Xero Connection

Xero is an online accounting software that gives you the option to push invoices and payments from RoomRaccoon. With the Xero connection to RoomRaccoon, you can choose if you want only the invoices sent should you want to add the payments manually. 

When RoomRaccoon pushes payments to Xero this minimises the manual labour of allocating payments and reduces the risk of human error through automation. 

How to connect to Xero 

1. Login to RoomRaccoon and authorise the connection by clicking on the link provided to you by RoomRaccoon.

2. This link will redirect you to the Xero Login page where you will need to grant RoomRaccoon permission “Allow Access.”

3. In RoomRaccoon add all of the mapping.

4. Add Ledgers - Accommodation, food, beverages, add-ons etc.

5. Add payment ledgers (such as credit card payment for example.)

Benefits of using Xero 

• Get your books done faster - Xero can automatically handle tasks that used to take up all of your time. From importing bank transactions to sending invoice reminders.

• Feel confident in your numbers - With all your data stored safely and in one place, it’s easy to get a snapshot of how your business is tracking. You can also invite your accountant or bookkeeper into Xero so they’ll ensure you meet all your tax obligations.

• Do business from anywhere, on any device - It’s easy to access all your data and Xero tools from anywhere – just connect to the internet. Plus, keep all your essentials like invoicing and payroll at your fingertips with Xero’s mobile app.

Common Errors 

If you experience any errors in the account dashboard, we have put a list of the most common errors that you would experience. As the error wording is a bit technical, we have simplified it for you.

Error: A validation exception occurred (Account type is invalid for making a payment to/from)

Solution: The hotelier needs to enable payments to their accounts, they can do this by following the steps below:

1. In the Accounting menu, select Advanced, then click Chart of accounts.

2. Click the account to open its details.

3. Select Enable payments to this account.

4. Click Save.

Error: AccountCode is mandatory and is either missing or empty.

Solution: When setting up a chart of accounts in Xero, it is possible to do this without an account code but when using an API connection this needs to be mandatory.

The hotelier can fix this in their ledger settings.

1. In the Accounting menu, select Advanced, then click Chart of accounts.

2. Click on the name of the account to edit the components.

Error: Payment amount exceeds the amount outstanding on this document

Solution: This is due to overpayment on the invoice, the Xero connectivity cannot push a tax invoice if the invoice has been overpaid. You will need to credit note the entire invoice and make sure the revenue (accommodation & add-ons) balance with the payment posted and linked to the invoice.

Error: There is no amount due to the linked invoice

Solution: The hotelier will need to make sure the payment has not been sent to Xero already, if this is the case, please contact a Customer Success Manager and ask them to please assist with clearing this error

Good to know

• You are unable to delete payments from the reservation if the payment has already been pushed to Xero.

• RoomRaccoon is unable to remove payments from an invoice in Xero. The hotelier will need to delete this payment for RoomRaccoon to be able to manually resend the payment if there is an error on the Account Dashboard.

• Xero does not accept negative balances (eg; refunds). As such, refunds should be handled manually in Xero.

• RoomRaccoon does not send VAT percentages to Xero. The hotel needs to set up the VAT percentages in Xero as we only send totals to Xero and link the ledger codes in RoomRaccoon to the Chart of Accounts code in Xero.

Good to know

• Payment ledgers are not mandatory however we need to have at least one payment ledger.

• We need one sales ledger that is named “other” to capture the unallocated items