Xero is a cloud-based accounting software platform used by individuals as well as small and medium-sized businesses.
How we work together
Sharesight has partnered with Xero to provide a seamless solution between portfolio management and portfolio accounting. If you like the insights you get from Sharesight, you’ll love the complete financial picture you get by connecting your portfolio to Xero.
How Sharesight + Xero works
Reconcile your investment transactions
When you synchronise your Sharesight portfolio to Xero, details of your share purchases, sales, and dividends will flow into Xero automatically so they can be easily reconciled against your bank statement and incorporated into your personal wealth and budgeting picture.
Manage your cash balances
Furthermore, Sharesight can pull in your bank account balances, term deposits and cash investments from Xero, so you can view your complete financial position directly within your Sharesight portfolio – automatically, and in real-time.
Why connect Sharesight to Xero?
-
Access your finances 24/7 — Categorise your bank transactions, reconcile your trade & dividend data, and track your cash balances alongside your investments — from anywhere, anytime.
-
Take the pain out of tax time — With your trade data in Sharesight and your deductions (including saved receipts) in Xero, you’ll save both time and money this tax season.
-
Share unlimited access — Share access with your accountant or financial adviser. They’ll have full visibility into your financial health — not just at tax time, but throughout the year.
Frequently asked questions
Q: I have an existing Xero account — how do I connect it to my Sharesight portfolio?
A: Follow these steps to connect your Sharesight portfolio to an existing Xero account: Connecting your portfolio to Xero.
Q: I don’t have a Xero account — how do I get one?
A: Ask your accountant or financial adviser if they can provide you with a Xero account. Alternatively, if you're based in Australia or New Zealand, you may add a Xero Cashbook as an Add-on to your Sharesight subscription — see the last FAQ for more information.
Q: What’s the difference between Xero Business Edition and Cashbook?
A: Xero Cashbook is a simplified version of Xero Business Edition that does not include accruals, invoicing, payroll, or GST reporting. Cashbook is designed to help you manage your cashflow – all over the internet and in real-time.
Q: How can I get Xero Cashbook, and how much does it cost?
A: Xero Cashbook is available as an Add-on to paid Sharesight plans in Australia and New Zealand. Here’s how to get started:
- Log in to your Sharesight account (or sign up for a new account).
- Upgrade to a Sharesight Investor or Expert plan.
- Add Xero Cashbook to your account — it’s free for 30 days, then AU$18/month per Cashbook account for AU customers and NZ$20/month per Cashbook account for NZ customers that you wish to connect to a Sharesight portfolio. The charge for your Cashbook account(s) will be included on your monthly or annual Sharesight invoices.
Award-winning integration
-
Sharesight became a certified Xero Add-on partner in 2009
-
Sharesight was named Xero Add-On Partner of the Year in 2014
-
Sharesight reached Xero Gold Partner status in 2021
Sharesight has partnered with leading online accounting system Xero in order to provide a seamless solution between portfolio management and portfolio accounting.
The Xero Synchronisation feature allows you to connect your Sharesight portfolio to your Xero account. This allows you to synchronise details of share purchases, sales, and dividends to Xero which can be reconciled against your bank statement and included in your financial accounts.
Before you begin
These instructions assume that you have a Xero subscription. If you're on a paid Sharesight subscription, you may add Xero Cashbook as an add-on from the Sharesight Plans & Billing page. Otherwise, you may sign up directly to one of Xero's retail subscription options.
In your Xero chart of accounts you need to have an account set up for each of the following items:
- Dividends Received (Revenue Account)
- Realised Gains/Losses (Revenue Account)
- Tax Credits (Current Asset)
- DRP Balance (Current Asset)
- Share Market Investments (Asset)
- Brokerage (Expense Account, Optional: brokerage can be reconciled to your Share market investments asset account if you wish to include brokerage as part of the cost base of the asset)
Setting up Xero synchronisation in Sharesight
1 -- Click on 'Settings' tab.
2 -- Click ‘Xero settings’
3 -- Click the 'Connect' button. This will direct you to log into you Xero account and authorise access to Sharesight. You'll be redirected back to Sharesight when you're finished. If you don't already have a Xero cashbook select 'Xero Cashbook add-on'.
4 -- Map the following items to the appropriate account from your Xero organisation’s chart of accounts:
- Dividends => Revenue
- Realised Gains / Losses => Revenue
- Tax Credits => Current Asset
- DRP Balance => Current Asset
- Share Market Investments => Asset
- Brokerage => Expense
Synchronise using invoices or bank transactions
The following additional settings are available:
- Synchronise using invoices -- we recommend this method in most instances.
- Synchronise using bank transactions -- choose this if you're on the Xero Starter plan since there's a limit to how many invoices you may send.
Sending invoices
- Send invoices in 'draft' status -- Draft invoice require an additional approval step in Xero before they are included in your accounts.
- Send invoices in unconverted currency -- Sharesight won't convert foreign currency transactions where the currency is supported by your Xero Organisation (this option is only available if your Xero account supports multi-currency).
Synchronise trades and corporate actions
- Synchronise trades received via Sharesight Connect -- Trades received via Sharesight Connect will be automatically Synchronised to Xero.
- Synchronise trades received by Contract note emails -- Trades created by the Trade Confirmation Emails function will be automatically Synchronised to Xero.
- Synchronise corporate actions automatically -- System generated dividends and Return of Capital payments will be automatically Synchronised to Xero on their paid date.
Synchronising your portfolio with Xero
Once Xero synchronisation is configured, a tick box will appear on the add and edit screens for trades and dividends. To send the trade or dividend record to Xero, simply select the tick box and then click the ‘Save’ button.
When you edit a trade or dividend in Sharesight, you'll see an option to synchronise any modifications to Xero (you can disable this option by unchecking the box if you don't want to re-synchronise the data). If the transaction has been reconciled in Xero, the option to synchronise to Xero will be disabled as it's not possible to update a transaction that has been reconciled.
Synchronisation indicator
A synchronisation icon provides live feedback of the synchronisation status:
Synchronisation in progress
Synchronisation completed successfully
Synchronisation failed (hover over the icon to view the error message)
FAQ: Sharesight + Xero
How do I change the chart of accounts?
Xero provides an out-of-the box chart of accounts that is not tailored specifically to investors. To change the chart of accounts in Xero, please follow the instructions below. Before you do so, download the investor chart of accounts: 
Investor Chart of Accounts
1 -- Go to Settings > Chart of Accounts
2 -- Choose Import
3 -- Select Xero and No/ I Don’t know
4 -- Click 'Browse' to upload your chart of accounts
5 -- Click 'Confirm'
How many bank feeds can I set up in my Xero account?
There is no limit to the amount of bank feeds you can setup within your Xero account. Learn more about setting up your bank feeds in Xero.
Note: You can choose to send trade data (buys & sells) and dividend (distribution) data to the same or separate bank accounts in Xero.
Does Xero support multi-currency?
Xero Cashbook does not support multi-currency, although the Xero Premium plan does. If you require multi-currency for your Xero account, please visit the Xero website or contact your accountant or financial adviser.
How do I create invoices using the expected or paid date for dividends?
For those using the Xero Partner and Small Business version of Xero (non-Cashbook), invoices may be created using the ‘expected date’ or the ‘paid date’ for dividends (distributions). You may modify this setting when mapping Sharesight to Xero.
- If the option is set to the expected date, Sharesight will create an invoice in Xero with an invoice date that matches the expected date.
- If the paid date is used Sharesight will create an invoice in Xero with an invoice date that mates the paid date.
Note: The invoice due date will always match the dividend paid date regardless of choosing expected date or the paid date.
How do I delete my Xero Cashbook?
To delete your Xero Cashbook please follow the steps below:
1 -- Login to your Sharesight account > Go to Account Settings > Plans and Billing
2 -- Scroll down and you will see your Cashbook add on here > click the ‘trashcan’ icon this will remove the add on from your account.
Track cash investments using Xero
Sharesight clients who use Xero (any version) can track cash investments for any account that is supported by Xero bank feeds. This means that an up to date and on-going cash balance will be automatically displayed within your Sharesight portfolio(s).
In order for these cash holdings to be reflected in Sharesight, you must first set them up in your Xero account. For more information, see the Xero help page: setting up bank feeds in Xero.
Once you have set up the bank feed in Xero, click on 'Add Investment' button from the overview page and select 'Create Cash Account'.
Choose the tab for 'Xero Account'. If you’re not logged into Xero already, you’ll be prompted to do so within Sharesight.
Once finished, you’ll be prompted to select which which bank account inside the Xero organisation to integrate with Sharesight and to give the cash holding a name. This name will be used throughout Sharesight to identify the cash investment.
After you click the Create new cash account button, Sharesight will retrieve your transaction history from Xero and display your current balance. It’s important to note that Sharesight will only retrieve cash transactions that have been reconciled in Xero.
This also serves as the cash holding detail page. On this page you can search for cash specific transactions or export the data to Excel or PDF. Back on the Portfolio Overview page, you’ll now see a new section called Cash Accounts, which includes your Xero-linked cash account. This balance will be automatically updated every day. Clicking into this holding will display your transactional history.
Unsettled Trades Adjustment
If you use the Xero-linked cash account for funding trades, you can also use a feature that will automatically account for any portfolio balance discrepancies due to unsettled trades. Since trades appear in Sharesight in a matter of seconds, but the cash is not debited from the funding account for up to three days (T+3 rule), this feature will automatically offset the value of the newly purchased shares with the appropriate amount of cash. This unsettled cash balance will then automatically reverse itself after three days. When this is in effect you’ll notice a new line item under the cash holding titled Unsettled Trades Adjustment.
To toggle this feature on or off, go to the Settings menu within the portfolio and under 'Details' tick the box next to 'Apply cash account accrual adjustment'.
Unsettled Payouts Adjustment
The 'Apply cash account accrual adjustment' setting used to create an unsettled trades adjustment also relates to payouts.
When you become entitled to a dividend payment, ie, on the ex date, we display a 'Cash Accounts Adjustment' record to reflect this 'Unpaid Payout'.
On the Performance Report, any payouts with an ex date within the reporting period but with a paid date after the report end date will display as an 'Unpaid Payouts Adjustment'.
On the Historical Cost Report these 'Unpaid Payouts' display as a 'Cash Accounts Adjustment'.
If you are unsure where these unpaid payouts are coming from, try running the Future Income Report.