Accounting: push invoices to QuickBooks and Xero

Push your invoices to QuickBooks or Xero

Once an invoice is ready in Handl, you can push it straight into QuickBooks or Xero instead of re-entering it by hand. Handl also sends the payment across when the invoice is paid, and with Xero it can pull payments your bookkeeper has already reconciled back into Handl.

Steps

1. Go to Settings → Automation → Integrations and find the QuickBooks or Xero card.
2. Click Connect and authorise Handl through the provider's sign-in pop-up.
3. Choose when invoices sync in the card's settings: Manual (you push each one yourself, from the invoice page or the invoices list), When sent, or When payment received.
4. Handl matches the client to an existing customer (QuickBooks) or contact (Xero) by exact name. If there's no exact match, the invoice shows Needs mapping — see below.
5. The invoice appears in your accounting system. In Xero you choose whether new invoices arrive as Authorised or Draft. QuickBooks has no draft invoices, so an invoice has to be sent in Handl before it can be pushed.

When a client doesn't match: Needs mapping

Select the Needs mapping badge on the invoice, then either pick the right customer or contact from the list, or create one without leaving Handl:

1. In the mapping dialog, select Create "<client name>" in QuickBooks (or in Xero).
2. Handl creates the customer or contact with the client's name, email and billing address (whatever is filled in), remembers the match, and retries the sync.

If a customer or contact with that name already exists, Handl creates nothing and offers the existing one so you can link it instead. The mapping is remembered, so you only do this once per client.

Payments

Payment sync is off by default. Turn on Sync payments to QuickBooks (or Sync payments to Xero) in the card's settings and choose the deposit account (QuickBooks) or bank account (Xero). From then on, when a Handl invoice is paid in full, Handl records the payment against the invoice in your accounting system. For invoices paid before you switched it on, use Check for unsynced payments; it shows what it would send and asks you to confirm first.

If you edit or remove a payment in Handl that Handl had pushed, Handl deletes that payment in your accounting system. If it can't, the invoice shows Payment sync issue so you can reconcile it yourself.

Payments reconciled in Xero (Xero only)

With Xero and payment sync on, Handl also checks Xero about once an hour for payments your bookkeeper has recorded against synced invoices that are still open in Handl, and records them in Handl so the invoice shows as paid. This pull is available for Xero only. QuickBooks is push-only: a payment your bookkeeper records directly in QuickBooks is not marked paid in Handl.

Editing an invoice after you've pushed it

If you change an invoice in Handl after it was pushed, Handl updates the same invoice in your accounting system rather than creating a second one. While it works, the badge reads Syncing…, then returns to Synced.

• QuickBooks: Handl won't overwrite a change your bookkeeper made in QuickBooks. If the invoice was edited there since Handl last updated it, the badge says so, and you can choose Sync to replace QuickBooks with Handl's version after a confirmation. Handl also stops if QuickBooks shows a payment or credit applied to the invoice, or the invoice voided or deleted.
• Xero: if Xero refuses the update, the badge shows Sync failed with Xero's reason.

When a sync fails

1. Select the Sync failed, Sync interrupted or Payment sync issue badge on the invoice (in the list or on the invoice page). It expands to show the full message in plain language, and a link to the matching help section.
2. Fix the cause in your accounting system or in Handl.
3. Select Retry sync. Messages that say nothing was sent are always safe to retry.

The QuickBooks and Xero cards in Settings → Automation → Integrations show how many invoices need attention (for example "3 invoices need attention: 2 failed to sync or need a customer matched, 1 with a payment sync issue"). Select the count to open the invoices list filtered to just those invoices. Each card also has a Setup guide & known limitations link.

If the connection drops

If QuickBooks or Xero needs you to re-authorise, the card shows Reconnect required (see "Fix a disconnected integration"). Handl also emails the account's owners and admins when this happens, naming the integration, what stopped and when, with a Reconnect button.

Good to know

• Contact mapping only needs doing once per client — Handl remembers the match for next time.
• An agency connects one accounting system at a time, and Handl can't move an invoice from one system to the other.
• Handl doesn't create credit notes or refunds in your accounting system. Record those there yourself.

FAQs

Does this replace my accounting software? No — Handl pushes the invoice across; you still categorise and reconcile it in QuickBooks or Xero as normal.

Can Handl read payments back from QuickBooks? Not yet. Handl sends payments to QuickBooks, but only pulls payments back from Xero.

What if the client name doesn't match a customer or contact? The invoice shows Needs mapping. Pick the right one, or create it from the dialog. After that, the mapping is remembered.

Will Retry sync create a duplicate? No. Handl looks for the invoice it already created and links to it.