The 9 best Xero integrations for growing finance teams

The best Xero integrations for a growing finance team each have one clear primary job around Xero: ApprovalMax for accounts payable (AP) and approvals, Chaser for collections, Mayday for month-end close, Joiin for reporting and consolidation, Float for cash forecasting, A2X for ecommerce settlements, Cin7 or Unleashed for inventory, Deputy for timesheets and nettTracker for asset and lease schedules.

Xero reported 4.92 million customers at 31 March 2026, after adding 506,000 in its 2026 financial year (Xero FY26 results; total as reported by The Motley Fool). Finding an app for Xero is easy. The harder question is which ones deserve a subscription. A stack can drift into one app for capture, another for approvals and a third for reporting, with several suppliers touching the same invoice.

How we chose these integrations

We build ApprovalMax. It runs inside Xero stacks every day, and several apps on this list connect with it directly or pass records to it through Xero, so we know those handoffs well. Handoffs are where overlapping tools are easiest to spot.

For this guide we mapped the finance workflow from purchase request to management report. Then we looked at the apps for each stage on the Xero App Store and on the vendors' own sites. To make the list, an app had to:

• connect directly with Xero
• have a clearly defined primary role in the finance workflow
• publish its features, plan requirements and regional availability, so we could check every claim against the vendor's own documentation

Some apps share ground at the edges. Joiin and Float both forecast cash, and Mayday and nettTracker both handle accruals. Where that happens, we explain how to choose. Where two strong apps do the same job, as with inventory, we name both.

We checked every claim in September 2026 and noted beta features, plan limits and country restrictions where they apply. The guide covers the finance workflow, so CRM, point-of-sale and bank-feed apps are out of scope.

A note on ApprovalMax: it's our product, and it's first on the list. We've described what it covers and what it doesn't, including which plan you need. Where a job belongs to another tool, we say so.

Which Xero integration does which job?

Treat Xero as the accounting record and ask what should sit around it. Each app below has one primary responsibility. The right-hand column tells you when that responsibility becomes worth paying for.

Pick the rows that match your workload. The useful skill is knowing where one system's job ends and the next one begins.

1. ApprovalMax: controls financial decisions before and around Xero

ApprovalMax is accounts payable automation and approval software for Xero. You can route purchase orders, bills, supplier and customer contacts, sales invoices, AP and accounts receivable (AR) credit notes, quotes, expenses, journals and payments for approval. Standalone workflows cover processes that never touch the ledger. Supplier onboarding, Bill-to-PO Matching, budget checking, journals and batch payments start on the Advanced plan, and custom standalone workflows need Premium (ApprovalMax pricing for Xero).

Supplier approval, purchasing and capture

Somebody wanting to use a new supplier and somebody authorising that supplier are two separate decisions. ApprovalMax Contact workflows route a new supplier or customer through multi-step approval. The contact is only created in Xero once those approvals are complete (supplier approval workflows). Purchase orders go through approval before the spend is committed, and budget holders approve in ApprovalMax rather than in Xero.

ApprovalMax Capture uses optical character recognition (OCR) to pull the key fields from supplier invoices and send the document straight into approval. Bill-to-PO Matching lets you match several purchase orders to one bill and allocate the amount across them (matching guide). Since 26 June 2026, Capture can also read the PO number on an invoice. When the supplier and currency agree, it matches the bill automatically (feature releases).

Put together, one purchase moves through a single chain: supplier approved, purchase authorised, invoice captured, bill matched, discrepancy reviewed, bill approved. The reviewer sees what was agreed before deciding what to pay. (For the detail, see how Bill-to-PO matching works for Xero.)

Expenses, budgets and accounts receivable

The Xero Expense Claim workflow launched in beta on 16 June 2026. Employees capture receipts and submit out-of-pocket or company-card claims. Approved out-of-pocket claims become Bills in Xero, and approved card claims become Spend Money transactions. The workflow is free for six months and becomes a paid add-on from January 2027 (release notes). Travel booking and card issuing may still need a specialist.

A reporting platform tells you a department overspent last month. ApprovalMax Budget Checking shows the approver the budget position while the request is still waiting, when saying no is still an option. On the receivables side, your reviewers can approve sales invoices, AR credit notes and quotes before they leave the business. Request and Line Item reports show approval activity and spend, while management accounts and group consolidation belong with a reporting specialist.

Payments after approval

ApprovalMax Pay carries approved bills through to payment for UK businesses using Xero. Open Banking pays UK suppliers from your existing bank account, and Wallets pay suppliers in 30+ currencies across 150+ countries (ApprovalMax Pay). Archangel Accounting, a Xero customer paying UK and international suppliers, reports a "95% increase in payment run speeds" (customer story).

For the full list of workflows, see the ApprovalMax integration with Xero. For a wider comparison of approval tools, see our guide to approval workflow software for Xero and QuickBooks Online.

2. Chaser: takes over when an issued invoice becomes a collections problem

Once an invoice has gone out, Chaser handles the follow-up. It connects to Xero and automates payment chasing by email, SMS and automated phone calls. It also offers in-app calling, statements, a customer payment portal, payment plans and collection services (Chaser).

ApprovalMax answers whether the customer invoice is correct and authorised. Chaser answers whether it is being paid, and what happens next if it is not.

3. Mayday: takes over when the month needs closing

Month-end brings its own workload: reconciliations, accruals, recharges and a list of tasks to track. Mayday combines close coordination (task management, balance-sheet reconciliations, progress tracking) with automation for intercompany reconciliation, recharges, prepayments, deferred revenue, accruals and adjusting journals. It has full support for Xero, with a narrower but expanding feature set for QuickBooks Online and Intuit Enterprise Suite (Mayday).

ApprovalMax keeps the approval trail for the month's spending. Mayday turns that period into a reconciled, completed close.

4. Joiin: takes over when you need the whole financial picture

For reporting across several companies, Joiin pulls accounting data from Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent and other platforms into multi-company and consolidated reports (Joiin). On 4 September 2026 it launched linked profit and loss (P&L), balance-sheet and cash-flow forecasting for individual companies and groups. A change to one revenue or cost assumption flows through all three statements (AccountingWEB, 2026).

ApprovalMax asks what you are buying, requesting and approving. Joiin asks what financial position and performance those decisions have produced. Their primary roles are different, so many teams need both.

5. Float: use a cash specialist when timing is the problem

A late customer payment can change the date you expect cash to run low. Float is cash-flow forecasting software for Xero and QuickBooks Online. It builds live forecasts from your bank balances, invoices and bills, with weekly, 13-week and monthly views that extend up to three years. What-if scenarios let you test changes, and the forecasts give early warning of cash shortfalls (Float).

Joiin's three-way forecasting blurs the line between reporting and cash planning, which makes the case for Float narrower and sharper. Float earns its keep when your questions sound like these:

• What happens if this customer pays 30 days late?
• When does our cash balance hit its lowest point?
• Can we move this spend without dropping below our minimum cash position?

If three-way forecasting already answers what you ask each week, a second forecasting subscription is probably one too many. If short-term cash timing is something you actively manage, Float has a clear job.

6. A2X: lets an ecommerce specialist handle marketplace accounting

A marketplace payout can bundle orders, refunds, fees, taxes and adjustments into a single deposit. A2X turns that payout data from Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Etsy, Walmart and PayPal into categorised summaries that reconcile against the settlement you actually received. It connects to Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage and NetSuite (A2X).

A2X is one of the apps ApprovalMax works alongside. It translates marketplace activity into settlement-level entries, while ApprovalMax controls internal purchasing and authorisation. They touch the ledger from opposite sides, so they sit comfortably in the same stack.

7. Cin7 or Unleashed: lets an inventory specialist own product operations

Once stock, warehousing or manufacturing outgrows Xero's native inventory, a dedicated platform takes over. Cin7 and Unleashed both integrate with Xero.

Cin7 Core covers inventory and warehouse control, multi-location stock (including stores and third-party logistics providers), order management, bills of materials, assembly and automated cost of goods sold (COGS). Production and capacity planning come with its optional Advanced Manufacturing add-on (Cin7; Cin7 Core help).

Unleashed covers purchasing, inventory, bills of materials and assembly, batch and serial tracking and multiple warehouses (Unleashed). It is one of the inventory apps ApprovalMax works alongside in Xero.

We name both because the reason to have either is the same. The inventory platform answers what stock you have, where it is and what needs buying, making or shipping. ApprovalMax answers whether the resulting financial commitment has the right authority. Before you connect the two, settle where purchase records are created and how they reach the approver.

8. Deputy: workforce data should come from the workforce system

Deputy is scheduling, time and attendance software. Its Xero integration syncs employee details and leave, and pushes approved timesheets into Xero for payroll or client time billing. The integration is available in Australia, the UK and New Zealand (Deputy).

Deputy owns shifts, hours and leave. ApprovalMax owns purchasing and financial approvals. Each sends Xero the records it is responsible for.

9. nettTracker: for asset, lease and balance-sheet schedules

Xero already has a native fixed-asset register, so a handful of assets does not justify another app. The case for a specialist grows when depreciation, leases, hire purchase loans or recurring balance-sheet adjustments become a workload of their own.

nettTracker connects to Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage. It automates fixed assets and depreciation, leases and right-of-use assets under FRS 102, interest on hire purchase loans, and accruals, prepayments and deferred income, posting the journals each month (App Advisory Plus; nettTracker).

nettTracker overlaps with Mayday on accruals and prepayments, so let the problem decide. If you need wider close coordination, reconciliations and intercompany work, Mayday has the broader remit. If the hard part is asset registers, depreciation, leases or hire purchase schedules, nettTracker is the more specialised fit.

What does a good Xero finance stack look like?

A good Xero finance stack gives each app one primary responsibility and leaves Xero as the accounting record. A professional-services firm might run ApprovalMax, Mayday and Joiin with no reason to buy Cin7. An ecommerce brand might add A2X for settlements and an inventory platform for stock.

Picture layers around Xero, with each transaction touching only the apps it needs:

• Upstream operations: Cin7 or Unleashed for product and inventory; Deputy for workforce.
• Financial control: ApprovalMax for supplier onboarding, purchasing, capture, AP and AR approvals, matching, expenses, budget checks and supported payments.
• Specialist accounting feeds: A2X for ecommerce settlements.
• Accounting record: Xero, the source of truth for the accounts.
• Specialist finance processes: Chaser for collections, Mayday for close, Joiin for reporting and consolidation, Float for cash planning, nettTracker for asset and lease schedules.

Few businesses need every layer. The aim is to avoid paying for the same layer twice.

Do you still need Dext or Datamolino with ApprovalMax?

Sometimes. Dext integrates directly with ApprovalMax (setup guide), and we've since built much of the same invoice-capture job into ApprovalMax Capture. It's worth checking what your capture tool actually does for you today. Datamolino documents a combined workflow with ApprovalMax through Xero (Datamolino).

If the tool's only job is extracting invoice data before it reaches ApprovalMax, Capture may cover it. If you rely on it for wider bookkeeping, receipt processing or document management, there's still a good reason to keep it. Either way, give each invoice one capture route. That makes it much harder for the same bill to enter your workflow twice.

Give each Xero app a clear handoff

A useful Xero stack lets you follow a transaction from the first request to the final accounting entry. At each step you can see who owns the decision. Make that your test for the next subscription: the app should take responsibility for work you can name, then pass on a record the next person can use.

See how ApprovalMax adds supplier onboarding, purchasing, AP and AR approvals, invoice capture, expense control and spend governance around Xero.

• Xero — FY26 full-year results and customer numbers, as reported by The Motley Fool
• Chaser, Mayday, Joiin, Float, A2X, Cin7, Unleashed, Deputy, nettTracker — vendor product documentation
• AccountingWEB (2026) — Joiin forecasting launch coverage
• ApprovalMax — pricing, feature release notes and customer stories for Xero