Relay’s integration with Xero helps you automate and simplify your expense tracking and reconciliation process. Once connected, Relay automatically syncs transactions, including receipts, memos, categories, and vendors — so your books stay clean without extra work.
This article walks you through how to set up the Xero integration and ensure everything flows correctly between Relay and your ledger.
What the Xero Integration Does
Once connected, Relay will:
- Sync transactions from your Relay account(s) to Xero
- Push through receipt attachments, memos, categories, and vendor details
- Allow you to categorize transactions in Relay and send them to Xero — no double-entry
Before You Start
To connect Relay and Xero, make sure:
- You have the right permissions to connect (Owner, Administrator or Super Administrator)
- You have access to the Xero organization you want to sync to
- You’re logged into Relay on desktop (integration setup is web-only)
- We highly recommend syncing your Relay bank feeds to Xero. For more information, view Integrating with Xero for Bank Feeds
How to Connect Your Relay Expenses to Xero
- Sign in to your Relay account on your desktop.
- Go to the Expenses tab
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Click Set up Expense Management (
- Alternatively, go to Settings > Integrations and click on the Xero tile)
- Choose Xero as your accounting platform
- You’ll be redirected to Xero to:
- Log in and authorize Relay
- Grant access to your Xero organization
Once authorized, return to Relay to complete account mapping and finish your setup.
Fields Synced During Integration
When you integrate Relay with Xero, certain fields are required for each expense or bill that you sync:
- Categories and Vendors are required fields. Relay automatically pulls your Chart of Accounts and Vendor list from Xero to help you categorize your expenses properly.
In addition to required fields, Relay also pulls in optional fields to give you even more control and reporting flexibility:
- Xero: Tax rates
Tip: Toggling additional fields makes it easier to classify transactions for more accurate financial reporting—saving you (and your accountant) time during month-end close.
Mapping Categories and Vendors
Relay pulls your Chart of Accounts and Vendor list directly from Xero:
- When coding transactions in Relay, your Xero categories will appear in the dropdowns
- Changes made in Xero (like adding a new category) will reflect in Relay after re-syncing
You can change or edit your integration by going into Settings and going to Integrations.
How to Sync Transactions to Xero
Once transactions are categorized and receipts uploaded:
- Go to the Expenses tab
- Filter or select the transactions you want to sync
- Click Sync
Relay will send:
- Transaction amount and date
- Assigned categories
- Memos
- Receipt attachments
You’ll see a message confirming a transaction has successfully synced.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Can't connect to Xero?
- Make sure you're logged into the correct Xero organization
- Try disconnecting and connecting once more in Settings → Integrations.
Categories or vendors missing?
- Go to Settings and click on Integrations.
- Click Refresh Xero in the top-right of your dashboard to update your accounts and vendor list
Transactions not syncing?
- Make sure the transaction has a category assigned
- Check that the Relay account is mapped to a Xero bank account
- Ensure that your connection is active and running in Settings → Integrations
What’s Next?
After connecting Xero, you can:
- Start syncing your expenses with receipts and memos
- Set up automation rules to streamline coding
Still have questions? Our team is ready to help! Talk to our Customer Experience team