Sage Construction Management and Xero Integration Overview

The Sage Construction Management and Xero solution is comprised of three application components all working together to automate the entire estimating, project management, job costing, and general accounting functions.

Application Components

Sage Construction Management / Xero Solution
Application Component	Application Type	Used By	Purpose
Sage Construction Management	Cloud-Based	Estimators	Estimating
		Project Managers Superintendents Engineers Coordinators Accounting Staff	Documentation Correspondence Scheduling Contract Administration Procurement Time Tracking Job Costing Budget Tracking
AccountingLink for Xero	Cloud-Based	Accounting Staff	Transfers records from Sage Construction Management to Xero
Xero	Cloud-Based	Accounting Staff	General Accounting

Data Integration Overview

Sage Construction Management Feature	Transfer Method	Xero Feature	Comments
Contact Management
Companies	↔	Customers	Existing Customers in Xero are not automatically copied over to Sage Construction Management since contractors will typically have one project per client. However, future clients and their projects managed in Sage Construction Management will be exported to Xero if the Prime Contract in Sage Construction Management is marked Approved with a Status Date. If select customers do need to be imported into Sage Construction Management, please see the option in the AccountingLink Contact Management tab.
Companies	↔	Suppliers	Typically, a contractor will have used Xero for a while prior to purchasing Sage Construction Management so many Vendors probably have been documented in the system. Since these types of firms can be involved on future projects, the AccountingLink For Xero provides an option in the Contact Management tab to import select or all active Vendors. New suppliers or subcontracotrs that are entered in Sage Construction Management will be exported to Xero automatically if they are referenced on an Approved Bill or Sub Invoice.
Employees	↔	Employees	Like Vendors, Active Employees can be copied from Xero to Sage Construction Management since they can be involved on future projects.
Project / Prime Contract
Company referenced on Prime Contract	→	Customers	If a Project has been awarded in Sage Construction Management, management or accounting staff would then setup the Project Directory, Job Cost Codes, Prime Contract and budgets using the Sage Construction Management wizards. Once this is complete, the Sync Wizard within the AccountingLink for Xero utility would then be run to create the Customer in Xero. The client referenced in the Approved Prime Contract details form will be the company that is exported.
Project Transactions: Accounts Payable
Project financial transactions must be entered in Sage Construction Management and then exported to Xero.
Bills	→	AP Invoices Bank Transactions	Depending on the Bill Type mapping in the Sync Settings area, the Approved Sage Construction Management Bill will either be exported to Xero's AP Invoice or Bank Transaction feature. If the Sage Construction Management Bill has a negative (-) total then the transaction will appear as a credit in Xero.
Sub Invoices	→	AP Invoices	In Sage Construction Management, Subcontracts can either be fixed lump sum, cost plus or unit price which impacts how invoices are processed. In addition, Subcontracts can have Change Orders (SCO) and retainage/holdbacks may need to be tracked. When Sub Invoices are marked approved these transactions can then be exported to Xero's AP Invoice feature. If the transaction total is negative (-) the Sub Invoice will appear as a credit in Xero.
Employee Misc. Expenses	→	Expense Claims Bank Transactions	Depending on the Expense Type mapping in the Sync Settings area, Approved Employee Misc. Expenses are exported to Xero's AP Invoice or Bank Transaction feature.
Project Transactions: Accounts Receivable
Like Accounts Payable transactions, all client progress invoices must be entered in Sage Construction Management and then exported to Xero.
Prime Contract Invoices	→	AR Invoices	Like Sub Invoices, the Prime Contract Invoice's billing method changes depending on the contract type. In addition, these transactions can include Change Orders (CO) and have retainage/holdbacks. When marked approved, Prime Contract Invoices can be exported to Xero's AR Invoice via the Sync Wizard. Invoice transactions that have a negative (-) total will appear as a credit in Xero.
Other
Tax Codes	← Linked	Tax Codes	Accounts payable and receivable transactions above can reference tax codes which impacts how tax is calculated on transactions. Thus, it is imperative that tax codes are linked in both systems and their rates match. Otherwise, a discrepancy will occur in the calculated tax amount. Tip: If tax codes are already setup in Xero, it is recommended these codes be imported into Sage Construction Management during the implementation phase. This import option is avalabile in the Sync Preference's Tax Code section.
Job Cost Codes	Linked	Items	All financial transactions in Xero (ie AP Invoice, AR Invoice, Bank Transaction, or Expense Claim) require either an Item or Chart of Account reference whereas in Sage Construction Management all Conract Admin, Procurement and Time Tracking transactions require a Job Cost Code. Since project financial transactions will be entered in Sage Construction Management and then transferred to Xero, the Sync Settings feature within the AccountingLink determines how the mapping of the Sage Construction Management Cost Codes to Xero's Items should be handled. This will alleviate the accounting administrator of having to specify the correct item when sending transactions over to Xero and eliminate discrepancies.
Project Classification and Options	Linked	Tracking Categories	Tracking Categories provide an alternative way to track financials that is meaningful to the business. Some examples would be business office or type of project.

Integration Nomenclature

→ Sage Construction Management data exported to Xero
↔ Bidirectional Integration