Supply Lens

Test and go live

Lesson 11 of 12 8 min read

Prove each posting with your finance team using drafts and manual runs, then switch on the schedule and approved statuses with confidence.

Testing an accounting integration isn't just "did it arrive?". It's "did it post to the right accounts, with the right tax, for the right amount?". Only your finance team can answer that, so the test plan is something you run together. By the end of this lesson you'll have a test routine and a go-live checklist.

Set up for safe testing

  1. Connect a Xero test or demo organisation if you have one.
  2. Set every status setting to its most cautious value: statusUnpaid and statusPaid to DRAFT, credit note status to DRAFT, purchase order and bill createInStatus to DRAFT, and journal createAsDraft on.
  3. Set Activation to enabled (a disabled Integration sends and receives nothing, even by hand), but leave the schedule off and run it from Manual Operation.
  4. Optionally turn Automatic off on your Mappings to Xero, so each Document waits in Ready until you process it.

Build a test set

Pick real examples that cover each path your settings create. For invoices, that might be:

Test caseWhat it proves
A standard orderDefault account codes, tax and reference
An order with shippingshippingLineAccountCode
An order with a discount and a surchargeThe two adjustment account codes
An order for each tag in your tag mapslineAccountCodeMap, bankAccountTagMap, generatePaymentForInvoiceMap
A prepaid orderThe payment, its amount and its bank account
A zero-rated or exempt orderTax types on the lines
A returnThe credit note and any refund

Add purchase orders, bills (including a foreign-currency one if you buy abroad) and journals if you use them.

Check each test end to end

For each one, check three places:

  1. The Document in Supply Lens. Open it with the magnifying glass. Its status should be Complete.
  2. The Target Data. This is what was sent to Xero. Its communication status should be Sent.
  3. The record in Xero. Ask finance to check the contact, number, reference, dates, accounts, tax, tracking and totals.

Reprocessing is safe

If you reprocess a Document that already has Target Data with the same reference, Supply Lens creates the new Target Data as Cancelled instead of sending it again. That protects you from duplicate invoices while you test. To deliberately resend after fixing a setting, set the existing Target Data to Cancelled first.

Go live

  1. Get written sign-off from finance on every test case.
  2. If you tested against a demo organisation, connect the live Xero organisation and set up the same configurations and Mappings against it.
  3. Agree a cut-over: which orders or dates the integration owns, and stop keying those by hand. If another connection posts to Xero, confirm it isn't posting the same records.
  4. Change statuses to the agreed live values, for example AUTHORISED, and turn on markAsSent if wanted.
  5. Turn your Mappings to Automatic if you'd turned them off.
  6. Check Activation is enabled and choose a Schedule.
  7. Check the first live day's Documents and Xero records with finance.

Hilltop Coffee's go-live

Hilltop tests 15 orders against Xero's demo company over two days. The bookkeeper spots that surcharges are posting to the discount account, a swapped code that's fixed in five minutes. They agree that all EDI orders shipped from 1 November belong to the integration. On go-live morning the implementer connects the live organisation, keeps statuses at DRAFT for the first month as agreed, sets an hourly schedule, and reviews the first day's invoices with finance at 4pm.

Recap

  • Test with drafts, manual runs and, ideally, a demo Xero organisation.
  • Build test cases for every account code, tag route, payment and tax path you configured.
  • Check the Document, the Target Data and the Xero record for each one, with finance.
  • Reprocessing won't create duplicates; cancel existing Target Data to resend deliberately.
  • Go live with an agreed cut-over, then switch on the Schedule.

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