Step 1 - Xeroom Installation Instructions

Introduction to Xeroom

Xeroom is a WordPress plugin that links and integrates sales order and inventory data in WooCommerce to the Xero online accounting application. The Xeroom plugin will post orders to Xero to create a new invoice in Xero.  It will create new product lines if they don’t already exist in the Xero product catalogue.  All the order data and meta data are posted to Xero ie the customer name and address, product prices, taxes, discounts, coupons, codes, descriptions, inventories along with the payment details ie reference and gateway/bank. Simple and variable products can be handled and items on sale have their full-price added to the description.  Xeroom will work with most of the popular plugins for WooCommerce such as subscriptions, invoice pdf, product bundles, PO orders, payment gateways such as Stripe, Paypal, Account payments, Order statuses etc. 

The whole process can be set to run either manually or automatically using the order send and payment send triggers that follow the standard or customised WooCommerce order status changes.  eg any order placed and paid for online by card, Stripe or PayPal will appear in Xero as a completed and paid invoice.  It can also check for available stock before allowing the order to be places and update the inventory as a result of the sale in WooCommerce from Xero or the other way around.

Xeroom has many user defined features to make the whole management of the sending orders to Xero visible, powerful and easy.  Order processing can be done automatically, manually one-by-one or in batches of orders.  The order dash shows the Xero status for each order.

A typical WooCommerce order might look like this:

When posted to Xero the order is converted into an invoice that looks like this:

Activity is added to the order notes both in WooCommerce and in Xero.

Installation General

Health warning – Note that Xeroom provides a link between two complex applications, Woocommerce and Xero, that both use rigid and tight security and various other constraints.  We have tried to make the installation and setup as easy as possible with drop-down lists of account and other data from Xero showing in WooCommerce.  To install and set it up is pretty straightforward and requires no programming but is not a 5 minute "plug and play" job for novices.  It needs knowledge your own WooCommerce and Xero systems as well as your website setup. It uses a common Oauth 2.0 app method for creating a secure connection. You will need access to someone with IT knowledge in case of problems or errors.  Your website builder will be easily able to do this with some input from your bookkeeper.

Hand Holding - Note that we only do a limited amount of hand-holding and cannot answer endless questions about the detailed instructions given below.  If you do not possess or have access to these skills or have the patience to acquire them and deal with issues that might arise then please do not attempt to use Xeroom as you will be frustrated and disappointed likely resulting in blaming us which is not reasonable.

Installation & Test Service – The install and setup is straightforward but a bit convoluted due to the complexity and multiple systems involved.  Xeroom offers a lot of flexibility and options, as does Xero and Woocommerce.  If you are a competent IT person and know what you are doing it will take around half an hour if everything goes smoothly, 1-2 hours if it doesn’t.  

Installation Service - We do offer an installation service from one of our experts for only $99 if you don’t wish to invest your valuable time in doing so available in our shop.  This includes a detailed data capture questionnaire to ensure that you get the best setup needed for your business.  We also run some tests and checks to ensure everything is working properly and provide your with 2 weeks for your own testing, feedback and subsequent fixes. You can order this with the licence or buy it separately later if you prefer or if you get stuck which sometimes happens to all of us!

Procedure Overview:

1. Purchase, Install & Activate Plugin – When you purchase a licence from here it will be emailed immediately.  You will be given a secure download link in the order completion email along with your Xeroom licence key.  
   
   
2. Activate Xeroom Licence –  Enter the Xeroom key and submit to activate it, whereupon it will turn green.  Note the Xero connection URI needed for your site to work is generated and shown in bold blue – copy and paste this into the Xero App that you create in the next step.
   
   
3. Login to Xero and Create a New App – This will provide you with the OAuth2.0 API credentials ie Client ID and Client Secret that are used to permit secure communications from your site’s Xeroom to your Xero account.
   
   
4. Copy & Paste Credentials into Xeroom – Enter the two Xero app credentials from the previous step and save.
   
   
5. Connect Xeroom to Xero – Then hit Activate and you get a screen in Xero from which to select your new app.  The connection should then be established and you are returned to Xeroom with the green Active button showing. At this point all the drop-down lists of data in Xero and WooCommerce related to Xeroom will get populated.  
   
   
6. Configure other Xeroom settings – Make selections from the drop-down lists for the Xero accounts, bank and sales tax settings from Xero.  Only lists of valid accounts/data are shown so any selection will work but some thought/input from your bookkeeper will ensure it is set-up in the most useful way.
   
   
7. Check your Product SKU codes – Ensure that all your products have the correct SKU codes, descriptions and prices in Woocommerce.  Products can be bulk copied into Xero or into WooCommerce from Xero using the Global Product Synch tab.   
8. Test & Check Orders – Run some test purchases from your site and post them to Xero.  Check that they are correct both in Woocommerce and in Xero especially checking the prices and taxes.
   
   
9. Test & Check Payments – Confirm that payments are being posted correctly into Xero.
   
   
10. Inventory Setup – Ensure that the inventory items that you want to synch is set to be tracked in Xero and managed in Woocommerce. Also set the inventory master for when an order is placed. Then set the Xeroom Global Inventory Synch schedule and test.
    
    

Installation & Activation

Before Starting

Check your versions!  Ensure that you are using the latest versions of WooCommerce, WordPress and Xeroom installed, ie within a month of their release.  These are being updated every few weeks and we always test Xeroom on them within a few days or release to ensure compatibility.  If we find any issues we will post an update on our support/updates page here https://www.xeroom.com/updates/

Installing the Plugin - Activation Errors

Your Xeroom order completion email contains a download link.  Save the zip file onto your pc locally. Tthen upload it to the WooCommerce plugin screen and activate it as for any plugin.  In some instances there may be an activation critical error due to a conflict with another plugin.  If this happens then please check the error message sent by WordPress to your admin user which should give the code and cascade of errors leading to the critical error. This should also indicate what plugin is conflicting so decide if that other plugin is essential or not and if not disable it.  If it is a Xeroom error then please send the detail to support to look at.

Once activated then you will see the Xeroom icon appear on the menu.

Activating Xeroom Licence

Enter the activation key from your completion email that you received when you ordered Xeroom.  Cut and paste it to avoid any errors of copying and then hit submit.  The licence will authenticate and the status bar go green. If this doesn't happen then refresh the page and try again.  If it still doesn't work - which very rarely happens - then please contact us with the IP address of your server as it means that there is a block to our server from the firewall or antibot Cloudflare system for some reason.  We can then whitelist your IP address.  Any block will automatically clear after 10 mins.  

Your Xeroom plugin is now ready for connection to Xero.