# How to email supplier bills straight into Xero with the PDF attached

In Xero go to Purchases > Bills, click New bill, then Copy your forwarding email address. Forward supplier bills there as attachments. Xero makes a draft bill for each one with the PDF attached. Check each draft before you approve.

## Short answer

1. Purchases > Bills > New bill > Copy your forwarding email address.
2. Forward each supplier bill there as an attachment.
3. Open Purchases > Bills > Draft.
4. Fix any No contact drafts.
5. Check the lines and approve.

## Before you start

You need a Xero login that can see the Bills screen. You need your suppliers to send PDF invoices, or to be willing to forward them. Keep the address private. Xero advises against publishing it anywhere public, because anyone with it can create drafts in your books.

## The manual way in Xero

Steps follow Xero Central's [Email bills to your Xero organisation](https://central.xero.com/s/article/Email-PDF-bills-into-your-Xero-organisation), checked 11 October 2026.

1. In the Purchases menu, select Bills.
2. Click New bill.
3. Click Copy your forwarding email address.
4. Paste the address into an email. Attach the supplier's PDF. Send it.
5. Go to Purchases > Bills and open the Draft tab. Emailed bills show "forwarded bill" in the Reference column.
6. Open each draft. If the supplier is not yet a contact the draft says No contact. Create or choose the contact.
7. Check the lines, account codes and tax rates, then approve.

You can attach up to 10 bills to one email, with a 25MB total. Xero makes a draft for each. The bill has to be an attachment. A bill pasted into the email body, and HTML emails, will not work. Emailed bills fill in the contact, date, total, due date, reference and description. Where a supplier has no saved defaults, Xero predicts the account code from that supplier's earlier bills.

You can set an email rule in your mail program to forward bills from known suppliers automatically.

The limits: lines are still yours to check, and no check compares the bank details with earlier bills. Nothing routes the bill for approval by amount. A supplier who resends last month's invoice as a new PDF becomes a second draft.

## The Pulsify way

Each company in Pulsify gets its own forwarding address.

1. Find it on the Upload page, under Forward to. Forward supplier bills there, or let your team do it.
2. Pulsify works out whether each attachment is an invoice, a credit note, a supplier statement or a purchase order. Bundled PDFs are split into one document each.
3. It reads every line and codes each to an account and GST, learning from how you coded the supplier before. Accuracy is 99%.
4. It checks for duplicates, changed bank details and ABNs, then routes the bill for approval by your rules.
5. After final approval Pulsify creates the bill in Xero with the PDF attached.

Emails from people who are not on your team or your list of trusted senders wait on the Needs you tab until an Admin decides.

## Worked example

Example Plumbing Supplies receives six emails on Monday morning.

| Email | Attachments | Result in Xero |
|---|---|---|
| Example Pipe Co | 1 PDF invoice | 1 draft |
| Example Timber | 3 PDF invoices | 3 drafts |
| Example Hire | Invoice pasted in email body | No draft, ask for a PDF |
| Example Electrical | 1 PDF plus a logo | 1 draft, logo to Documents inbox |
| Example Pipe Co again | The same invoice as the first email | A second draft, unless someone spots it |
| Example Fuel | 1 PDF statement | A draft that is not a bill, delete it |

Six emails give 7 drafts in Xero but only 5 real new bills. The person checking the drafts has to catch the repeat and the statement. Through Pulsify the repeat is flagged as a possible duplicate and the statement is classed as a statement.

## Common mistakes

- **Forwarding with the bill pasted in the body.** Xero creates nothing.
- **Sharing the Xero address widely.** Anyone who has it can add drafts.
- **Approving drafts without opening them.** The predicted account code can be wrong.

## Next step

[Try an invoice](https://app.pulsify.tech/sign-up) by forwarding one supplier bill to Pulsify. Or [book a call](/contact/) to find out how customers have saved hours per week after switching.

See the [get invoices in guide](/guides/get-invoices-in/) and the [email inbox guide](/guides/email-inbox/) for every way to send documents to Pulsify.

## Common questions

### Why did my emailed bill not turn into a draft?

The bill must be an attachment. Bills pasted into the email body and HTML emails do not work. Logos and other attachments that are not bills go to your Documents inbox instead. Resend the PDF as an attachment.

### Can I email several bills at once?

Yes. Attach up to 10 bills to one email, with a 25MB total, and Xero makes a draft for each. Each bill should be its own file.

### Does Xero warn me about a duplicate emailed bill?

Do not count on it. Xero's idea forum has an open request for a duplicate warning when emailing bills in. Check the supplier and invoice number against what you have already entered, or use a tool that checks for you.

Source: https://www.pulsify.tech/how-to/email-supplier-bills-straight-into-xero-with-the-pdf-attached/ (last checked 2026-10-19)