Xero and stock

Exactly what passes between Smartworks stock and Xero, and why their quantities differ.

Overview

Smartworks reads your products from Xero and writes purchase orders, bills, invoices and credit notes back to it. It never writes a stock quantity, a stock adjustment or a stock value to Xero. The stock record lives only in Smartworks, so if you also track inventory in Xero, Xero’s quantities do not stay in step with Smartworks.

XeroItems: code, name, prices

Read and cached

SmartworksStock record

Orders, bills, invoices, credit notes

XeroDocuments with item codes

What goes each way

SmartworksOn hand, adjustments, imports

Not sent

Xero inventoryQuantity and value

What never goes to Xero

What Smartworks reads from Xero

From the Xero item	Used in Smartworks as
Code and name	The product’s code and description.
Purchase price	Cost Price, saved on job lines and adjustments when they are created.
Sales price	Sell Price on job lines.
Sold and purchased flags	Can be sold and Can be purchased.

Smartworks reads Xero’s own quantity on hand for tracked inventory items but does not use it. The quantities you see in Smartworks always come from its own stock movements.

What Smartworks writes to Xero

Smartworks action	Created or changed in Xero	Moves Smartworks stock
Create or edit a purchase order	Purchase order	Adds to Incoming
Receive a purchase order	The order, updated with received quantities, costs and status	Incoming to on hand, or to the job
Create Back Order	A new purchase order for the rest	Adds the rest to Incoming
Create Supplier Invoice	A bill awaiting approval, with item codes	No
Credit on a received order	A bill credit note	Takes off on hand
Issue Sales Credit Note	A sales credit note	Adds to on hand
Create Invoice	An invoice for the job lines, with item codes	No, stock moved when the lines were added

A purchase order created directly in Xero adds nothing to Incoming until you open it to edit, or receive it, in Smartworks.

Nothing else reaches Xero. Parts added with Add Parts, job lines, Adjust Stock, Import Stock, opening balances and the Stock On Hand report stay in Smartworks.

If you track inventory in Xero

Xero can keep its own quantity and value for items you set up as tracked inventory there. Xero moves those figures from the bills, invoices and credit notes that carry the item code, at its own average cost. Smartworks moves its stock at different moments, so the two will not match:

Timing. Smartworks takes stock off when parts are added to a job. Xero takes it off when the invoice is approved, which may be weeks later.
Parts never invoiced. Warranty work or lines you delete before invoicing come off Smartworks stock but never off Xero’s.
Receipts without a bill. Smartworks adds the stock when you receive. Xero adds it when the bill is approved, and a bill awaiting approval does not count yet.
Adjustments and imports. Stocktake corrections in Smartworks are not sent to Xero, and inventory adjustments made in Xero are not read by Smartworks.
Cost. Smartworks uses the purchase price saved on each line. Xero uses its own average cost, so cost of sales in Xero differs from cost of goods sold in Smartworks.

What your accountant sees in Xero

Your accountant sees the purchase orders, bills, invoices and credit notes Smartworks created, each with its item codes. They do not see stock on hand, stock movements, adjustments or the value of the stock you hold. Those are in Smartworks: give them the Stock On Hand and Cost of Goods Sold reports, for example at month end.