News: PaperLess is now a Certified Xero App. We’ve met Xero’s security and quality standards, which means we’re approved and trusted by Xero to handle your invoice data safely.
If you’re using Xero, you know it’s brilliant at accounting. Real-time reporting, multi-currency support, bank feeds, automated reconciliation. Xero handles the financial side exceptionally well.
Where Xero stops is where most SMEs hit a wall: invoice intake. You’re still manually entering invoice data into Xero. Vendor name, amount, due date, GL codes. All typed manually. Or you’re using something that captures data but doesn’t integrate with approval workflows. You’re approving invoices in one system, then posting in Xero. Two systems, twice the work.
We’ve worked with hundreds of Xero users facing exactly this problem. Xero is their accounting system. But Xero isn’t designed to be an invoice intake and approval system. Those are two different things.
This guide walks you through how invoice processing actually works in Xero, where it breaks down, and how a Certified Xero integration changes that.
What Xero Does (and Doesn’t Do) with Invoices
Xero is built for managing invoices once they’re in the system. You can view them, code them, pay them, reconcile them. Excellent for all of that. But Xero assumes the invoice data is already there. Someone has already entered it.
That “someone” is usually your finance team, manually typing invoice details into Xero. If you’re processing 50 invoices daily, that’s hours of data entry. If you’re processing 200+ daily, you’ve basically got a full-time person whose only job is typing invoices into Xero.
Xero doesn’t have a native approval workflow either. You can create a rule that invoices need CFO approval, but the approval process happens inside Xero. Finance team has to log in, find the invoice, click approve. It’s built into Xero’s AP module, but it’s not ideal for teams that want email-based approvals or sophisticated routing rules based on vendor, amount, or department.
So here’s the reality most Xero users face: You’re either manually entering invoices (hours of work daily), or you’re using a separate system to capture invoices, then manually entering the captured data into Xero (defeating the purpose of capturing), or you’ve got approval workflows outside Xero and manual posting inside Xero (operational fragmentation).
Xero is the destination system. It’s not meantto be the entire invoice workflow.
Why Manual Invoice Entry Into Xero Becomes Unsustainable
At 20-30 invoices daily, manual entry is tolerable. Annoying, but tolerable. Someone spends 2-3 hours daily typing invoices. You live with it.
At 50+ daily, it becomes genuinely painful. That’s 4-5 hours per person daily just on data entry. If you’ve got a team handling AP, one person is basically dedicated to invoice entry. They’re not doing approval reviews, vendor reconciliation, or strategic AP work. They’re typing.
At 100+ daily, manual entry is completely impractical. You’d need multiple people doing nothing but entering invoices. That’s not a viable finance process.
And here’s the hidden cost: accuracy. When people are typing invoices quickly under time pressure, typos happen. Vendor name misspelled. Amount entered wrong. GL code incorrect. These errors create reconciliation nightmares. They delay payment runs. They create audit issues.
Most SMEs reach a point where they realise: We need to stop manually entering invoices. But they also realise: Xero alone doesn’t solve this problem.
The Invoice Workflow Xero Users Actually Need
Here’s what actually works: Invoices arrive (email, PDF, however they come). They get captured and extracted automatically (vendor, amount, date, line items). They route through an approval workflow (Finance Director sees them, approves them, decides whether to post). Once approved, they post automatically to Xero with correct GL coding. Complete audit trail throughout.
That solves every problem: No manual data entry. Approval controls built in. Audit trail for compliance. Xero receives correctly coded invoices automatically. No one’s spending hours typing.
Xero handles the financial side perfectly. It’s just not designed to handle the intake and approval side. You need something that captures, approves, and then posts to Xero.
How PaperLess Integrates with Xero
We’ve integrated PaperLess with Xero specifically to fill this gap. We’re not replacing Xero. We’re extending it. We handle the parts Xero isn’t designed for (intake and approval), then we post correctly to Xero so it can do what it does best (accounting and reporting).
The integration works through Xero’s API. Invoices get captured, approved, validated against your Xero setup (vendors, GL codes, cost centres), and then posted directly to Xero. No manual data entry, no separate approval system, no fragmented workflow.
Being a Certified Xero App means we’ve met Xero’s security and quality standards. Your invoice data is handled safely. We’re officially approved to integrate with Xero. That’s not a minor thing for SMEs worried about data security.
What the Complete Workflow Actually Looks Like
Rather than just describe it, let’s show you how it works in practice:
Watch how invoices flow from arrival through approval to Xero posting.
Here’s what happens in the workflow: Invoice arrives (email, PDF, scanned document). PaperLess captures it automatically – reads vendor name, invoice number, amount, line items. The system validates against your Xero setup (does this vendor exist? Are these GL codes valid? Does this PO exist if required?).
Once validated, the invoice routes through your approval workflow. Maybe it goes to Finance Director for review. Maybe it goes to department manager first, then Finance Director. Rules are yours to define. Finance Director sees the invoice in their email (or in the PaperLess dashboard), reviews it, clicks approve. No need to log into Xero. No need to navigate another system.
Once approved, the system posts directly to Xero automatically. Correct GL codes applied. Multi-line invoices allocated correctly. Xero receives a complete, accurate invoice ready for payment processing. Everything is timestamped and audited so you’ve got complete visibility of who touched what and when.
Meanwhile, the original PDF invoice is stored securely and attached to the Xero record. If an auditor asks “show me the original invoice for transaction #12345,” you’ve got it right there in Xero.
Why Finance Teams Actually Care About This
Finance Director Perspective: Control and Compliance
You’ve got approval authority for invoices over certain amounts. You need to actually see invoices before they post to your financial system. PaperLess routes invoices to you, you approve via email or dashboard, then they post to Xero. You’re genuinely controlling what goes into your accounting system instead of hoping people followed the rules.
AP Manager Perspective: Time and Workload
You’re drowning in manual invoice entry. PaperLess eliminates that work entirely. PaperLess captures invoice data, sends invoices for approval and automatically posts them. Your job changes from data entry to exception handling and strategic work. That’s a completely different job – one you can actually enjoy.
CFO Perspective: Visibility and Accuracy
You need to know where invoices are in the process. Are they pending approval? Have they been posted? This quarter’s close is delayed waiting for invoices to be entered and approved. PaperLess gives you real-time visibility of invoice status. You can also see that invoices coding is consisten (no more random GL codes due to data entry errors).
Real Implementation: What Companies Experience
Week 1: Setup
You tell us your vendors, GL codes, cost centres. We connect PaperLess to Xero via AP, we set up your approval rules (Finance Director approves everything, or maybe department managers approve up to £5,000 and Finance Director approves higher amounts). We configure OCR training for your specific invoice formats.
Week 2 & 3: Testing + Go Live
You run some real invoices through the system. PaperLess captures them, routes them for approval, posts to Xero. You verify the GL coding is correct, amounts match originals, vendor names are accurate. You find edge cases and refine rules. Everything goes smoothly because the Xero integration is mature.
Invoices start flowing through PaperLess. No more manual entry into Xero. Approvals happen naturally. Invoices post automatically. Your Finance Director stops spending time approving invoices in Xero and starts seeing them in email instead. Your AP person stops typing and starts managing exceptions. Everyone’s workload drops significantly. ROI is obvious within first month.
The Difference Between Invoice Capture and Invoice Management
This is important to understand because it changes everything: Capture means reading invoice data. Management means capture plus approval plus validation plus routing plus posting plus visibility.
You can buy capture software that reads invoices but doesn’t integrate with Xero, doesn’t handle approvals, doesn’t manage exceptions. You end up manually entering the captured data into Xero anyway – defeating the purpose.
PaperLess is invoice management for Xero. We capture, approve, validate, route, and post. Everything flows to Xero automatically. No manual entry, no separate systems, no fragmented workflow.
Getting Started
If you’re using Xero and you no longer want to be manually entering invoices, the solution is within reach. Implementation is quick. Results are immediate.
Ready to see how it works for your situation? Book a demo and we’ll walk through how PaperLess integrates with your Xero setup, show the approval workflow in action, and discuss your specific invoice processing challenges.
Why PaperLess for Xero
We’re not asking you to replace Xero. Xero is excellent at accounting. We’re asking you to extend Xero with invoice management that Xero isn’t responsible for. We capture invoices, we route them through approval, we post them to Xero correctly. Xero does what it does best: accounting, reporting, compliance.
Being a Certified Xero App means we’re officially approved to do this. We’ve met Xero’s standards. You’re getting an integration that’s safe, tested, and trusted by both Xero and hundreds of SMEs running their AP processes through PaperLess.
If manual invoice entry is eating up your team’s time, or if your current approval process is fragmented across multiple systems, this might be exactly what you need.
About PaperLess
PaperLess Europe is a Certified Xero App specialising in invoice capture, approval workflows, and AP automation. We’ve processed over 1,000,000 invoices and work with hundreds of SMEs using Xero as their accounting system.
We’re available on the Xero App Marketplace and integrate directly with your Xero account via API.
Ready to see it in action? Book a demo now
