Xero Payments

Xero Payments Management

Overview

Payments in Xero record the movement of money against invoices, credit notes, and overpayments. For MSPs, payment tracking is critical for cash flow management -- monitoring which clients have paid their monthly managed services invoices, which are overdue, and reconciling incoming payments against the correct invoices.

Anti-triggers

• Taking money from the customer — Xero records a payment that already happened; the collection rail is alternative-payments-invoicing.
• What is owed rather than what was paid — AmountDue and invoice status are xero-invoices; aging summaries are xero-reports.
• The same operation in QuickBooks — use qbo-payments.

Core Concepts

Payment Types

Payment Status

Payment Flow

Invoice (AUTHORISED) + Payment --> Invoice (PAID)
Invoice (AUTHORISED) + Partial Payment --> Invoice (AUTHORISED, AmountDue reduced)
Invoice (AUTHORISED) + Overpayment --> Invoice (PAID) + Overpayment Credit

Key Fields

A payment needs an Invoice (by InvoiceID or InvoiceNumber), an Account (by AccountID or Code, and it must be a BANK account), a Date, and an Amount. Status and PaymentType are read-only and derived.

See references/fields.md for the complete field reference.

API Patterns

Every request needs both Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN} and xero-tenant-id: ${XERO_TENANT_ID}. Xero-specific quirks:

• Payments are immutable. The only supported "update" is POSTing Status: "DELETED" to /Payments/{PaymentID}; to correct a payment, delete and re-create it.
• Batch creation posts a Payments array. Add ?summarizeErrors=false so valid payments still commit when one item in the batch fails.
• Filters go in a URL-encoded where clause; dates use DateTime(yyyy,m,d) and UUID comparisons use guid("..."):

# Payments received (AR) in a date range
curl -s -X GET "https://api.xero.com/api.xro/2.0/Payments?where=PaymentType==%22ACCRECPAYMENT%22&&Date>=DateTime(2026,3,1)" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -H "xero-tenant-id: ${XERO_TENANT_ID}" \
  -H "Accept: application/json"

See references/api.md for the full endpoint catalog and AR/AP/partial/batch payment examples.

Common Workflows

Check Outstanding Balances for All Clients

async function getOutstandingBalances() {
  const invoices = await fetchAllInvoices({
    where: 'Type=="ACCREC"&&Status=="AUTHORISED"&&AmountDue>0'
  });

  const balancesByContact = {};

  for (const invoice of invoices) {
    const contactName = invoice.Contact.Name;
    if (!balancesByContact[contactName]) {
      balancesByContact[contactName] = {
        contactId: invoice.Contact.ContactID,
        totalOutstanding: 0,
        totalOverdue: 0,
        invoices: []
      };
    }

    balancesByContact[contactName].totalOutstanding += invoice.AmountDue;

    const dueDate = new Date(invoice.DueDate);
    if (dueDate < new Date()) {
      balancesByContact[contactName].totalOverdue += invoice.AmountDue;
    }

    balancesByContact[contactName].invoices.push({
      number: invoice.InvoiceNumber,
      amount: invoice.AmountDue,
      dueDate: invoice.DueDate,
      isOverdue: dueDate < new Date()
    });
  }

  return balancesByContact;
}

Payment Aging Report

async function getPaymentAging() {
  const invoices = await fetchAllInvoices({
    where: 'Type=="ACCREC"&&Status=="AUTHORISED"&&AmountDue>0'
  });

  const aging = {
    current: [],      // Not yet due
    thirtyDays: [],   // 1-30 days overdue
    sixtyDays: [],    // 31-60 days overdue
    ninetyDays: [],   // 61-90 days overdue
    overNinety: []    // 90+ days overdue
  };

  const now = new Date();

  for (const invoice of invoices) {
    const dueDate = new Date(invoice.DueDate);
    const daysOverdue = Math.floor((now - dueDate) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));

    const entry = {
      contact: invoice.Contact.Name,
      invoiceNumber: invoice.InvoiceNumber,
      amountDue: invoice.AmountDue,
      dueDate: invoice.DueDate,
      daysOverdue: Math.max(0, daysOverdue)
    };

    if (daysOverdue <= 0) aging.current.push(entry);
    else if (daysOverdue <= 30) aging.thirtyDays.push(entry);
    else if (daysOverdue <= 60) aging.sixtyDays.push(entry);
    else if (daysOverdue <= 90) aging.ninetyDays.push(entry);
    else aging.overNinety.push(entry);
  }

  return aging;
}

Record Batch Payments from Bank Statement

async function recordBatchPayments(bankPayments) {
  const payments = [];

  for (const payment of bankPayments) {
    // Find matching invoice by reference or contact
    const invoice = await findInvoiceByReference(payment.reference);

    if (invoice) {
      payments.push({
        Invoice: { InvoiceID: invoice.InvoiceID },
        Account: { Code: payment.bankAccountCode },
        Date: payment.date,
        Amount: payment.amount,
        Reference: payment.reference
      });
    }
  }

  if (payments.length > 0) {
    return await createPayments(payments);
  }

  return { matched: 0 };
}

Monthly Collections Summary

async function getCollectionsSummary(month) {
  const startDate = `${month}-01`;
  const endDate = `${month}-28`;

  const payments = await fetchPayments({
    where: `PaymentType=="ACCRECPAYMENT"&&Date>=DateTime(${startDate.replace(/-/g, ',')})&&Date<=DateTime(${endDate.replace(/-/g, ',')})`
  });

  const summary = {
    totalCollected: 0,
    paymentCount: payments.length,
    byContact: {}
  };

  for (const payment of payments) {
    summary.totalCollected += payment.Amount;

    const contactName = payment.Invoice?.Contact?.Name || 'Unknown';
    if (!summary.byContact[contactName]) {
      summary.byContact[contactName] = { total: 0, count: 0 };
    }
    summary.byContact[contactName].total += payment.Amount;
    summary.byContact[contactName].count++;
  }

  return summary;
}

Gotchas

• A payment cannot exceed AmountDue. Xero rejects the request rather than creating an overpayment automatically; re-read the invoice and pay the exact outstanding amount, or record an Overpayment explicitly.
• Only BANK type accounts accept payments. Pointing at a revenue or current-asset account returns "Account is not valid for payments."
• The invoice must be AUTHORISED. DRAFT and SUBMITTED invoices reject payments with "Invoice is not awaiting payment."
• Payment date cannot precede the invoice date.
• Deleting a payment reopens the invoice — its status drops back from PAID to AUTHORISED with the amount restored to AmountDue.

See references/errors.md for the complete error-code table.

Error Recovery Pattern

async function safeRecordPayment(paymentData) {
  try {
    return await createPayment(paymentData);
  } catch (error) {
    if (error.message?.includes('amount exceeds')) {
      // Get current outstanding amount
      const invoice = await getInvoice(paymentData.Invoice.InvoiceID);
      paymentData.Amount = invoice.AmountDue;
      console.log(`Adjusted payment to outstanding amount: $${invoice.AmountDue}`);
      return await createPayment(paymentData);
    }

    if (error.message?.includes('not awaiting payment')) {
      console.log('Invoice is not in AUTHORISED status. Check invoice status.');
    }

    throw error;
  }
}

Best Practices

1. Include payment references - Add EFT numbers, check numbers for reconciliation
2. Verify amount before recording - Check invoice AmountDue to avoid overpayment errors
3. Record payments promptly - Keep payment dates accurate for cash flow reporting
4. Use batch operations - Record multiple payments in one API call when processing bank statements
5. Monitor overdue invoices - Build alerts for invoices past due date
6. Handle partial payments - Track remaining balance and follow up
7. Reconcile regularly - Match Xero payments to bank statements
8. Track payment patterns - Monitor which clients consistently pay late

Related Skills

• Xero Invoices - Invoices that payments apply to
• Xero Contacts - Contact balance information
• Xero Accounts - Bank accounts for payments
• Xero Reports - Aged receivables and cash flow
• Xero API Patterns - API reference