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Tax Mapping: Autotask to Xero

This guide explains how to map Autotask Tax Regions to Xero Tax Rates and how to use our "Tax Guard" to catch discrepancies.

1. Do I need Tax Mapping?

By default, Cloud Depot sends the Unit Price and Quantity to Xero, and Xero applies its own default tax rates based on the Chart of Accounts.

  • Simple Setup: If you operate in a single tax region (e.g., just Australia, NZ, UK etc) and all your services carry the same tax rate, you likely do not need to enable this feature.

  • Advanced Setup: If you operate across multiple regions (e.g., USA states, or EU VAT zones) or have exempt vs. taxable clients, you must enable Tax Mapping to override Xero’s defaults.

⚠️ A Note on Data Integrity

In our experience, it is very easy for Autotask tax regions to be misconfigured at the account or contract level. If these settings are incorrect in Autotask, those errors will flow directly through to Xero and impact your financial reporting, if your org meets the criteria for a simple setup then you should avoid turning this feature on. 

⚠️ Important: The Logic of Tax Mapping

  • Xero-Led Calculations: Unless Mapping is enabled, Xero performs all tax calculations automatically.

  • Mapping Overrides: Activating this feature instructs Cloud Depot to replace Xero’s default tax codes with your specific Autotask-to-Xero mappings.

  • Intentional Sync Failures: If a sync hits an unmapped tax region, it will stop immediately. This is a design choice to prevent inaccurate financial records.

  • Your Responsibility: You must verify their mappings are correct. We highly recommend enabling Tax Guard to provide an automated cross-check between Autotask and Xero totals (please see the limitation of tax guard below).

2. Enabling Tax Mapping

 Autotask to Xero -> Configuration -> Tax Mapping

To get started, navigate to: Autotask to Xero > Configuration > Tax Mapping

Toggle "Enable Tax Mapping" to ON.

⚠️ Warning: Once enabled, any invoice that contains a Tax Region not mapped in Cloud Depot will fail to sync. This prevents "tax leakage" where invoices might accidentally sync with 0% tax.

3. The "Tax Guard" (Highly Recommended)

Because Autotask and Xero calculate taxes slightly differently, we built the Tax Guard to act as an automated auditor.

  • How it works: After an invoice is synced, Tax Guard compares the total tax amount calculated in Autotask against the total tax amount calculated in Xero.

  • The Threshold: If the difference is greater than +/- 0.99, the system triggers an alert.

  • Sync with Warning: We recommend enabling the "Sync Warning" option. This allows the invoice to sync so you can get paid, but flags the entry in Orange in your dashboard so you know to review the rounding or mapping.

  • What it catches: Rounding discrepancies, broken mappings, or Xero tax rates that have changed unexpectedly.

  • What it CANNOT catch: Fundamental misconfigurations in Autotask. If a customer or contract is assigned the wrong Tax Region in Autotask (e.g., they are marked as Taxable when they should be Exempt), Tax Guard will confirm that both systems match that "wrong" setting and will not trigger a warning.

4. How to Link Your Tax Codes

  1. In the Tax Mapping section, select an Autotask Tax Region from the dropdown.

  2. Select the corresponding Xero Tax Rate it should map to.

  3. Click Link Codes.

  4. Repeat this for every active region you use in Autotask.

5. Important Rules & Troubleshooting

Rounding Discrepancies

It is common for Autotask and Xero to differ by 1 or 2 cents due to how they round line items vs. subtotals. Tax Guard ignores differences under $0.99 for this reason. For significant differences, Please click to read our KB article about rounding issues

Renaming Tax Regions

Do not rename a Tax Region in Autotask if you have pending invoices waiting to sync. If the name on the invoice doesn't exactly match the name in your Mapping table, the sync will fail. Only rename regions after your sync dashboard is clear.

Zero-Rated Items

If you have specific items (like certain hardware or exports) that are Zero-Rated, ensure you have a specific "Zero Rated" tax region in Autotask mapped to a "Zero Rated" rate in Xero.

Refer to this guide in Autotask for proper setup to ensure accurate mapping for zero-rated items.

Tax on Sales Only

Note that this mapping applies to Sales Invoices only. Purchase Order tax is handled separately via the Procurement sync settings.