As well as the automatic sync, a manual sync with Xero Practice Manager can be run as and when needed. When a manual sync is requested, it will reduce the number of available requests remaining for Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Xero Practice Manager Rate Limiting.
Running a Manual Sync
When a manual synchronisation is requested, an entry will be displayed in Practice Activity. Refer to Practice Activity.
Refer also to Synchronising Clients, Staff, Jobs, Time, Tax Returns with Xero Practice Manager.
FYI Admins
An FYI Admin can run a sync from the Automation Dashboard for:
- Clients
- Jobs
- Users (Staff)
- Tax Returns
Refer below to FYI Admin - Running a Manual Sync with Xero Practice Manager.
All Users
All users can run a sync for Clients and Jobs using the Sync function on the Clients or Jobs lists. The Sync function is included in the View Tools button at the end of the column headings, on the right-hand side of a list.
Note: Practices with FYI enabled as the Primary Source for client data will not have access to this function.
Providing the Maintain Jobs in FYI is set as "Off" in the Xero Practice Manager app, all users can run a sync for Jobs using the Sync function on the Jobs list or Client - Jobs tab in the Client workspace. Refer below to All Users - Running a Clients or Jobs Sync from the Clients or Jobs List.
Jobs will be marked with a 'Pending Sync' tag while waiting for the updates to be synced with Xero Practice Manager. This tag is located beside the Job Name in the Job Summary and prevents updates from being overwritten by a user selecting the Sync from PM button. Once the updates have synced to Xero Practice Manager, the tag will be cleared.
Rate Limiting
Rate limits were introduced by Xero as part of their OAuth 2.0 change. This means there is a set amount of requests that can be made each day to synchronise data between FYI and Xero Practice Manager. As the changes are synchronised, the number of Xero available requests will be reduced.
FYI has recommendations to reduce the risk of exhausting the available requests each day. Refer to Xero Practice Manager Rate Limiting.
Maintain Jobs in FYI
In the Xero Practice Manager app, an FYI Admin can set the option Maintain Jobs in FYI as "On". Setting this "On" disables the Sync function in the Jobs list and in Client - Jobs tab in Client workspace. This ensures that any changes made to Jobs in FYI, such as the Job State, are not updated back to the original state in Xero Practice Manager if a manual Job Sync is requested before the change in FYI has been updated to Xero Practice Manager.
Running a Manual Sync with Xero Practice Manager
Note: FYI Admin Permissions required
A manual sync can be performed by an FYI Admin if a Client, Job, User or Tax Return has been added or changed in Xero Practice Manager and needs to be available in FYI straight away.
- From FYI, click the Automation menu option.
- Go to the Apps tab.
- In Xero Practice Manager, click the cog icon to edit this process.
- Click on Sync.
The XPM Integration pop-up displays.
- Click on the Sync Clients, Sync Staff, Sync Jobs or Sync Tax Returns buttons to select what data you wish to manually sync from Xero Practice Manager.
Sync Tax Returns will only be displayed if the option "Import Tax Assessments" is enabled in the Xero Tax settings; refer to Enabling Xero Tax Integration (Australia and New Zealand Only)
Sync Field Definitions will synchronise the Custom Field values, and will not be displayed if FYI is enabled as the Primary Source for Client Maintenance.
- In the Xero Practice Manager app, if the Sync has paused because the request quota associated with your Xero Practice Manager connection has been exhausted, this displays "Sync Paused until". This shows the date and time that the quota will refresh and when the Sync will resume.
Running a Clients or Jobs Sync from the Clients or Jobs List
This function is available to all users.
Syncing Clients
From the Clients list, any user can use the Sync function at any time to manually synchronise only the clients. Refer to Sync in Using the Clients Lists.
The Sync function is included in the View Tools button at the end of the column headings, on the right-hand side of a list.
Note: This function is not available for practices on the FYI Elite plan where FYI has been selected as the Practice Management solution and FYI is enabled as the Primary Source for Client Maintenance. A manual sync can only be run from the Automation Dashboard by an FYI Admin or users with permissions to Automations. Refer to FYI Admin - Running a Manual Sync with Xero Practice Manager
Syncing Jobs
Providing the option Maintain Jobs in FYI is set as "Off" in the Xero Practice Manager app in FYI, you can use the Sync function on the Jobs and in the Client - Jobs tab in the Client workspace. Any user can use this at any time to manually synchronise only the jobs.
In the Jobs Lists the Sync function is included in the View Tools button at the end of the column headings, on the right-hand side of the list.
In the Jobs Board, use the Sync button at the top of the Jobs Board.
Refer to Sync in Using the Jobs Lists, Using the Jobs Board and Client Jobs.
Where Maintain Jobs in FYI is set as "On" in the Xero Practice Manager app in FYI, the Sync function is not available in the Jobs list and in the Client - Jobs tab in the Client workspace. This ensures that any changes made to Jobs in FYI, such as the Job State, are not updated back to the original state in Xero Practice Manager if a manual Job Sync is requested before the change in FYI has been updated to Xero Practice Manager.
Note: Only Jobs with an open status or Jobs that have been created in the last 24 months are synced.
Syncing Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields
The Sync function is included in the View Tools button at the end of the column headings, on the right-hand side of a list.
In the Jobs Lists the Sync function is included in the View Tools button at the end of the column headings, on the right-hand side of the list.
In the Jobs Board, use the Sync button at the top of the Jobs Board.
In the Client - Custom Fields and Job - Custom Fields, you can use the Sync from PM button at the bottom of the Custom fields to sync the values for Custom Fields selected for the specific Client or specific Job from Xero Practice Manager to FYI. Refer to Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields.
Job Custom Fields will only be synchronised during a manual sync if there has been a change to a standard job field. Otherwise, Custom Fields will be updated during the next overnight sync from Xero Practice Manager.
Note: For practices on the Elite plan where FYI is the Primary Source for Client Data, the Sync from PM button will not be displayed. Custom Fields are synchronised one-way, from FYI to Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Synchronising with Xero Practice Manager where FYI is enabled for Primary Source of Client Data.
Additional Notes on Syncing
Clients
For details on the frequency of automatic synchronisations of clients, refer to:
- Synchronising Clients, Staff, Jobs, Time, Tax Returns with Xero Practice Manager
- Synchronising with Xero Practice Manager where FYI is enabled for Primary Source of Client Data
Leads set up in Xero Practice Manager
Leads that are set up in Xero Practice Manager sync through to FYI as a Client.
Client and Job Custom Field Values
Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields are synced from Xero Practice Manager during a manual synchronisation and automatic overnight synchronisation.
To perform an immediate synchronisation for a single Client or Job, you can use the Sync from PM button at the bottom of the Client - Custom Fields or Job - Custom Fields tab.
Refer to Client Custom Fields and Job Custom Fields.
You can also use Update Client or Update Job in an Automation Custom Process to update custom fields in clients in FYI (refer to Update Client and Update Job in Process Step Details - Updating Clients, Creating and Updating Jobs).
Changes are synced from FYI within 15 minutes to Xero Practice Manager.
Note: The automatic sync of Custom Fields to FYI can be disabled in the Xero Practice Manager Settings by setting the Sync Custom Fields From XPM option to "Off". When this is disabled, Client and Job Custom Fields are maintained in FYI and synced to Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Resetting your connection between FYI and Xero Practice Manager.
Client and Job Custom Field Definitions
Any changes to the Custom Field definitions are synced from Xero Practice Manager during a manual synchronisation and automatic overnight synchronisation.
Note: The automatic sync of Custom Fields to FYI can be disabled in the Xero Practice Manager Settings by setting the Sync Custom Fields From XPM option to "Off". When this is disabled, Client and Job Custom Fields are maintained in FYI and synced to Xero Practice Manager. Refer to Resetting your connection between FYI and Xero Practice Manager.
As well as syncing changes to Custom Field definitions from Xero Practice Manager, an FYI Admin can maintain these in FYI Practice settings - General - Custom Fields. Refer to Managing Custom Fields. Changes are synced to Xero Practice Manager within 15 minutes.
Archived Clients
For information on Archived clients and about archiving a client that is part of a Client Group, refer to Archived Clients.
Client Contacts
Client Contacts are also synced when the Client sync is run. This syncs the details for the primary contact, including details such as Salutation and Addressee that are commonly used by Merge Fields in templates. The sync also updates the Client's Mobile Number from the Primary Contact details.
Note: It's recommended to ensure a Primary Contact is selected in Xero Practice Manager. Without one, Xero Practice Manager will send the details of the first contact in the list.
Any additional Contacts for the client are also synced from Xero Practice Manager and displayed in FYI on the Client Contacts tab.
Users (Staff)
- When new users in Xero Practice Manager are synced to FYI automatically they are assigned to the user group "Standard User". The user status will be marked as either Active or Inactive depending on the practice settings. Refer to the "New Users" setting in Managing Practice Settings. Users will be unable to log in until their status is marked as Active. An FYI Admin will need to update the user as required. Refer to Managing Users.
- Changes to the user's name or email address can only be done in Xero Practice Manager and these changes are then synced to FYI.
- Users/staff will only synchronise between Xero Practice Manager and FYI if the user is active i.e. the Currently Working option in Xero Practice Manager has been selected
- Making a user inactive in Xero Practice Manager (by unticking "Currently Working"), or deleting the user, will not make the user Inactive in FYI. The user needs to be changed to "Inactive" directly by an FYI Admin. Refer to Managing Users.
- An FYI Admin can also add a user directly to FYI. This can be used if you have a user such as financial planners that you do not want to add and pay for as users in Xero Practice Manager, but you want them to have access to information in FYI. Refer to Managing Users.
Jobs
At the time of your FYI trial creation, FYI will bring in only your active Xero Practice Manager jobs.
After the initial migration of data, any jobs that are inactive in Xero Practice Manager will be picked up by FYI and marked as inactive in FYI.
If the "State Type" of a job is changed in Xero Practice Manager to "On Hold", "Completed" or "Cancelled", the job stops being synced in FYI. If you make any changes in Xero Practice Manager, such as to the Job Name or the due date, and the job is not current in Xero Practice Manager (that is where the "State Type" is not "Standard"), this update will not be changed in FYI. If any such changes are needed to a completed job, change the state in Xero Practice Manager so it is not completed and make the change, sync it to FYI then set it back to completed.
When Job States are synced to Xero Practice Manager, if the State cannot be changed in Xero Practice Manager for any reason, this is reported in Practice Activity (refer to Practice Activity).
An FYI Admin, or a user in a User Group that has Permissions enabled for Edit Jobs, can update the Partner and Manager for the Job. The Job Name, Budget, Start Date, Due Date and Job Custom Fields can also be updated in FYI and these changes will sync to Xero Practice Manager.
You can use Create Job in an Automation Custom Process to create a Job in FYI and Update Job in an Automation Custom Process to update the Status, Manager or Partner, Job Custom Fields (refer to Update Job in Process Step Details - Updating Clients, Creating and Updating Jobs). You can use Bulk Update to update the Job (refer to Jobs Bulk Update).
For any jobs added in FYI with the Create Job function, these are synchronised with Xero Practice Manager. These are queued and can take up to 15 minutes to sync.
Note: Updates made to Jobs using Bulk Update in FYI are run with an Automation Process. Updates made to individual Jobs and Jobs created in FYI are normally synced to Xero Practice Manager immediately unless there is a delay due to traffic on the queue.
Workflow Jobs
Not all of the changes made to Workflow Jobs in FYI are synced to Xero Practice Manager. For details, refer to Syncing Changes to Xero Practice Manager in Updating Workflow Jobs and Creating New Jobs.
After the initial sync is complete, updating the Estimated Hours on the XPM Task is synced to FYI. The name of the XPM Task can be updated in Xero Practice Manager by adding a Label. The text in the Label, preceded by a hyphen, is appended to the XPM Task Name in Xero Practice Manager. If a Label is added or changed in Xero Practice Manager, when the Jobs are synced (automatic or manually) the change is synced to FYI and the Name of the Workflow Job is updated in FYI.
Job Category
If any changes are made to the options for Job Category in Xero Practice Manager, FYI can only sync with those that have been applied to Jobs in Xero Practice Manager. If a Job Category option has been deleted in Xero Practice Manager, FYI cannot determine this.
Jobs States
If the Job State for a Job is changed in FYI, this is queued to synchronise with Xero Practice Manager immediately, and will be processed typically within 15 minutes.
If the Job State is changed in Xero Practice Manager, these changes are synced with FYI automatically during the synchronisation overnight, or if Jobs are manually synced.
For practices on the Elite plan, when Job States are created either directly in FYI or synchronised from integrated Practice Management platforms, any Job State with the Type of "Completed" will have the Lock for Time & Disbursements setting automatically enabled. This setting prevents users from adding any more Time or Disbursement entries against a Job once it reaches that state.
Tasks for the Jobs
Any XPM Tasks created or changed for jobs in Xero Practice Manager are synchronised as part of the Jobs sync.
Time
When Time entries are entered or bulk created in FYI and set with the Status as "Submit", these are synchronised to Xero Practice Manager. Time entries are queued and can take up to 15 minutes to sync.
Depending on the XPM Staff Allocation setting in Practice Settings, FYI may perform additional synchronisations to assign and remove the user from the Task when submitting time entries.
Refer to Time Overview
Tax Returns
Any tax returns created in Xero Tax will be imported into FYI. The document in FYI includes a link to the return, the return status and notice of assessment. By default, the Xero - Tax Return process is "Off". Refer to Xero Tax Return AutoFile (Australia Only).