Clients who self manage are less likely to encounter problems compared to those that manage for 3rd parties. That is because the former simply have to handle the tenant's statement and are simply posting rents, while the latter has an owner statement and are posting remittances and most issues arise because the balance on these statements to do not balance with their counterpart on Xero.
For this reason, understanding the two systems is paramount to avoid problems. If the Arthur team has not onboarded you then it is likely you will be unaware of the nuances of such a relationship and if you're unfamiliar with Xero then the likelihood is you will cause issues for yourselves. Our onboarding service includes 4 hours of training.
This article is detailed in both:
- Seeing why things may not post to Xero or visa versa
- Things not to do in Xero that cause issues in Arthur
The two systems are connected via Xero API (Advanced program interface) which controls the data between the two systems and defines how they behave together. Warning messages that appear during sync will give a very good indication of where the problem is. It is always worth looking carefully at the logs if you notice a problem as they are quite descriptive in identifying an issue. If you are having trouble synchronizing (i.e. the sync won’t even start without erroring) please read ‘Connection problems with Xero’
Seeing why things may not post to Xero or visa versa
General things to be aware of on Arthur`s side
Refunds: Xero does not like on account refunds unless they are allocated to a credit note (either in Arthur or Xero). If you enter an on account refund to a tenant or payment to a property owner in Arthur without fully allocating it to credit in Arthur first, it will not post to Xero. Where have you added transactions?: It is essential that you add a transaction in the correct area, be it at 'Property, Unit or Tenancy' level. If you try and add a tenancy transaction to property or unit there will be no option to allocate it to a tenancy statement Editing transactions: If a transaction has been edited after it has already been synchronized, you will need to run sync on all records in order for this to update in Xero. The best practice is to void transactions and recreate it if you would like to resolve it efficiently by yourself. Voided transactions: Generally speaking most things voided in Arthur should automatically void in Xero, but anything voided in Xero will definitely be voided in Arthur. Voided Property Owner charges in Arthur will also need to be voided manually in Xero. You will see the following message during the synchronization, if you have lots of property charges you need to void, it’s best to do it in Xero because it will void in Arthur too.
Things to look for if the Tenant, Property Owner or Contractors are not appearing in Xero
- Check that the email address for all of the contacts makes sense. Xero will not allow the creation of a record if the email address doesn’t make sense or you have multiple email addresses on one line
- Check that you have a forename and surname on both the Xero and Arthur for each of the accounts
- Check that you have not archived the record in Xero. Often tenancies are archived in Xero, so when you sync a new tenant/tenancy record it will not sync to Xero.
Things to look for if transactions do not appear in either Xero or Arthur
- Check that the ‘transaction type’ in Arthur has been mapped to its counterpart in Xero, vice versa in the account mappings section
- Check that the unit/property/tenancy related to the transaction has a property owner or tenant assigned to it. If it has, check that they also exist in Xero
- Check that transactions do not have the same invoice reference number. Xero will not accept transactions with duplicate transaction invoice numbers.
- Check that bank accounts are mapped correctly if receipts from Xero do not appear in Arthur
- Check lock dates which may prevent transactions being posted (see below more detail)
Often transactions are posted to Xero with an advanced date. It is easy to be fooled that it hasn’t gone across because most reports on Xero run as at today’s date. This especially happens when looking at Aged receivables/payables reports in Xero and the balances look wrong. You can always see if a transaction has gone across by looking in the respective Tenant/Property Owner/Contractor accounts and viewing all bills
Lock Dates
Click on your company name > Settings > Advanced settings On Xero, 'Lock Dates' are a feature that prevents you from entering a transaction after a specific date. Hence any transaction posted after the dates entered after the 'Lock Dates' will not be posted. You can enter these dates as shown below; 
Things not to do in Xero that cause issues in Arthur
Do not reconcile Property Owner bills
Upon reconciling a rent charge in Arthur, this creates a bill towards the Property Owner in Xero. This eventually forms part of your remittance in Xero. If this bill is reconciled in Xero, this will prevent your remittance from syncing to Xero. Solution: Locate the bill that is reconciled in Xero, “Remove and Redo” the associated payment. Then you are free to remit that transaction
When you undo a remittance in Arthur, do not assume it undoes in Xero
After undoing a remittance in Arthur, it is necessary that you undo the corresponding remittance in Xero before you remit again. Otherwise, your remittance will not post to Xero Solution: Undo the remittance in Xero as suggested in this guide: https://www.arthuronline.co.uk/knowledgebase/how-to-undo-a-property-owner-remittance/
Do not use the ‘Create’ function for transactions related to tenants and property owners in Arthur
The ‘Create’ feature on Xero is extremely powerful and is useful when dealing with bank transactions unrelated to Arthur. However, when create is used if an invoice has not been suggested, this prevents the invoice from being reconciled. This can make transactions that are correctly paid Solution: Remove and Redo any transactions where ‘Create’ was used that relate to any invoices or remittances posted by Arthur, and reconcile correctly
Utilizing bank accounts not mapped to Arthur
If an invoice has been reconciled, or a credit note refunded, but they are done through a bank account that isn’t mapped to Arthur. This will stop the payment and the respective refund from coming back through into Arthur. Solution: Set-up the bank account in Arthur, map this bank account within ‘Mapping Bank Accounts’ to the corresponding bank in Xero.
Archiving nominal codes mapped to Arthur transaction types
The transaction type in Arthur is mapped to nominal codes in Xero. When these nominal codes have been archived or deleted, this stops those transactions from going into Xero. Solution: Unarchive the nominal codes, run a sync to ensure transactions post over
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