How quotes appear as Xero invoices

Puree does not issue invoices itself. When you link an accepted quote to Xero, Puree builds the invoice in Xero from the quote and keeps it updated as the quote changes. This page explains what the invoice lines look like, and how you choose which Xero income account each part of a quote is posted to. For connecting Xero, linking quotes and handling payments, see Connecting with Xero.

Where the settings live

• Settings → Integrations → Xero Settings holds Invoice detail, Income accounts and Sales tax.
• Each package’s edit page → Pricing & accounting → Xero allocation sets how that package’s price is split, and which account each share goes to.

Invoice detail

Invoice detail decides how many lines the quote becomes in Xero.

Summarised by category

One line per master category: Menu, Beverages, Equipment, Miscellaneous & surcharges, Staff, Delivery and Venue. Everything in a category is combined into that one line, and a category with nothing on the quote has no line. If you have mapped your tax bands to Xero tax rates, a category with charges at more than one rate is split into one line per rate.

Individual priced lines

One line for each priced item, package, staff charge and venue reservation, so the invoice reads like the quote.

• Items read like 11 × Seared Tuna. Chosen options follow the name, for example 2 × Sandwich platter - Gluten free, and a presentation style follows in brackets: 14 × Main meal - Gluten free (Individual pottles). Two lines of the same item can be told apart.
• Bundles, such as a platter or boxed lunch, are one line each, with what the bundle contains listed underneath as bullet points, without quantities. The bundle line carries the whole price. See Bundles.
• Staff read like 3 × Waiter (5 hours). A fixed staff charge shows without the hours.
• Zero-value lines are left out.

Every line goes to Xero as quantity 1 at the line’s total, with the real quantity in the description. Dividing a line’s total back into a unit price can introduce rounding, so this keeps the invoice total exactly equal to the quote, to the cent.

If your account has mapped Puree tax bands to Xero tax rates (the Sales tax section on Xero Settings), each line carries the tax rate for its band, so GST or VAT is right line by line. See Tax Rates.

Income accounts

Each master category is posted to the Xero income account you choose for it: Menu, Beverages, Equipment, Miscellaneous & surcharges, Staff, Delivery, Venue, and Packages when packages are enabled on your account. The list comes from your Xero chart of accounts.

• You can use the same account for several categories. Many caterers put everything on one Sales account.
• Xero applies each income account’s default tax rate, unless a tax-band mapping applies to the line.

Set by category

Beside each master category’s account is a Set by category button. It opens that master category’s item categories, for example Canapés, Mains and Desserts under Menu, each with its own account picker. A number on the button shows how many categories have their own account.

• A category left blank (Use Menu account) posts to its master category’s account, so nothing changes until you choose one.
• This only takes effect with Individual priced lines. A summarised line covers a whole master category, so it can only go to one account. While Summarised by category is selected, the button is hidden.
• A category with its own account still follows the tax rules of its master category. The account only changes where the revenue is reported in Xero.

Packages

How a package appears on the invoice

A package is its own line in both layouts, named as the quote names it: 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest. A single-guest package shows just its name.

If the package’s Xero allocation splits its price, there is one line per share, with the share named after the package:

• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Menu, $2,360.00
• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Beverages, $295.00
• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Equipment, $295.00

With Individual priced lines, each package line lists the items the package includes underneath as bullet points, without quantities. Each item sits under the share for its master category, food under Menu and drinks under Beverages, and staff under Staff. Choices the customer has not yet made, and the contents of a bundle inside the package, are left out. A summarised invoice shows the package lines without their contents.

Xero allocation

On a package’s edit page, under Pricing & accounting, the Xero allocation button shows the current split: Package account until you change it, Split once the price is shared out, or the name of the one category that takes all of it.

The button opens a window with a row for each share: Menu, Beverages, Staff, Equipment, and Package account, which takes whatever is left.

• Each row has a percentage, with the per-guest amount shown beside it as you type, and a Xero account picker.
• Leave an account blank and that share posts to the master category’s account from Xero Settings (Use Menu account, and so on). For the Package account row, blank means the Packages account from Xero Settings, or Miscellaneous & surcharges if that is not set.
• Package account automatically takes whatever percentage is not assigned elsewhere. Reset to 100% package account puts the whole price back on one line.
• A share at 0% creates no line.
• Package accounts apply in both layouts, Summarised and Individual, unlike Set by category.
• The account pickers appear only while Xero is connected. If an account is later archived in Xero, it stays selected and shows as Account no longer in Xero until you change it.

The split lives on the package, so it applies to every quote that uses the package, and it is read each time a quote syncs. See the note on changing a split in Connecting with Xero, and Xero Allocation: Split a Package’s Price Across Your Revenue Accounts for the thinking behind splitting package revenue.

Worked example

Package: Wellington Working Lunch at $29.50 per guest, 100 guests, so $2,950.00 in total.

Allocation on the package:

Share	Percentage	Xero account
Menu	80%	Catering income
Beverages	10%	Catering income
Equipment	10%	Blank, so the Equipment account from Xero Settings
Staff	0%
Package account	0%	200 - Sales

The invoice gets three lines:

• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Menu: $2,360.00 to Catering income
• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Beverages: $295.00 to Catering income
• 100 x Wellington Working Lunch @ $29.50 per guest - Equipment: $295.00 to the Equipment account

There is no Staff line and no Package account line, because both are at 0%. The three lines add up to $2,950.00.

When changes apply

Changes to Invoice detail, Income accounts and a package’s Xero allocation apply the next time a quote is synced to Xero. With Auto Sync with Xero on, that is the next time a linked quote is saved. Invoices Xero has already locked, because they are paid or voided, are not changed.