HOW-TO

How to get bill records in by email to Xero

Short answer

Set up one address for bill records. Ask each supplier to send invoices there. Read and enter each one into Xero, with the original file attached.

Last checked

Getting bills in by email means suppliers or your team forward invoices to one address and the data is read and entered for you. What is invoice capture?

Before you start

  • A user role that can create bills

The Xero way

Where to find it: Purchases > Bills > New bill > Copy your forwarding email address

  1. In the Purchases menu, select Bills, click New bill, then click Copy your forwarding email address.
  2. Forward supplier invoices to that address. The invoice must be an attachment, not text in the email body.
  3. Xero creates a draft bill for each attachment. If it can read the document it fills Contact, Date, Total, Due date, Reference and Description.
  4. Open the Draft tab, check the suggested details, then save or approve.

Limits in Xero

  • Up to 10 bills per email and 25MB per email in total.
  • If the supplier is not a contact, the draft shows No contact until you change it.
  • Drafts are tax inclusive unless organisation or contact defaults say otherwise. Foreign currency bills need the currency changed by hand.
  • Embedded email bodies, e-invoices in the body, and audio, video or executable files are not supported.

Good to know in Xero

  • If the supplier has purchase defaults, Xero applies them. Otherwise Xero predicts the account from earlier bills from that supplier.
  • Do not share the forwarding address outside the organisation.

The Pulsify way

  1. Each company gets its own Pulsify forwarding address. Ask suppliers to send invoices there, or forward them yourself.
  2. Pulsify reads each attachment and works out if it is an invoice, a credit note or a statement.
  3. Pulsify finds the supplier in Xero and codes each line.
  4. Review and approve. The bill is created in Xero with the file attached.

Pulsify connects to Xero in one click. Approved bills are created in Xero with the source file attached.

What Pulsify does not do here

  • Unknown senders can be held until an admin allows them.
  • You can also upload files or take a photo in the app.

Common mistakes

  • Pasting the invoice into the email body. Xero needs an attachment.
  • Sharing the forwarding address outside the organisation.

More help

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-19. Confidence: confirmed.

Common questions

How do I send a supplier invoice to Xero by email?

Forward it to your forwarding email address as an attachment. Text in the email body is not supported. Xero creates a draft bill for each attachment. The limit is 10 bills and 25MB per email.

What does Xero fill in on the draft?

If it can read the document it fills Contact, Date, Total, Due date, Reference and Description. If the supplier is not a contact, the draft shows No contact until you change it.

Why is my emailed bill tax inclusive?

Drafts are tax inclusive unless organisation or contact defaults say otherwise. Foreign currency bills need the currency changed by hand.

Pulsify setup guides

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