Xero

Xero (via Apideck)

Access Xero through Apideck's Accounting unified API — one of 34 Accounting connectors that share the same method surface. Code you write here ports to Access Financials, Acumatica, banqUP and 30 other Accounting connectors by changing a single serviceId string. Apideck handles auth, pagination, rate limiting, and retries so you don't write per-tenant Xero plumbing.

Quick facts

• Apideck serviceId: xero
• Unified API: Accounting
• Auth type: oauth2
• Gotchas: page
• Xero docs: https://developer.xero.com
• Homepage: https://www.xero.com/

At a glance

• Implementation difficulty: moderate — Self-Service OAuth + App Partner Certification Required to Scale
• Vendor partnership required: yes (Xero App Partner Program) — Required for >25 connections. Xero App Partner Program — certification involves multiple technical checkpoints.
• Apideck-managed credentials: not available
• Account type required: Any active Xero subscription
• Consumer access level: Standard or Adviser level user (Admin recommended for full data access)
• Sandbox: available (signup) — Free via Xero Developer Portal (demo company included).
• Costs: Free at Starter tier (up to 5 connections). Tiered, usage-based pricing applies at scale — Core, Plus, Advanced (~$895/mo, 10k connections), and Enterprise tiers, effective March 2, 2026 (replacing the previous 15% App Store revenue share). Premium endpoints (Journals, Xero Practice Manager) require the Advanced tier or above. Separate from Apideck pricing.
• Rate limits: 5,000 calls/day per organisation; 60 calls/minute per organisation; 5 concurrent calls/second.
• Authentication: OAuth 2.0 (Authorization Code).
• Webhooks: Native — invoice and bill events (created and updated).

Important to know:

• App Partner certification requires onboarding at least 10 active customer connections.
• Refresh tokens expire after 60 days if unused — consumer must re-authorise.
• Consumers can install a maximum of 2 uncertified apps — if at the limit they must remove another uncertified app first.
• Certification compliance requires hiding the Apideck callback — a custom Vault domain must be configured before certification.

Facts synced from Apideck's connector metadata API — GET /connector/connectors/xero (overview field) is the live, authoritative version.

When to use this skill

Activate this skill when the user explicitly wants to work with Xero — for example, "create an invoice in Xero" or "reconcile payments in Xero". This skill teaches the agent:

1. Which Apideck unified API covers Xero (Accounting)
2. The correct serviceId to pass on every call (xero)
3. Xero-specific auth and coverage caveats

For the full method surface (parameters, pagination, filtering), use your language SDK skill:

• apideck-node, apideck-python, apideck-dotnet, apideck-java, apideck-go, apideck-php, or apideck-rest

For the raw OpenAPI spec:

• Accounting: https://specs.apideck.com/accounting.yml · API Explorer

Minimal example (TypeScript)

import { Apideck } from "@apideck/unify";

const apideck = new Apideck({
  apiKey: process.env.APIDECK_API_KEY,
  appId: process.env.APIDECK_APP_ID,
  consumerId: "your-consumer-id",
});

// List invoices in Xero
const { data } = await apideck.accounting.invoices.list({
  serviceId: "xero",
});

Portable across 34 Accounting connectors

The Apideck Accounting unified API exposes the same methods for every connector in its catalog. Switching from Xero to another Accounting connector is a one-string change — no rewrite, no new SDK.

// Today — Xero
await apideck.accounting.invoices.list({ serviceId: "xero" });

// Tomorrow — same code, different connector
await apideck.accounting.invoices.list({ serviceId: "access-financials" });
await apideck.accounting.invoices.list({ serviceId: "acumatica" });

This is the compounding advantage of using Apideck over integrating Xero directly: code against the unified Accounting API once, gain access to every connector in it. New connectors Apideck adds become available to your app without code changes.

Xero via Apideck Accounting

Xero is a widely-used cloud accounting platform, strong in UK/AU/NZ markets. Apideck covers the core financial entities.

Entity mapping

Coverage highlights

• ✅ Full CRUD on invoices, bills, payments, customers, suppliers
• ✅ Manual journals
• ✅ Financial reports (P&L, Balance Sheet, Aged Receivables/Payables)
• ✅ Multi-currency on invoices/bills
• ⚠️ Tracking categories / cost centers — surfaced as custom fields
• ❌ Payroll — separate Xero Payroll API; use Proxy

Auth

• Type: OAuth 2.0, managed by Apideck Vault
• Tenant selection: Xero users can belong to multiple organizations. The user picks which org to authorize during the Vault flow; one Apideck connection = one Xero org.

Example: create an invoice

const { data } = await apideck.accounting.invoices.create({
  serviceId: "xero",
  invoice: {
    customer_id: "xero-contact-uuid",
    invoice_date: "2026-04-18",
    due_date: "2026-05-18",
    line_items: [
      { description: "Consulting", quantity: 10, unit_price: 150, account_id: "sales-revenue" },
    ],
    currency: "GBP",
  },
});

Escape hatch: Proxy API

When an endpoint isn't covered by the Accounting unified API, use Apideck's Proxy to call Xero directly — Apideck injects auth headers and handles token refresh. Set x-apideck-downstream-url to the target endpoint on Xero's own API:

curl 'https://unify.apideck.com/proxy' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${APIDECK_API_KEY}" \
  -H "x-apideck-app-id: ${APIDECK_APP_ID}" \
  -H "x-apideck-consumer-id: ${CONSUMER_ID}" \
  -H "x-apideck-service-id: xero" \
  -H "x-apideck-downstream-url: <target endpoint on Xero>" \
  -H "x-apideck-downstream-method: GET"

See Xero's API docs for available endpoints.

Sibling connectors

Other Accounting connectors that share this unified API surface (same method signatures, just change serviceId):

access-financials (beta), acumatica (beta), banqup (beta), campfire (beta), clearbooks-uk (beta), digits (beta), dualentry, exact-online, and 25 more.

See also

• Accounting OpenAPI spec · API Explorer
• apideck-connector-coverage — programmatic coverage checks
• apideck-best-practices — architecture, Vault, pagination, error handling
• apideck-node — TypeScript / Node SDK patterns
• Xero official docs