This an initial process that is required in order for FreeDAM to know where to place the monetary values in the Xero accounting program. It does not have to be revisited unless the ledger accounts in Xero or FreeDAM are changed or added to.
- Connect to Xero (Authorise)
- Click the ‘Map FreeDAM Accounts to Xero’ button
FreeDAM will fetch the ledger accounts from FreeDAM and from Xero and show them in a window.
Rounding
Because of the differing way FreeDAM and Xero conduct rounding it is necessary to select a ‘Rounding account in Xero’ for FreeDAM to use.
- Click Edit
- Choose the Xero rounding account to use from the drop down list.
Default Sales Account
FreeDAM is able to put any invoice value to any account – However it is necessary for FreeDAM to know a Xero ‘Default’ Sales/Revenue. This account will be used by FreeDAM to post sales to when it does not know where else to put them.
- Choose the Xero sales account to use as the default from the drop down list.
Note that there are only two accounts in this Xero company at this stage. It may be that you have several more for caskets and urns etc.
Default Sales (No GST) Account
It is not often that Businesses actually have a sales account for sales that do not contain GST – however we as funeral directors need one for the gratuities that we pay to non-GST registered celebrants etc.
It is necessary for FreeDAM to know a Xero ‘Default Sales (No GST)’ account. This account will be used by FreeDAM to post non-GST sales to when it does not know where else to put them.
- Choose the Xero sales account to use as the default from the drop down list.
Note that in this example the only one available is ‘Interest Income’. It may be that your accountant has added a specific gratuities account for you labeled appropriately.
Awaiting Approval or Approved?
FreeDAM is able to upload invoices to Xero as ‘Awaiting Approval’ or as ‘Already Approved’.
When FreeDAM uses the ‘Awaiting Approval’ method the invoices that appear in Xero will then have to be approved in Xero after FreeDAM uploads them. This can be good as a safety check.
When FreeDAM uses the ‘Already Approved’ method the invoices are already approved in Xero and require no further adjustments within Xero.
- Select the appropriate Invoice upload method.
Mapping FreeDAM Sales Accounts to Xero Sales Accounts
The above is actually enough to get FreeDAM working with Xero but your accountant may have additional sales accounts within Xero that they prefer to have the sales recorded against.
FreeDAM allows you to ‘Map’ or to match FreeDAM sales accounts to Xero Sales accounts so that the invoice values from FreeDAM go to the right place in Xero.
The Yellow accounts on the left are FreeDAM accounts.
We are really only concerned with the sales accounts at the moment.
The green accounts on the right are Xero’s accounts.
Again we are really only concerned with the sales accounts at the moment.
To map specific Xero accounts to FreeDAM simply find the appropriate Sales/Revenue Xero Account in the right hand side green list and drag it to the FreeDAM appropriate sales account in the yellow list on the left and release the mouse.
The Yellow list will update the mapping with the Xero accounts name in the right hand column.
Any FreeDAM account (Yellow) that has TBD (To Be Determined) in the right hand column is yet to be mapped and does not have a Xero account to upload the invoice value to and will use the default Xero sales account (see above).
This allows you to have a break down in Xero of your sales as you do in FreeDAM.
The following is an example of FreeDAM after having it’s accounts mapped to Xero.
Notice that not all the sales accounts will be mapped to specific Xero accounts. Only the Caskets, Urns and Gratuities are specifically mapped. The rest of the FreeDAM invoice values will be uploaded to the Xero 200 Sales account.
Note: If you wish all your FreeDAM sales accounts to be mapped to just the one Xero sales account then drag and drop the Xero account to the title ‘Sales’ in the yellow list.