Connecting LivePlan to Xero Follow

If you need help setting up the connection between Xero and LivePlan, please Chat with us now, or contact us, and we'll be happy to walk you through the process.

The LivePlan Dashboard can be integrated with Xero, which makes it easy to import your accounting actuals. This means your results will stay continually updated, and you'll be able to quickly compare your actuals to your LivePlan forecast. 

Getting set up with Xero

1. If you don't have a Xero account yet, you'll need to sign up for one (there is a free trial option):
   
2. Next, you'll need to set up a Xero organization for your business. For help doing this, refer to the Xero Business Help Center. 
3. Once you have a Xero account and organization set up, you can connect LivePlan to Xero.

Two ways to connect

Depending on your situation, you may be connecting your Dashboard to Xero in one of these two ways:

• You're starting LivePlan in the Dashboard, and working with a brand-new company file
• You've already built a forecast in your LivePlan company file, and are connecting to the Dashboard afterward

Your path through the connection process will be a little different depending on which of these two options you've chosen. Please see below for instructions on each option.

If you're starting a LivePlan company through the Dashboard

If you begin using LivePlan by connecting to Xero, then you'll have access to some automated features.

1. Log in to your LivePlan account.
2. Create a new company.
3. Set the start date for your forecast to the start of your current fiscal year.
4. Choose Dashboard as your starting point:
   
5. In the Dashboard tab, click the Get Started button:
   
6. In the Choose a data source overlay, choose the Xero option, and then click Continue: 
   
7. If you have used manual entry to enter any data into the Dashboard prior to connecting, an overlay will appear to warn you that the data will be discarded when you connect to Xero. Click Continue:
   
8. The next overlay outlines the steps you need to take to connect to Xero.  Click Connect to Xero: 
   

9. In the Xero overlay that appears, enter the username and password for your Xero account, and then click Login: 
   

10. In the overlay that asks you to authorize LivePlan to connect to your Xero account, click Authorise:
    

11. Once the connection is successful, the next step is to bring the data from Xero into the Dashboard. Click OK, let's sync: 
    

12. LivePlan will pull in your Xero data for the current year and up to two fiscal years in the past. You'll see the following overlay during this process:
    

Once LivePlan and Xero are connected, LivePlan will automatically map the two together so you can see a side-by-side comparison in the Dashboard.

If you need to make adjustments to that mapping, please see Adjusting the mapping between Xero accounts and LivePlan.

In the connection process, LivePlan will also create a starting point for your forecast in the Forecast tab. You'll want to make adjustments to this starting forecast.

If you've already built your forecast

Many start-up businesses won't have any accounting actuals until later, when the business is up and running. So if you started LivePlan by building a business plan and forecast, and are now setting up your Dashboard, you can either build a fresh forecast starting with your accounting actuals, or follow the steps below to map your original forecast to your actuals.

1. Log in to your LivePlan account.
2. Click on the Connect box, located near the top-right of your LivePlan window:
   
3. In the Choose a data source overlay, choose the Xero option, and then click Continue: 
   
4. If you have used manual entry to enter any data into the Dashboard prior to connecting, an overlay will appear to warn you that the data will be discarded when you connect to Xero. Click Continue:
   
5. The next overlay outlines the steps you need to take to connect to Xero. Click Connect to Xero: 
   
6. In the Xero overlay that appears, enter the username and password for your Xero account, and then click Login: 
   
7. In the overlay that asks you to authorize LivePlan to connect to your Xero account, click Authorise:
   
8. Once the connection is successful, the next step is to bring the data from Xero into the Dashboard. Click OK, let's sync: 
   
9. LivePlan will pull in your Xero data for the current year and up to two fiscal years in the past. You'll see the following overlay during this process:
   
10. LivePlan will pull in your Xero data for the current year and up to two past fiscal years. You can see this data in the Dashboard once you completed the mapping process. Once LivePlan and Xero are connected, the Mapping view will appear:
    

11.  You can now move on to Mapping Xero accounts to LivePlan data.

Disconnecting from Xero

Once you're connected to Xero, your Dashboard will remain that way until you disconnect it from Xero. As long as the connection is intact, LivePlan will automatically sync the data between LivePlan and Xero on a nightly basis. 

If at some point you want to disconnect LivePlan from Xero, click the Disconnect from Xero link at the top of the mapping view: