How to import bills into Xero

To import bills into Xero in bulk, go to Bills in the Purchases menu, click New bill, select Import from CSV, download Xero’s template, fill it in and import the file, as described in Xero’s guide to importing bills and credit notes. The bills import as drafts, so someone still has to review and approve each one before it is ready to pay.

This guide covers the template, the import steps and the limits of the CSV route, then how automated bill processing posts into Xero. Everything about Xero here comes from Xero Central’s UK article, checked on 16 October 2026.

Can you bulk upload bills into Xero?

Yes. The same CSV import handles bills and credit notes, and one file can hold many bills, each with several line items. Xero recommends splitting the file if you are importing more than 500 items.

If you already have bills exported from another Xero organisation, Xero says you can skip the template and import that file, as long as it meets the same conditions as a completed template.

What you need before you import bills into Xero

• The template file, downloaded from the import screen. Xero warns against changing any of the column headings, because the import relies on them.

• Your suppliers’ names exactly as they appear in Xero. Contact Name is the only column that must be filled in.

• Account codes and purchases tax rate names as they display in Xero, so each line is coded correctly.

• Any foreign currency added in Xero before you import bills in that currency.

• Tracking category names and options as they display in Xero, if you use tracking.

Which columns matter in the Xero bill import template?

• Contact Name: required. If the name isn’t in Xero, the import creates a new contact.

• Invoice Number: the reference for the bill. Each bill in the file needs a different reference, otherwise Xero combines them, even when the contact names differ. Repeat a reference only for the line items of a single bill.

• Invoice Date and Due Date: in the format DD/MM/YYYY.

• Quantity and Unit Amount: the purchase price per item. For a credit note, enter the price as a negative amount.

• Account Code and Tax Type: the account to code the line to, and the purchases tax rate display name in full.

• TrackingName1 and TrackingOption1, and TrackingName2 and TrackingOption2: tracking categories and their options.

• Currency: the 3-letter code for the bill’s currency.

• InventoryItemCode: if the code isn’t in Xero, the import creates a new untracked inventory item.

Every price in the file must be entered the same way, either all tax inclusive or all tax exclusive, and you choose which at import. Xero calculates the total and tax from the quantity, unit amount and tax type. If a supplier’s tax figure differs from that calculation, you can add a TaxAmount column with the supplier’s figure, and then import the file as tax exclusive.

How to import bills into Xero from a CSV file

1. In the Purchases menu, select Bills.

2. Click New bill, then select Import from CSV.

3. Click Download the Xero import template or Download template file.

4. Copy your bill and credit note details into the template, one row per line item, and save it as a CSV file.

5. Go back to Bills, click New bill and select Import from CSV again.

6. Drag and drop the saved file, or click Select File.

7. If the file includes contact email addresses or postal addresses you want to change in Xero, select Yes, update contacts with imported address details.

8. Choose whether the prices in the UnitAmount column are tax inclusive or exclusive.

9. Click Confirm and review the import message. If it shows errors, fix the file and import it again. Otherwise, click Complete import.

10. Open the imported draft bills, add any missing details and approve them.

Steps checked against Xero Central on 16 October 2026.

What are the limits of importing bills by CSV?

• Someone still reads every bill. Each supplier invoice has to be typed into the template, line by line, before the import can run.

• Bills arrive as drafts. Each one still needs reviewing, and Xero notes you might need to add further details before you approve them.

• Small typing errors create new records. A supplier name that doesn’t exactly match the contact in Xero creates a new contact, and an unknown item code creates a new inventory item.

• Reused references merge bills. Two bills with the same invoice number in one file are combined into one.

• Errors show at import time. The import message lists problems after the file is uploaded, and you fix the file and start again.

• Matching and approval happen outside the file. The template has no columns for a purchase order, approver or supplier PDF, so checking each bill against its order and attaching the original invoice happen separately.

How to automate bills into Xero

The automated route keeps the same end result, a coded bill in Xero, and removes the spreadsheet in the middle. Each invoice is captured as it arrives, read, coded, matched and approved, then created in Xero as a bill through the integration.

Stratas connects to Xero through OAuth 2.0. Your contacts, chart of accounts, tax rates and tracking categories sync from Xero. Invoices arrive by email forwarding, scan or e-invoice, and Stratas extracts the supplier, amounts, line items and tax breakdown, with 89% field-level extraction accuracy.

• Matching against Xero purchase orders, at line level or on the total, with tolerance thresholds you configure.

• Account codes suggested from your coding patterns for invoices without a purchase order, and tracking categories applied from your history.

• Approval routing by value, supplier, account code or tracking category, with email notifications and one-click approval.

• Duplicate checking by supplier and invoice number, and a full audit trail from capture to posting.

• Approved invoices created as bills in Xero with the correct account codes, tax rates and tracking categories, with the attachment included.

• Several Xero organisations processed from one Stratas dashboard, each with its own rules and coding.

Bills post into Xero in the standard way, so your bank feeds, payment runs and reconciliation carry on as before. For the approval step in more detail, see our guide to invoice approval workflows, and for the wider picture, what AP automation covers.