Kit Sorted guide

ServiceM8 or Tradify not syncing to Xero? Checks and fixes

Updated 20 Oct 2026 Vendor documentation verified No product picks

Most stuck invoices come down to a few causes: the invoice isn't approved, it's worth $0, the Xero connection has expired, an account code or tax rate doesn't match, or the Xero plan has hit its invoice limit. Every fix below comes from ServiceM8's, Tradify's or Xero's own help pages.

How to read this page

  • DIY fix You can usually fix it yourself by following the vendor's own steps.
  • Setup check It touches how your accounts, tax, Xero organisation or tracking categories are set up. Check with your bookkeeper before changing it, and with your registered BAS or tax agent for anything about tax settings.

First, check your Xero plan's invoice limit

This affects ServiceM8 and Tradify alike. On Xero AU Ignite, the comparison table lists "Send quotes and 20 invoices†". The † footnote says: "Invoice limits for the Ignite plan apply to both approving and sending invoices. Transactions initiated by app partners may automatically contribute to your invoice limit." Quotes are listed separately from the 20-invoice cap in the cell wording.[1] [2]

In Tradify the limit shows as the error "You have reached the limit of invoices you can approve". Tradify's help page says "Your Xero plan may have a limit… For example, a Xero Starter plan only processes 20 approved invoices."[3] Tradify's page still says "Starter"; Xero now calls that plan Ignite. UNVERIFIED

DIY fix If you're on Ignite and invoices have stopped going across, check whether you've reached the plan's invoice limit before anything else. Xero points to its Grow plan for more than 20 invoices.

ServiceM8 to Xero

How it's meant to work

  • Xero sync is listed on every ServiceM8 plan, including Free.[4]
  • A job goes to Xero only after it's marked Completed and then approved from Invoicing, Awaiting Approval.[5] [6]
  • Invoices you create in Xero don't come back into ServiceM8. After approval, changes in ServiceM8 that change the total re-sync to Xero.[7]
  • Payments made in Xero can take up to 30 minutes to show in ServiceM8.[8]
  • Supplier-only contacts in Xero aren't imported, ServiceM8 clients only reach Xero with an approved invoice, and an unsynced ServiceM8 client can be overwritten if you type the same client into Xero.[9]

For connecting ServiceM8 to Xero in the first place, and when Zapier or Make are worth it, see the Buy Brief How do I connect ServiceM8 to Xero?

Common problems and the vendor's fix

  • DIY fix The invoice is still on the job, not in Awaiting Approval

    Mark the job Completed, then approve it from Invoicing, Awaiting Approval. Nothing goes to Xero until you approve it. [5][6]

  • DIY fix The invoice total is $0.00

    Set the job back to Work Order, add materials or services with prices, mark it Completed and approve it again. [10]

  • DIY fix A red cross next to the job after you approve

    Hover over the cross. ServiceM8 shows the reason and how to fix it there. A green tick means it reached Xero. [11]

  • DIY fix 'Xero access token expired' on the Invoicing page

    Click 'Authorise ServiceM8 With Xero' in the notice to reconnect. Check your Xero subscription is current too. [12]

  • DIY fix Red error icon: the invoice number already exists in Xero

    Find the clashing invoice in Xero (include deleted and voided ones) and renumber, edit or copy it as ServiceM8 describes. To stop it happening again, turn on 'Let Xero issue invoice number'. [13]

  • Setup check The invoice went to the wrong Xero organisation

    Re-integrate ServiceM8 with the correct organisation, then re-save and re-approve the job. Check the wrong organisation for anything that needs cleaning up. [14][15]

  • Setup check An account code you need doesn't appear in ServiceM8

    ServiceM8 only shows Xero income accounts typed Sales or Revenue. Fix the account type in Xero, not in ServiceM8. [16]

  • Setup check Tax on the invoice doesn't match Xero

    Tax rates flow one way, from Xero to ServiceM8. Change tax settings in Xero; changes made in ServiceM8 never reach Xero. Which tax rate is right is a question for your accountant, BAS agent or tax agent. [17]

  • Setup check Tracking categories missing or out of date

    Changes to tracking categories in Xero can take up to 24 hours to show in ServiceM8. Values are chosen on the job card and sent with its invoice. [18]

Not covered here: whether ServiceM8 can send timesheets to Xero Payroll. The ServiceM8 help articles we checked don't say, so we make no claim either way. UNVERIFIED

Tradify to Xero

How it's meant to work

  • Xero sync is listed from Tradify's Lite plan up. You connect from Settings, Integrations, Xero.[19] [20]
  • Four default accounts must be set before anything posts: Sales of Labour, Sales of Materials, Bank Account and Purchases.[21] [22]
  • Invoices, payments and credit notes sync both ways; bills, customers and suppliers transfer too.[23]
  • A new Tradify customer only appears in Xero once you post an invoice or bill for them.[24]
  • Only invoices created after you connected sync automatically; older ones need Options, Send to Xero.[25]
  • Timesheets don't go to Xero. Tradify says they "must be manually entered into Xero": export them from Timesheets and enter the hours in Xero.[26]
  • Don't delete Tradify invoices in Xero. Tradify says the invoice is then removed from Tradify too, with its payments, and can't be recovered. Void it instead (it shows as Cancelled in Tradify).[27]
  • The Xero connection expires from time to time. Logging back in refreshes customers, suppliers and price list items from Xero and can overwrite details you only kept in Tradify.[28]

Comparing Tradify with ServiceM8 or Fergus? See ServiceM8 vs Tradify vs Fergus.

Tradify's Xero error messages and fixes

Error names are shortened from Tradify's error guide.

  • DIY fix Email address must be valid

    Correct the customer's or supplier's email address in Tradify and resend. [29]

  • DIY fix Selling unit of measure is over 5 characters

    Shorten the unit of measure on that item and resend. [29]

  • DIY fix Payments can only be made to authorised documents

    Approve the invoice in Xero first, then send the payment. [29]

  • DIY fix Invoice not sending, and no error message

    Move any images out of the invoice description into Notes (or turn off 'Send invoice description to Xero'), and check every line has an account code picked from the dropdown. [29][30]

  • DIY fix Count, amount or due date doesn't match Xero

    Resend from Tradify: approve a draft; reset an approved invoice to draft and approve again; or, if it is already in Xero and unpaid, edit and save it in Tradify. [29]

  • DIY fix Currency mismatch

    Make the invoice currency the same in Tradify and Xero. [29]

  • DIY fix Xero's per-minute rate limit

    Wait a couple of minutes and resend. If it keeps happening, turn off 'Create Inventory Items in Xero'. Fix any other errors first. [29]

  • DIY fix Editing a paid invoice line (LineItemID error)

    Xero blocks line edits once an invoice is paid or credited. Check the payment in Xero and edit there if needed. Tradify warns that force-resending can remove the Xero payment. [29]

  • DIY fix Incorrect account code, or account could not be found

    Pick account codes from the dropdown (not typed) on invoice lines and price list items, check your default accounts, and confirm the account is active in Xero. Then reset to draft and approve. [29][21]

  • DIY fix The SalesAccountId account is invalid

    The item needs a valid Revenue account. Clear and reselect it on price list items and billing rates, and check the defaults under Settings, Integrations, Xero. [29][22]

  • DIY fix TaxType INPUT or OUTPUT can't be used with this account code

    The account's type doesn't suit that tax type. Fix the account in Xero's chart of accounts, or choose a different account on the invoice or price list item. If the account type in Xero's chart of accounts is wrong, which account to use is for your bookkeeper or accountant to confirm, and which tax type to use is for your registered BAS or tax agent. [31][32]

  • Setup check Tax rate invalid for this account type when approving a draft

    A line or price list item uses a purchase account on a customer invoice. Export the price list, swap purchase codes for sales codes and re-import. If you're not sure which sales account applies, ask your accountant or bookkeeper, and ask your registered BAS or tax agent which tax rate goes with it. [33]

  • Setup check Tax amounts differ between Tradify and Xero

    Confirm the tax settings with your accountant, BAS agent or tax agent, make sure Xero and Tradify both use them, then resend. [29]

When to ask for help

  • A DIY fix item didn't work: contact ServiceM8 or Tradify support with the exact error message.
  • Anything marked Setup check: talk to your bookkeeper or accountant first. Tradify itself suggests that for choosing accounts.[21]

What we couldn't confirm

  • Whether ServiceM8 can send timesheets to Xero Payroll. The ServiceM8 help articles we checked don't cover it, so we make no claim either way; ask ServiceM8 support. UNVERIFIED
  • Whether Tradify's 'Xero Starter' wording means Xero's current Ignite plan. Xero's Australian site now calls its 20-invoice plan Ignite, so it's likely the same plan under an older name. UNVERIFIED
  • A ServiceM8 error message for the Xero Ignite invoice limit. We didn't find one in ServiceM8's help centre, so we don't quote one. UNVERIFIED

How we checked

We read ServiceM8's and Tradify's help centres and Xero's Australian plan pages on 20 Oct 2026. We haven't run these fixes in a live ServiceM8, Tradify or Xero account, so every fact here is labelled Vendor documentation verified at best. How we check

Sources

  1. On Xero AU Ignite, the comparison table lists 'Send quotes and 20 invoices†'. The † footnote says invoice limits apply to both approving and sending invoices, and that transactions initiated by app partners may automatically contribute to the invoice limit. Quotes are listed separately from the 20-invoice cap in the cell wording. xero.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  2. Xero's † footnote on the AU pricing plans page: 'Invoice limits for the Ignite plan apply to both approving and sending invoices.' xero.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  3. Tradify lists the Xero error 'You have reached the limit of invoices you can approve' and says 'Your Xero plan may have a limit… For example, a Xero Starter plan only processes 20 approved invoices.' help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  4. ServiceM8's plan comparison lists Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB accounting integrations across its plans, including the Free plan. servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  5. ServiceM8: 'Before a job / invoice can be sent through to Xero, it must first be marked as completed.' support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  6. ServiceM8: 'Invoices are sent to Xero when Approved from the Invoicing page (in the Online Dashboard, or the mobile app).' You tick the job under Awaiting Approval and click Approve. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  7. ServiceM8: 'Invoices created in Xero are not sent to ServiceM8.' After approval, changes in ServiceM8 that affect the invoice total re-sync the line items to Xero. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  8. ServiceM8 says payments recorded in Xero against exported invoices reach ServiceM8 within 30 minutes, and a full payment in Xero marks the invoice paid in ServiceM8. Payments entered in ServiceM8 go across with the invoice, or straight away if the invoice is already approved. The payment account is set under Settings, Preferences, Invoicing. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  9. ServiceM8 says Xero contacts and items reach ServiceM8 within 30 minutes (items arrive as Materials). ServiceM8 clients and materials only go to Xero with an approved invoice. Suppliers (Xero contacts with a bill) are not imported unless they are also customers, and a ServiceM8 client not yet synced will be overwritten if the same client is entered manually in Xero. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  10. ServiceM8 won't send a zero-value invoice to Xero: 'An invoice cannot be processed unless it contains line items of some value.' The fix: set the job back to Work Order, add materials or services with prices, mark it Completed, then approve it again from Invoicing, Awaiting Approval. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  11. ServiceM8: 'If there are any issues processing the job, you will get a red cross - hover your mouse over the cross to get additional information on how to resolve the issue.' A green tick means the invoice was raised in Xero. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  12. ServiceM8 says a 'Xero access token expired' notice on the Invoicing page can appear about 12 months after connecting, if the connection was removed in Xero, if your Xero subscription expired, or during Xero API interruptions. The fix is to click 'Authorise ServiceM8 With Xero' in the notice. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  13. A red error icon on Awaiting Approval can mean the invoice number already exists in Xero. ServiceM8 says to search Xero's invoices (including deleted and voided ones), then delete or renumber a draft, edit the number on an awaiting-payment or paid invoice, or copy a voided or deleted one and use 'Approve job(s) without sending to Xero'. If it's still stuck, ServiceM8 support can change the job number. To avoid it, ServiceM8 offers 'Let Xero issue invoice number' under Settings, Preferences, Invoicing, Xero. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  14. If an approved ServiceM8 invoice went to the wrong Xero organisation, ServiceM8 says to re-integrate with the correct organisation, then set the job to Work Order, save, mark it Completed, save, and approve it again. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  15. ServiceM8 connects to Xero from Settings, ServiceM8 Add-ons, Xero Integration: you set the tax setting in the wizard and authorise one Xero organisation. Your existing Xero customers and inventory items then load into ServiceM8 over the next few minutes. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  16. ServiceM8: 'Only accounts set as "Sales" or "Revenue" type in Xero will appear in ServiceM8.' If an account code is missing when you assign it to an item, the account type in Xero is usually the cause. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  17. ServiceM8: 'On integration, all taxes in Xero will be imported into ServiceM8. All changes made to tax settings in Xero will sync to ServiceM8, any changes to taxes made in ServiceM8 will not sync back to Xero.' support.servicem8.com , checked 26 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  18. ServiceM8's optional Xero Tracking Categories add-on sends the job's tracking values with its invoice. ServiceM8 says Xero tracking categories 'only sync over once a day', so changes in Xero can take up to 24 hours to appear. support.servicem8.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  19. Tradify's AU pricing lists Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks Online sync on the Lite plan and above. Timesheets are listed on Pro and Plus, not Lite. tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  20. Tradify supports Xero in Australia. You connect from Settings, Integrations, Xero, then log in to Xero and allow access. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  21. Tradify: four default account fields (Sales of Labour, Sales of Materials, Bank Account and Purchases) 'are mandatory for posting Invoices and Bills to Xero'. Tradify suggests asking your accountant or bookkeeper if you're unsure which accounts to pick. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  22. Tradify's mapping guide: Sales of Labour and Sales of Materials go to sales, revenue or income accounts (typically 200–299); Bank Account to a bank or asset account with 'Enable Payments to this Account' ticked; Purchases to an expense, cost of sales or direct cost account (typically 300–599). help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  23. Tradify says its Xero integration is a two-way sync for invoices, payments and credit notes, and also transfers bills, customers and suppliers. Payments reconciled in Xero mark the matching Tradify invoice as Paid. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  24. Tradify: a new Tradify customer or supplier gets a matching Xero contact 'when you post a corresponding Invoice or Bill over', not when you first create the contact. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  25. Tradify: only invoices created after you connect Xero sync automatically. Older invoices need Options, Send to Xero. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  26. Tradify: 'Timesheets are not sent to Xero as part of the Xero Integration and must be manually entered into Xero.' You export them from Timesheets (select the week, then Options, Export Timesheets to file) and enter the hours in Xero. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  27. Tradify says invoice changes sync both ways in under a minute, but changed descriptions in Xero don't sync back to Tradify. Voiding in Xero cancels the invoice in Tradify, and 'If an invoice from Tradify is deleted in Xero, it's also removed from Tradify, including all details and payments, and cannot be recovered.' help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  28. Tradify: 'Your connection to Xero doesn't last forever', so you'll be asked to log in to Xero again. Logging back in refreshes customers, suppliers, price list items and accounting settings from Xero, and matching Tradify records are updated with Xero's information, which may overwrite details stored only in Tradify. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  29. Tradify's guide to Xero error messages lists each error with its fix, including invalid email addresses, incorrect account codes, units of measure over 5 characters, mismatched totals or tax, mismatched currency, invoices that don't send with no error, invalid sales accounts, Xero's per-minute rate limit and edits to paid invoices. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  30. Tradify's optional Xero presets: use Xero invoice numbering, send the invoice description to Xero as a line item, create inventory items in Xero, and send files to Xero. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  31. Tradify: the error 'The TaxType code INPUT cannot be used with account code…' means the account type is wrong for the tax type; change the account type in Xero's chart of accounts or pick a different account on the invoice. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  32. Tradify: the error 'The TaxType code OUTPUT cannot be used with account code…' means the account type doesn't suit that tax type; check the account in Xero and the account codes on your price list items. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified
  33. Tradify: if a draft invoice won't approve because the tax rate is invalid for the account type, a line or price list item is using a purchase account code on a customer invoice. Export the price list, change purchase codes (for example 300–399) to sales codes, enter numbers only, and re-import. help.tradifyhq.com , checked 20 Oct 2026. Vendor documentation verified