Teams or Pro plans
Generate your first document
After you have customised the template and are happy with the formatting, it's time to generate your first document. To generate a document, click the Automate button in the top right corner. When you click it, Portant will navigate back to the Xero Source page so you can select which invoices you'd like to automate. Make your selection by using the checkboxes and then click start:
![](https://docs.portant.co/~gitbook/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets-global.website-files.com%2F5f3b57b5405f8bd0f98b5e14%2F64142df51d3feea3bf28e525_Xero%2520Screenshot%25201%2520%25E2%2580%2593%25204.png&width=768&dpr=4&quality=100&sign=d52ebfdd&sv=1)
That's all there is to it. You've just automated invoices using Xero data and Google Docs. If you're ready to take the next step, you could add another block to your workflow to automatically email the invoices to the key contacts so they can process payments faster.
Feedback and feature suggestions
We created Portant in 2021 and the feedback we have received since then has been very helpful and greatly appreciated. If you have any feedback please feel free to send us an email at contact@portant.co or use our contact form here: https://www.portant.co/support
Thanks,
Blake and James
Last updated