Stripe Payments to Xero Reconciliation for Financial Services

# Stripe Payments to Xero Reconciliation - Financial Services

## Purpose
Set up to eliminate manual payment reconciliation, save hours of bookkeeping time, and maintain accurate cash flow visibility.

## When to Use
Automatically feed Stripe payment transactions into Xero for real-time bank reconciliation, including fees, refunds, and payout matching.

## Instructions
1. Review the template below and familiarise yourself with the structure
2. Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your financial services business details
3. Customise the tone and formatting to match your brand
4. Save in your preferred tool (Stripe or Xero)

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## Stripe Payments to Xero Reconciliation

### Overview
Automatically record Stripe payment transactions in Xero as they occur, including the gross amount, Stripe fees, and net payout amount, enabling real-time bank reconciliation without manual data entry.

### Prerequisites
- Stripe account with API access (any plan)
- Xero account (Standard or above)
- Zapier account (Professional plan recommended for multi-step Zaps)
- Xero chart of accounts with:
  - A "Stripe Clearing" bank account (manual bank account type)
  - A "Stripe Fees" expense account
  - A revenue account for sales

### Setup Steps

**Step 1: Create a Stripe Clearing account in Xero**
- Go to Xero > Accounting > Chart of Accounts > Add Account
- Account type: Bank (Manual)
- Account name: "Stripe Clearing"
- This account acts as an intermediary between Stripe transactions and your actual bank account

**Step 2: Create a Stripe Fees expense account**
- Account type: Expense
- Account name: "Stripe Processing Fees"
- Tax rate: GST Free (Stripe fees are not subject to GST in Australia)

**Step 3: Create a new Zap for successful payments**
Log in to Zapier. Create a Zap named "Stripe Payment to Xero".

**Step 4: Configure the Stripe trigger**
- App: Stripe
- Trigger event: "New Payment" (choose "Successful Charges" only)
- Account: Connect your Stripe account
- Test: Process a test payment through Stripe and verify Zapier detects it

**Step 5: Configure the first Xero action (record the sale)**
- App: Xero
- Action event: "Create Bank Transaction" (type: Receive Money)
- Account: Stripe Clearing
- Contact: Use customer email from Stripe to match or create a Xero contact
- Amount: Stripe charge amount (gross, before fees)
- Account code: Your sales revenue account
- Tax type: GST on Income (for Australian domestic transactions)
- Reference: Stripe charge ID (e.g., "ch_xxxxx")

**Step 6: Configure the second Xero action (record the fee)**
- Add another Xero action step
- Action event: "Create Bank Transaction" (type: Spend Money)
- Account: Stripe Clearing
- Contact: "Stripe" (create a supplier contact for Stripe)
- Amount: Stripe fee amount
- Account code: Stripe Processing Fees
- Tax type: GST Free
- Reference: Same Stripe charge ID with "-fee" suffix

**Step 7: Map fields**

| Stripe Field | Xero Field | Notes |
|-------------|------------|-------|
| Charge Amount | Receive Money Amount | Convert from cents to dollars (divide by 100) |
| Fee Amount | Spend Money Amount | Convert from cents to dollars |
| Customer Email | Contact Email | Match or create contact |
| Customer Name | Contact Name | For new contact creation |
| Charge ID | Reference | Unique identifier for reconciliation |
| Charge Description | Line Description | Product or service sold |
| Currency | Currency | Should be AUD for Australian transactions |

**Step 8: Test the integration**
1. Process a small test payment through Stripe ($1.00 works)
2. Wait 2-3 minutes for the Zap to run
3. Open Xero and check the Stripe Clearing account
4. Verify two transactions appear: the gross payment received and the fee paid
5. Check the net balance matches what Stripe will deposit to your bank

### Error Handling
- **Currency conversion:** If you accept foreign currencies, add a Zapier step to convert to AUD using the Stripe exchange rate
- **Refunds:** Create a separate Zap for Stripe refunds that records a "Spend Money" transaction in the Stripe Clearing account
- **Failed charges:** The trigger only fires on successful payments, so failed charges are automatically excluded
- **Payout reconciliation:** When Stripe deposits to your bank, match the deposit against the Stripe Clearing account balance in Xero

### Maintenance
- Reconcile the Stripe Clearing account in Xero against Stripe payouts weekly
- Review the Stripe Fees account monthly to track processing costs as a percentage of revenue
- Update tax treatment if you start accepting international payments
- Check for new Stripe fee structures or pricing changes annually

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**Complexity:** intermediate | **Setup time:** 20 minutes | **Tools:** Stripe, Xero, Zapier

Note: This template has been tailored for financial services businesses in Australia. Adjust terminology and compliance references to match your specific context.