Xero automation with AI agents for bills and AP
We build AI agents that do the repetitive accounts payable work in Xero: reading supplier invoices, creating bills as drafts or awaiting approval, attaching the source file, keeping contacts clean and matching payments. Your team approves the bills in Xero. The agents connect through the Xero Accounting API with OAuth 2.0, and we test on a demo company first.
For accountants, bookkeepers and finance leads running Xero who want bills entered and coded before anyone opens the file.
What we automate in Xero
The accounts payable cycle from the invoice in the inbox to the payment batch, with your team approving what matters.
- 1
Bill creation as a draft
Invoices are read and entered as bills in draft, or awaiting approval if you use that step. Contact, dates, tax rates, account codes and tracking categories are filled in from the invoice and your history.
- 2
Contact hygiene
New suppliers are matched against existing contacts before one is created, so "Acme Ltd" and "ACME Limited" stay a single contact.
- 3
Source file attached
The original invoice is attached to the bill, so whoever approves it sees the document and the entered data side by side.
- 4
Purchase order handling
Where you raise purchase orders in Xero, invoices are compared with the order and the difference is shown before approval.
- 5
Payment matching
Bank statement lines are matched to approved bills, and the unmatched lines come back with a suggested match and the reason.
- 6
Multi-client work for firms
Accounting firms can run the same intake across many client organizations, with each client's coding rules kept separate.
How one Xero run works
Each step is fixed logic, a model doing the reading, a call to the system, or a person on your team. You decide which steps wait for approval.
Capture · intake agent
Reads the invoice from the client inbox
Contact match · rules engine
Finds or flags the supplier contact
Code · coding agent
Suggests account, tax rate and tracking
Create bill · xero integration
Saves it as a draft with the PDF attached
Approve · your team
Approver authorizes it in Xero
Xero bill, one run
Illustrative- CaptureReads the invoice from the client inboxIntake agent
- Contact matchFinds or flags the supplier contactRules engine
- CodeSuggests account, tax rate and trackingCoding agent
- Create billSaves it as a draft with the PDF attachedXero integration
- ApproveApprover authorizes it in XeroHuman in the loop
How the Xero integration works
We build on the interfaces the vendor documents, and we link the documentation so you can check it.
Xero's approval states do most of the control work for us. A bill can sit as a draft, or awaiting approval, until a person with the right role authorizes it. The agent stops at that state, so a human decision always comes before the bill counts.
Scopes are additive and granted per organization. We keep the scope list short, record exactly what each client granted, and review it when Xero changes the scope model.
Xero Accounting API
The Invoices endpoint handles bills as well as sales invoices, and sits alongside contacts, purchase orders, payments and bank transactions. We write bills here.
Attachments
Invoice attachments are read and written against the bill, so the source document stays with the record.
OAuth 2.0 and granular scopes
Per Xero's changelog, apps created from 2 March 2026 use granular scopes, and older apps have until 13 September 2027 to move. We request only the scopes each client needs.
OpenAPI specifications
Xero publishes OpenAPI specs for its APIs on GitHub, which we use to generate typed clients and catch changes early.
Vendor documentation we build against
- Accounting API: Invoices (Xero Developer)
- OAuth 2.0 scopes (Xero Developer)
- Xero developer changelog
- Xero OpenAPI specifications (GitHub)
Links open the vendor's own site. Interfaces change, so we confirm current behavior in a sandbox before we build.
What we read and write in Xero
Reading is the default. Each write has a named gate, so you can see who has to agree before anything changes.
Contact
Read to match the supplier. Created only when no match exists.
Gate: Reviewer for new contacts
Bill (invoice of type ACCPAY)
Created as a draft or awaiting approval, with coded lines.
Gate: A person authorizes in Xero
Purchase order
Read and compared with the invoice.
Gate: Read only
Attachment
Original invoice file added to the bill.
Gate: Logged with the bill
Payment
Matched to bills. Proposed, not released.
Gate: Authorizer releases
Accounts, tax rates, tracking categories
Read to code lines correctly.
Gate: Read only
Controls and testing
People stay in charge of money and records. The system keeps the evidence.
The bill stops at draft
Agents save bills in a state that needs a person to authorize them. They don't push anything into the ledger as approved.
Test on a demo company
We build and replay your invoice samples on a demo company, then connect to the live organization read-only before any write access.
Per-organization access
Each Xero organization is connected separately. A client can disconnect the app, and the agents lose access to that file straight away.
A record of every decision
We log what was read from the invoice, which rule coded each line and who approved. The attachment on the bill points back to the source.
Where we stop, and what to expect
- Xero has no receiving record, so a true three-way match needs a receipt source from outside Xero.
- Scope rules are changing. Existing integrations keep working for now, but we plan the move to granular scopes with each client before the deadline.
- We don't auto-authorise bills by default. Some clients choose to do so under a low limit, and we set that up only when they ask.
Questions about Xero automation
Can bills be entered into Xero automatically?
Yes. The agent reads each invoice and creates the bill through the Xero Accounting API as a draft or awaiting approval. A person authorizes it in Xero, so nothing counts in your books before someone has looked at it.
Does it work for accounting firms with many Xero clients?
Yes. Each client organization is connected and authorized separately, with its own coding rules. The firm sees one queue, and a client can disconnect the app without affecting the others.
How is this different from a document-capture add-on for Xero?
Capture tools read documents and pass data to Xero. We build the workflow around Xero: your coding rules, approvals, supplier checks and exception queue. If you already use a capture tool, we can read from it instead of replacing it.
What changes with Xero's new API scopes?
Xero's changelog says apps created from 2 March 2026 use granular scopes, and existing apps have until 13 September 2027 to move. We request the narrow scopes from the start for new work.
Can the agent pay bills in Xero?
It can match payments to bills and prepare a payment list. We keep payment release with a person by default. If you want automated payment under a strict limit, we can design that with you.
Other ERP, accounting and spend integrations
All integrationsNetSuite, QuickBooks, Xero, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Concur, SAP Ariba, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Workday, Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Coupa, Infor, Acumatica, Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, HubSpot and Salesforce are trademarks of their respective owners. Scenox Studios is an independent company. Product names appear here only to describe the systems we integrate with, and no affiliation, partnership or endorsement is implied.
Tell us how bills get into your Xero file today.
A 30-minute call with an engineer. You will leave knowing what a system could do for that workflow and what it would take to build.
What happens next
- 1
Strategy call
We learn how the workflow runs today and what a good outcome would be.
- 2
Workflow audit
We map the process and measure where a system would save the most time.
- 3
Proposal
A written scope, timeline and fixed price for your first system. No obligation to build.