Connecting Xero to Relay Bill Pay takes about 5 minutes and syncs your suppliers, unpaid bills, and payment records automatically between both systems.
What you need before you start
A Relay account on the Grow Plan or Scale Plan (Bill Pay is included on both).
A Xero account with your supplier contacts and bills already set up.
Admin or Bill Pay approver permissions in Relay so you can enable integrations.
Bills in Xero marked as "Awaiting Payment" (bills in "Draft" or already "Paid" won't sync).
What does the Xero integration do?
The integration keeps Xero and Relay in sync so you approve and pay bills in Relay without duplicating the work in Xero. Once connected, it:
Imports your Xero suppliers as payees in Relay.
Pulls unpaid bills from Xero so they can be scheduled and paid in Relay.
Marks bills as paid in Xero and pushes back the payment date, method, and account.
Brings across your Xero chart of accounts so you can categorize expenses in Relay.
How do I connect Xero to Relay?
Enable the connection from the Xero integration tile in your Relay account. The full sequence:
Sign in to your Relay account.
On the Xero integration tile, click Manage.
Under the Bill Pay section, toggle Enable Bill Pay.
Confirm which bills you want to sync when prompted.
Optionally, turn on Import unpaid bills and Import vendors under the Imports section.
Click Save changes.
Once enabled, Relay syncs bill payments made in Relay to Xero's Accounts Payable ledger automatically.
What syncs between Xero and Relay?
After you connect Xero, Relay pulls in your supplier contacts as payees and any bills marked "Awaiting Payment," and displays them in Payments > Bills.
You can also:
Trigger a manual sync from Settings > Accounting Integrations > Sync Now.
Import new contacts at any time using the Sync Contacts option.
Relay does not sync bills already marked as "Paid" or "Draft" in Xero.
How do I pay a bill imported from Xero?
Once a bill is imported into Relay, you review it, optionally route it through an approval rule, then pay it from any of your Relay checking accounts. The typical flow:
Review the imported bill and, on the Grow Plan or Scale Plan, assign an approval rule if needed.
Schedule or pay the bill from any of your Relay checking accounts.
Relay marks the bill as "Paid" in Xero and pushes the payment date, method, and account details back into your Xero ledger.
You don't need to log in to Xero to update the payment; Relay handles it in the background.
Can I pay foreign currency bills from Xero?
Yes, for foreign currency bills imported from Xero or QuickBooks Online. Uploading foreign currency bills directly in Relay is not yet supported; all bills uploaded to Relay must be in USD, with foreign currency uploads coming soon.
For an imported foreign currency bill:
You can edit the amounts on the bill in Relay.
You cannot change the currency in Relay. Currency changes have to happen in Xero and will sync back into Relay.
Which sync features are supported?
The integration currently supports the following:
Function | Supported |
Bill import | Yes |
Contact import | Yes |
Two-way payment sync | Yes |
Accounting categories import for expense categorization | Yes |
Partial payments | Coming soon |
How do I use the Bulk Actions Toolbar with synced bills?
The Bulk Actions Toolbar appears when you select one or more bills and shows the total amount plus available actions based on your permissions and the tab you're on. From the toolbar you can:
View bills.
Approve or reject bills.
Initiate payments.
Approve or reject imported bills.
Can I edit a bill in Relay after it syncs from Xero?
Yes, editing imported bills directly in Relay is now supported. The bill editor is currently in beta and may not be available to every account yet.
Update bill details such as amounts and due dates from within Relay.
Add internal notes to a bill; notes will sync back to Xero where supported.
What are the best practices for the Xero integration?
Clean up your data before you sync and use a single source of truth for marking bills paid. Recommended practices:
Clean up payees in Xero before syncing to reduce duplicates in Relay.
Don't mark bills as paid in Xero yourself; let Relay do it to avoid conflicts.
Merge duplicate vendors in Relay after the initial sync.
Use Relay's bills inbox or manual upload for any bills that didn't originate in Xero.
Common issues
A few symptoms come up most often and each has a quick fix.
Symptom | Fix |
A bill isn't syncing into Relay | Confirm the bill is marked "Awaiting Payment" in Xero and the contact is set as a supplier. |
A Relay payment isn't updating in Xero | Go to Settings > Accounting Integrations and click Sync Now. |
Duplicate payees after sync | Merge duplicates manually from the Payees section of the Bills tab. |
The Xero tile is missing in Relay | Check that you're on the Grow Plan or Scale Plan and that you have admin permissions. |
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