Xero document upload sends supporting files into the organisation's files inbox, by email to the inbox address or by upload in a browser. From there a document is attached to the transaction or contact it supports. A vendor invoice sent as a bill can become a draft bill, with Xero reading the key details and keeping the original attached.
The Xero files inbox and how documents arrive there
The Xero files inbox is the folder in an organisation's file library where new documents land before anyone files them. Xero's Files API specification says the inbox is the one folder with its own email address, used "to email files to the inbox," and that "the Inbox cannot be renamed or deleted."
Documents reach the inbox two ways. The first is email: a document forwarded as an attachment to the inbox address. Xero's page Pay Bills on Time With Xero Accounts Payable Software | Xero US shows "a bill that's been emailed to the business's Xero inbox" stored in the files library. The second is a browser upload; Xero's page Smart Document Capture Software | Xero US says you can "drag and drop files over the web."
Decide who gets the inbox address before handing it out. Some firms give it to the client's accounts payable contact so vendor invoices arrive directly. Others keep it inside the firm and forward documents after a first look, so stray attachments such as newsletters and signature images never reach the client's books.
Receipts arrive by the same channels plus a phone photo. The post on how clients and firms upload receipts to Xero covers that route.
How do you attach a document to a Xero transaction or contact?
A document is attached to a Xero transaction or contact by linking the file to that record, so the support opens from the record itself. Xero's Files API specification lists the record groups a file can be associated with, including contacts, invoices and bills, bank transactions, credit notes, manual journals, payments and receipts.
Three situations come up most. A vendor invoice belongs on the bill it supports. A bank statement or a payment confirmation belongs on the bank transaction; Xero's page Bank Reconciliation Software | Account Reconciliation | Xero US says you can attach "source documents directly to the Reconciled transactions screen." A W-9 or a supplier agreement supports the relationship rather than one entry, so it belongs on the contact.
One file, one record is the safer habit. A 40-page PDF holding a quarter's invoices attached to one bill makes every other bill in that quarter look unsupported. Split the bundle into one file per invoice before attaching, and name each file so a reviewer can tell what it is without opening it.
Can uploading invoices to Xero create the bill for you?
Uploading invoices to Xero can create a draft bill. Xero's Pay Bills page says you can automate bill entry "by uploading files directly to Xero or forwarding bills from your email," and that Xero "extracts the key details to create draft bills ready for approval." The bill stays a draft until someone checks and approves it.
The Smart Document Capture page adds that Xero "attaches the original photo or file to the digital record" and shows the original next to the data entry screen, so the reviewer can compare figures before approving. The same Pay Bills page lists automated bill entry as a feature of the Growing and Established plans, so check the client's plan first.
Steps for one vendor invoice, inbox to attached draft bill
This example follows one fictional invoice, Example Print Shop invoice INV-2207 for $412.50, for a fictional client, Harbor Lane Studio. Xero's pages cited here do not say whether a file sitting in the files inbox turns into a bill by itself, so the example sends the invoice through bill entry, which the Pay Bills page does describe.
- The client's accounts payable contact emails the invoice PDF to the organisation's Xero inbox address.
- The file appears in the inbox in the files library.
- A firm user sends the PDF through Xero's bill entry, by uploading it or forwarding it as a bill, and Xero reads the key details into a draft bill with the PDF attached.
- The reviewer opens the draft and compares it with the original beside it: vendor Example Print Shop, invoice number INV-2207, invoice date, due date and total $412.50.
- The reviewer checks that no other bill for INV-2207 already exists, since the vendor may have emailed it twice.
- The reviewer corrects any misread field, then approves the bill, which keeps the original PDF attached for anyone who opens it later.
Step five is the one most often skipped. A second copy of the same invoice becomes a second draft bill, and approving both doubles the payable.
Xero document upload limits and rejected file types
Xero document upload limits cover file type and file size. Xero's Smart Document Capture page says its file storage supports formats "including image formats like JPG, PNG, PDFs, and Word documents." The Xero pages used here state no size limit or rejected types, so confirm both in the organisation before sending a large batch.
In practice, keep to the listed formats. Convert HEIC phone photos, Apple Pages files and spreadsheets saved in unusual formats to PDF before upload, and unzip archives so each document travels as its own file. A failed upload message in Xero is the authority on what that organisation accepts on the day.
Files that are data rather than documents take a different path. A bank statement export meant for import, rather than as support, is a CSV problem; the posts on Excel export for accounting data and on importing bank statements into QuickBooks cover that side.
The firm's own copy of each document should live outside the client's books, sorted by client and year. Schema CPA gives each client one upload link, sorts every page by type, issuer and period, and hands the firm the extracted figures as an Excel or CSV export, as the workflow section of the homepage shows. It has no Xero link, so filing into Xero stays a Xero step. The organizing client files category covers folder structures for that master copy.