Create Xero Invoices for New Shopify Orders

When a customer places an order in Shopify, this trigger captures all order details including customer information, billing address, line items, and order totals. The workflow is set to trigger on "every" order by default.

The workflow retrieves your Shopify shop information, primarily to build the admin URL that appears in the Xero invoice. This allows you to click directly from Xero to the corresponding Shopify order for reference.

The workflow searches Xero for a contact whose email address matches the Shopify customer's email. This lookup determines which processing path the workflow takes—using an existing contact or creating a new one.

The workflow retrieves all accounts from your Xero organization, allowing you to specify which account code should be used for revenue recognition on invoice line items. This ensures proper accounting categorization for your sales.

What to configure: In the invoice creation steps (Steps 6 and 8), you'll select which Xero account should be used for line items. Common options include "Sales" or "Revenue" accounts.

To find your account ID: In Xero, go to Accounting → Chart of Accounts, click on your sales/revenue account, and find the Account Code or ID.

The workflow evaluates the email match from Step 3 and branches into two paths:

• Path 1 (Shopify Customer Exists in Xero): Customer email matches an existing Xero contact
• Path 2 (Shopify Customer Does Not Exist in Xero): Customer email doesn't match any Xero contact

What happens automatically: The workflow compares email addresses and routes to the appropriate path without manual intervention.

For customers with existing Xero contacts, the workflow creates an invoice using their stored contact ID. The invoice includes:

• Invoice type: Accounts Receivable (ACCREC)
• Invoice date: Shopify order creation date
• Reference number: Shopify order name (e.g., #1001)
• URL: Direct link to Shopify admin order page
• Line items: All products from the order with descriptions, quantities, and prices
• Contact: Links to the existing Xero contact

What to configure:

• Account ID: Specify which Xero account should be used for line items (from Step 4)
• Line item mapping: Customize which order fields map to invoice descriptions

Current mapping:

• Description: Product names from order
• Quantity: Product quantities
• Unit Amount: Product prices

When the email comparison from Step 3 shows no match, the workflow enters this path to create both the contact and the invoice. This ensures every Shopify customer has a corresponding Xero contact.

The workflow creates a new Xero contact using information from the Shopify order, including:

• Contact name: From billing address
• Email address: Customer email
• Billing address: Full address fields (line 1, line 2, city, state, zip, country)
• Phone number: Customer phone from order

What to configure:

• Address mapping: Verify that Shopify billing address fields map correctly to Xero address structure
• Additional contact fields: Add custom fields if needed (tax number, account number, etc.)
• Branding theme: Select which Xero branding theme should be applied to invoices for this contact

Current mapping:

• AddressLine1: {{shopify.billing_address.address1}}
• AddressLine2: {{shopify.billing_address.address2}}
• City: {{shopify.billing_address.city}}
• Region: {{shopify.billing_address.province}}
• PostalCode: {{shopify.billing_address.zip}}
• Country: {{shopify.billing_address.country}}

The workflow creates an invoice identical in structure to Path 1, but references the newly created contact ID from Step 8. The invoice includes all the same fields: order date, reference number, Shopify URL, and complete line item details.

What to configure:

• Line item mapping: Same customization options as Step 6
• Invoice defaults: Consider setting default payment terms, due dates, or status (draft vs. submitted)

Note: This step does NOT require an Account ID to be specified, unlike Step 6. However, you may want to add one for consistent accounting categorization.