Switching to GoCardless for Xero when you use Dashboard subscriptions or plans
Please note: This guide is for GoCardless Dashboard users using plans or subscriptions who want to start using GoCardless for Xero.
Am I using Dashboard subscriptions or plans?
Head to the Subscriptions screen in the GoCardless Dashboard and use the dropdown to filter for the Active status. We’ll show you any subscriptions that you’ve set up which are currently active.
If you don’t see any subscriptions listed, then you don’t need to do anything. You can stop following this guide.
Do I need to move my existing subscriptions over?
If you use subscriptions (including plans) in the GoCardless Dashboard to automatically take payments from your customers and want to start using GoCardless for Xero, you’ll need to decide what to do with your existing customers’ payments.
Setting up new customers through GoCardless for Xero is simple. But for your existing customers, you need to decide if you want to keep managing their payments through the Dashboard, or if you want to move them over. We'd recommend moving them over to make it more simple to manage all your payments in one place.
If you’re happy to keep managing your existing customers through the Dashboard, you'd need to ensure that payments aren't automatically collected for their invoices, see our article here on automation settings. If you want want to consolidate everything into GoCardless for Xero, read on.
Step-by-step: moving existing customers’ subscriptions to GoCardless for Xero
GoCardless for Xero doesn't support automatically moving your existing subscriptions into Xero.
This means that you’ll need to set up your customers’ regular payments again in GoCardless for Xero, and then cancel the subscriptions you currently have set up in GoCardless. The process looks like this:
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Find your active subscriptions
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Set up matching customer records in Xero for each of your customers
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Set up regular invoices in Xero
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Link your customers' GoCardless mandates to their customer records in GoCardless for Xero
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Ensure your customers' Dashboard subscriptions are cancelled to avoid duplicate charges
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Check that you've set everything up correctly
1. Find your active subscriptions
Head to the Subscriptions screen in the GoCardless Dashboard and use the dropdown to filter for the “Active” status. We’ll show you any subscriptions that you’ve set up which are currently active — these are the ones which we’ll move over.
When you click on a subscription in the list, you’ll be able to see details including the customer it’s attached so, how often the customer is charged and when the next payment is due to be taken.
2. Set up matching customer records in Xero for each of your customers
For each of your customers in GoCardless with active subscriptions, make sure you have a matching customer record set up in Xero.
To do this, head to Xero and then go to Contacts, then Customers, then Add Customer.
3. Set up regular invoices in Xero
If you’ve got a relatively small number of subscriptions, then keep following this guide. If you’ve got lots of subscriptions (we’d suggest more than 40), then head to our guide to using a spreadsheet to make the flow easier.
From the Subscriptions screen in GoCardless, click on each subscription to find which customer is being charged, when, and how much.
In Xero, go to Accounts, then Sales, and then from the New dropdown, choose Repeating invoice.
Set up the repeating invoice with the same amount and schedule, making sure to set an end date if the GoCardless subscription has one.
Set the due date on the invoice to be the date when the next payment was due for the existing subscription. If the next payment has already been submitted or is due in less than 7 days, then start from the following due date.
4. Link your customers' GoCardless mandates to their customer records in GoCardless for Xero
You now have customer records in GoCardless, and customer records in the Xero. Let’s link them together.
We'll do this in GoCardless for Xero. Just follow the instructions on matching customers to Xero on the GoCardless for Xero website.
5. Ensure your customers' Dashboard subscriptions are cancelled to avoid duplicate charges
Now we’ve set up the recurring invoices in Xero and linked up the mandates, we can cancel the existing subscriptions set up in the Dashboard, and let GoCardless for Xero take over.
You can cancel the dashboard subscriptions yourself via your GoCardless dashboard, however doing so will result in your customers receiving an email notifying them of the cancellation.
To avoid your customers being notified, please instead raise a ticket with our Support team requesting cancellation of your customers' subscriptions and we will action this silently for you. If you are a partner raising this on behalf of a merchant you will be required to provide additional details to pass security.
Please note: If a customer’s next payment is due within the next 7 days and you’ve set up the new payments in Xero to start from the following due date, then you’ll need to wait until the first payment has been taken before the subscription is cancelled. You should take a note to remind you to do this.
6. Check that you've set everything up correctly
At this point, let’s check that we haven’t made any mistakes in the process. You should double-check that:
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You have a customer record set up in Xero for every customer with an active subscription
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Each customer record in Xero has been linked to their GoCardless mandate using GoCardless for Xero
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You’ve set up the new recurring invoices in Xero, to be taken by Direct Debit
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You’ve cancelled the old subscriptions you set up in the GoCardless Dashboard, so now GoCardless for Xero can take over