Send Paige invoices to Xero with Zapier or Make

Step 1 — Point Paige at your SFTP server

1. 1

   In Paige, open Settings (the gear at the bottom of the left menu — administrators only), pick the scan job, and choose Export.

2. 2

   Click the FTP card. Enter the FTP Address, Port 22, Username, Password, and in FTP Folder Path a folder for this scan job, such as /paige/invoices.

3. 3

   Click Test Connection. What you should see: FTP connection successful! Connect — Connected to FTP Server! and a green Connected label.

4. 4

   Turn on Enable Auto Export. Under Auto Export Settings, pick your invoice type under Document Types, set Auto Field Entry Complete to Yes, and set Human Reviewed to Reviewed so a person glances at each invoice in Paige before it becomes a bill. Click Save.

Step 2 — Check Paige's fields cover a bill

Step 3 — Build the automation

Zapier

1. 1

   Trigger: SFTP by Zapier → New or Updated File (connection: Host, Username, Port Number 22, Password), folder = the scan job's folder.

2. 2

   Filter by Zapier: File Name (Text) Ends with .json.

3. 3

   Code by Zapier → Run Javascript, file mapped to the trigger's file:

   const doc = await (await fetch(inputData.file)).json();
   const f = doc.fields;
   return {
     pdf_file: doc.metadata.pdf_file,
     contact: f["Vendor Name"],
     reference: f["Invoice Number"],
     date: f["Invoice Date"],
     due_date: f["Due Date"] || "",
     total: (f["Total"] || "").replace(/[^0-9.\-]/g, "")
   };
   

4. 4

   SFTP by Zapier → Download File, path = the folder plus pdf_file from step 3.

5. 5

   Xero → Create Bill. Map contact_name to contact, date and due_date to the dates (run them through Formatter by Zapier → Date/Time → Format to YYYY-MM-DD first if Xero rejects the printed format), Reference to reference, status to Draft (or Submitted if you want them awaiting approval), and one line item: Description Invoice {{reference}}, Quantity 1, Unit Price total, Account your purchases account, Tax Rate your usual purchase tax rate. Set attachment to the Download File output from step 4 — Xero's Create Bill takes the PDF directly.

6. 6

   Turn the Zap on.

Make

1. 1

   SFTP → Watch files in a folder (connection: Host, Port 22, Auth Type Username and Password), pointed at the scan job's folder.

2. 2

   Filter: File name Ends with .json.

3. 3

   SFTP → Get a file, then JSON → Parse JSON on its data. Run once with a real file so Make learns the fields.

4. 4

   Xero → Search for contacts by name; if none is found, create the contact first with a router branch.

5. 5

   Xero → Create an invoice with the type set to a bill (accounts payable), the contact from module 4, parseDate() of the dates, the invoice number as reference, and one line with description, quantity 1, parseNumber() of the total, your purchases account, and tax rate.

6. 6

   SFTP → Get a file with path = folder plus parsed metadata.pdf_file, then Xero → Upload a file attached to the bill from module 5.

7. 7

   Set the schedule and turn the scenario on.

Step 4 — Test it

1. 1

   Process one invoice through the scan job in Paige, review it, and wait for the export.

2. 2

   Check the automation's run history: one run, every step green.

3. 3

   In Xero, open Business > Bills to pay (the Draft or Awaiting approval tab, depending on the status you chose). What you should see: the bill with the contact, dates, reference, and total from the invoice, and the PDF on its attachment icon.

When it doesn't work