Calxa can be used with a number of different accounting packages and integrates with these packages in different ways. Aside from your initial company setup and subsequent updates, Calxa behaves in much the same way regardless of the chosen accounting package. There are, however, some important differences that need to be noted.

This help note will outline the things you should know about using Calxa with Xero and discuss best practices for a smooth integration.

The user that connects the Xero company to Calxa will need access to be Business and Accounting with one of the following roles.

If you have subscribed to Calxa through Xero you will be directed to Xero > Subscriptions to make any updates that may be required from time to time, these will need to be completed by the Xero Subscriber for your account.

Reports made available to the Xero API reference accounts on a key rather than the account number or name. This means you can safely renumber or rename accounts in Xero and Calxa will apply the new number and or name after the next sync.

Deleting an account in Xero will also delete it in Calxa on the next sync. All budgets and settings associated with the account will also be deleted.

If you archive accounts in Xero then Calxa will mark these accounts as inactive. Inactive accounts are filterable from many views in Calxa.

Duplicate accounts are not supported in Calxa (accounts with the same name and number), which can occur in Xero if you archive an account and then add one with the same details again. In this case the Sync with Xero will fail.

During the initial import Calxa will set up account opening balances as obtained from the conversion balances in Xero. If no conversion balances are found then the first period with actual data is configured as the opening balances.

Future organisation syncs will not process values prior to this opening balance period. Changes made in Xero prior to this period will therefore cause discrepancies on balance sheet accounts.

Business units in Calxa represent your Xero Tracking Categories. Business units in Calxa are called Projects and Departments, so each of your Tracking Categories types will be assigned these names. Business unit names are configurable via the Business Unit Configuration menu.

Calxa references each Xero Tracking Category on a key rather than the name. This means you can safely rename Tracking Categories and Calxa will apply the new name after the next sync.

Deleting a Tracking Category in Xero will also delete it in Calxa on the next sync. All budgets and settings associated with the Tracking Category will also be deleted.

A Tracking Category can't be deleted in Xero if there are transactions associated with it. In this case Xero will suggest marking it as Archived. Calxa will mark Archived Business Units as Inactive after the next sync.

Duplicate Business Units are not supported in Calxa (which can occur in Xero if you archive a category option and the add a new one with the same details again. In this case the Sync with Xero will fail.

If you have setup two Tracking Categories in Xero and wish to budget and report on the intersection of these two categories in Calxa, then you will need to configure Business Unit Combinations. Combinations are not synced by default and must first be defined in the Business Unit Configuration menu. After defining the valid combinations Calxa will then sync these specific intersections.

By default Calxa does not import/sync balance sheet amounts by each business unit. You can however optionally turn this on in the Business Unit Configuration menu.

This will import the balance sheet account movements for each business unit. This feature enables you to do Budget vs Actual style reporting. For example an Unspent Budget Report including capital expenses or project to date reports including work in progress from the balance sheet.

When you initially add a Xero organisation, Calxa will give you the option to import the Xero Overall budget (Organisation level).

If you didn't import your budgets to Calxa when you added your organisation, you can still choose to do this anytime you sync your organisation by adjusting your sync settings on the General Settings screen. This is also where you can turn the budget sync off to manage your budget in Calxa going forward.

💬 Budgets cannot be updated from Calxa back to Xero.

On the General Settings screen select which Xero tracking budgets (one for each tracking option) to import into Calxa and update from Xero each time you Sync. The Xero budget in Calxa will contain all the selected tracking budgets.

You cannot edit the Xero budget in Calxa, however you can make an editable copy or use it as the source data in other calculations.

If you wish to import further budget versions into Calxa, this can be done by using the following process: