How to Export Xero Data

21 Jun 2024

3 min read

Ahana

Xero is a leading cloud-based accounting software designed to streamline financial tasks and aid businesses of all sizes in managing their finances efficiently. Xero supports over 4.2 million subscribers globally, underscoring its widespread adoption among small and medium-sized businesses

This article discusses how to export your Xero data along with its limitations as a backup solution.

You can export your Xero data using the following methods:

Export Xero data using the native export tool
Export using SysCloud

Export using native export tool

Organizations can manually export the organization data using the native export tool. The data exported will be available in Excel, CSV, MYE, TXT, or PDF format.

Available editions

Available in all subscription plans of Xero- Starter, Standard, and Premium.

What type of Xero data can be exported?

Xero doesn’t have a single feature to copy all your organization’s data at once, but you can export data from specific sections and generate reports individually.

Export file format -->	CSV/XLS	Google Sheets	MYE	Various	PDF	TXT
Accounting data
Batch payments
Budget
Show more

Who can export data from Xero?

Your ability to export data depends on your user role in Xero. If you have the adviser role, you can run and export most reports. However, to export payroll reports, you need payroll admin access.

Click here to learn more about the user role for exporting data from Xero.

How to export Xero data to create a local backup

Follow the steps below to export Xero data:

Step 1: Sign in to Xero.

Step 2: Depending on the type of data you want to export, navigate to the relevant section of your Xero dashboard.

Export Accounting data: To export accounting data, go to the accounting section in the navigation bar, select “Advanced,” and click on “Export accounting data.”

Step 3: Select the product or tax authority you want to import into.

Step 4: Select the date range of the data to export.

Step 5: Click Download.

Export invoices: To export invoices, go to the business section in the navigation bar, select “Sales overview” or “Purchases overview.”

Step 3: Select the invoice or bill tab you want to export from, or to export all invoices or bills, click “See all.”

Step 4: Select “Start date,” “End date,” or “Date type.” You can also filter to include transactions with a particular status, such as overdue bills.

Step 5: Click Export

Export bills: To export bills, go to the business section in the navigation bar, select “Bills to pay.”

Step 3: Select the bill tab that you want to export from.

Step 4: Select “Start date,” “End date,” or “Date type.” You can also filter to include transactions with a particular status, such as overdue bills.

Step 5: Next to New Bill, click the menu icon Image showing three vertical dots, then select Export bills.

Step 6: Click Export

Limitations of exporting Xero data using the native export tool

Frequency and automation: Xero exports require manual effort, lacking the automated, scheduled backups traditional solutions offer.
Incomplete data export: Xero does not provide a single feature to export all data at once. You need to export data from individual areas of Xero manually and reports from the reports screen, which can be time-consuming for large volumes of data. Also, admins might leave out important data while exporting which can result in data loss.
User Role Restrictions: The ability to export certain types of data is restricted based on user roles. For example, only users with Adviser or Payroll Admin roles can export specific reports, which may limit the accessibility of data for backup purposes.
Security and compliance: Relying solely on exports may not meet strict regulatory or security requirements for data backup and retention.

Xero data export using SysCloud

With third-party applications like SysCloud, administrators can export Xero data in addition to securely backing up your Xero data.

Admins can easily:

Automate backups and error management tasks
Identify ransomware files and compliance issues in the Xero data being backed up

Follow the steps below to export Xero data from the SysCloud backup application:

Step 1: Log in to SysCloud using your admin credentials.

Step 2: Click Archives and select Xero from the drop-down.

Step 3: Click on the organization you want to export the item(s) from.

Step 4: Click on the Xero item type you want to recover (e.g., Invoices)

Step 5: Choose the required backup snapshot.

Step 6: Select the item(s) you want to export by clicking the checkbox next to the item name and click Export.

Step 7: In the export pop-up, add a comment if you wish to, and click Export.

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In this article

Export Xero data using the native export tool
Export using SysCloud

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