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SettingsIntegrations5 min read

From Job to Paid with Xero

What happens to a job once Work Planner is connected to Xero: it becomes a Xero invoice, invoiced in Work Planner or not, and the bank payment you match in Xero comes back to settle the customer's account.

Work Planner Team29 October 2026

Once Work Planner is connected to Xero, a job you complete turns into a Xero invoice by itself. If you match your customers' bank payments in Xero, the payment comes back into Work Planner too, so the customer's balance is right in both. Here's the whole journey for one £10 window clean.

Work PlannerYour jobs and customer accounts
XeroYour invoices and bank reconciliation
Your bankWhere the customer’s money lands
Work PlannerMonday, 2:10pm
1You mark the job complete
A £10 charge goes on the customer’s account.
Window clean£10.00
Balance£10.00 owed
Work PlannerMonday
2Invoice it, or leave it as a charge
Either way it goes to Xero. Invoicing only changes when.
Left as a chargeThat night
On an invoiceWithin 15 minutes
Work Planner sends itthat night, or within 15 minutes if it’s invoiced
XeroBy Tuesday morning
3It becomes a Xero invoice
A charge goes as an invoice of its own. A Work Planner invoice goes as one Xero invoice, with the same number and a line for each charge.
Invoice · Mrs Taylor£10.00
StatusAwaiting Payment
LaterThe customer pays
Your bankWednesday
4The customer pays you £10
By bank transfer, into the account your Xero is linked to.
J TAYLORFaster Payment+£10.00
Xero’s bank feedbrings the £10 in
XeroWednesday, 9:05am
5You match it to the invoice
On Xero’s Reconcile screen the £10 sits beside the invoice. Xero usually suggests the match, so you click OK.
Your bankJ TAYLOR£10.00
OK
Xero invoiceMrs Taylor£10.00
StatusPaid
Within 15 minutesWork Planner brings the payment in
Work PlannerWednesday, by 9:20am
6The customer’s account is settled
A “Payment from Xero” goes on their account, so they owe nothing. A Work Planner invoice it paid shows as paid.
Window clean£10.00
Payment from Xero−£10.00
Balance£0.00
Days and times are an example. Work Planner checks Xero for new payments every 15 minutes, and step 6 needs Bring in payments made in Xero turned on.

Completing the Job

Marking the job complete, such as on the worksheet, records a £10 charge on the customer's account, and their balance shows they owe it. Nothing has gone to Xero yet.

When It Goes to Xero

When it goes, and what it looks like in Xero, depends on whether the charge is on a Work Planner invoice:

  • Left as a charge: It goes the night after it's recorded, as a Xero invoice of its own, numbered by Xero, with the job's reference. Waiting overnight leaves time to put the day's charges on an invoice first.
  • On a Work Planner invoice: The invoice goes within 15 minutes, as one Xero invoice with the same number and a line for each charge on it.

Either way, the Xero invoice is approved, on the customer's contact, and says Awaiting Payment. Send now on the Activity tab of Settings > Connections > Xero sends everything straight away, today's charges too. If a charge goes on an invoice after it's been sent, its own Xero invoice is voided and the invoice goes instead, so it's never in Xero twice.

The Customer Pays

The customer pays the £10 by bank transfer into the bank account your Xero is linked to. Xero's bank feed brings the payment in, and it waits on Xero's Reconcile screen for you to match it.

Matching It in Xero

On the Reconcile screen, Xero puts the £10 beside the invoice it looks like it pays, going by the amount and the customer. Check it's the right one and click OK. If Xero doesn't suggest it, find the invoice with Find & Match. The invoice in Xero then says Paid.

Match it to the invoice. A payment recorded in Xero another way, such as Receive Money or an overpayment, stays in Xero and doesn't come into Work Planner.

Back in Work Planner

Work Planner checks Xero every 15 minutes. When it finds a payment on an invoice it sent, it records a Payment from Xero on the job, on the date it was paid in Xero, with Xero's reference and the payment method you chose. The customer's balance comes down to £0.00, and a Work Planner invoice it paid shows as paid.

A payment brought in from Xero is never sent back. If it's deleted in Xero later, it comes out of Work Planner too. Payments on invoices you create in Xero yourself stay in Xero.

Turning It On

Payments only come back when Bring in payments made in Xero is on, and it's off to start with. Open Settings > Connections > Xero, go to the Settings tab, turn it on and choose the payment method in Record them as.

If You Record Bank Payments in Work Planner

Leave Bring in payments made in Xero off. Each payment you record in Work Planner goes to Xero the night after, pays off the invoice there, and sits in the Xero bank account you chose for its payment method. When the bank line arrives, Xero suggests that payment instead of the invoice: click OK, and nothing changes in Work Planner.

Payments you take in Work Planner, such as cash on the day, go to Xero this way whichever you choose. With it on, record bank transfers in Xero only. If Work Planner already shows an invoice as paid, a payment you match to it in Xero still comes in, as credit on the job.

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