There are three ways to set up a Stripe to Xero integration. You can add Stripe as a payment service so customers pay your Xero invoices by card. You can turn on the Stripe feed in Xero, which brings your Stripe payments and fees in like a bank account. Or you can build Zapier zaps for single jobs. Each one gets Stripe money into Xero. Where it stops: Xero's help says refunds, chargebacks and payments taken outside Xero invoices are entered by hand, and the feed doesn't say what each payment was for. AI agents check each payout against Xero each week and send your bookkeeper only what doesn't match.
Why a Stripe to Xero integration matters
Customers pay you through Stripe. Your books live in Xero. A Stripe payout is not one sale. It holds many payments, with Stripe's fees taken off and any refunds taken back. If nobody links the two, your bookkeeper adds it all up by hand and hopes the total matches the bank.
So a good connection does two things. It records each payment and each fee in the right place in Xero. And it checks each payout against the payments inside it, so your bookkeeper only looks at what's off.
Three ways to connect Stripe and Xero
Two are built into Xero. One is a zap you build yourself.
Stripe as a payment service
- How it works
- In Xero you add Stripe as a payment service. Your invoices then get a pay button for cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay. When a customer pays, Xero marks the invoice paid and can record the Stripe fee as its own spend money line. When the payout lands, Xero suggests the match.
- Good for
- Businesses that bill from Xero and want customers to pay those invoices by card.
- Where it breaks
- It covers payments on Xero invoices only. Stripe's help says Stripe invoices and Stripe subscriptions don't link to Xero invoices. The automatic match needs an automatic payout schedule and one Stripe account per Xero organisation, and you can't change the country on either account later.
The Stripe feed in Xero
- How it works
- You add a new bank account in Xero, type Stripe, and sign in to Stripe. Xero then brings in your Stripe payments like a bank feed. Each payment shows as two lines: the full amount and the Stripe fee.
- Good for
- Businesses that take money in Stripe from a website, a checkout page or subscriptions, not only from Xero invoices.
- Where it breaks
- Xero's help says only payments after you turn it on come in, nothing imports after a manual payout, and a currency only comes in if it had a payout in the last 30 days. It can't attach to a bank account you already use for Stripe, and if you disconnect it, you start again with a new account in Xero.
A Zapier zap
- How it works
- Xero is a Premium app on Zapier. Its Stripe templates make a Xero invoice for each new Stripe payment, add Stripe customers to Xero as contacts, or set up repeating invoices in Xero from new Stripe subscriptions.
- Good for
- One simple job, like each new Stripe customer showing up in Xero as a contact.
- Where it breaks
- Each zap is one trigger and one action. Refunds, fees, disputes and payouts are each more steps you build and test. If you also use the Stripe feed, take care that the zap and the feed don't record the same payment twice.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read each Stripe payout and the payments, refunds and fees inside it. They check each one against the invoices and payments in Xero, add a note on any invoice that doesn't match, and send your bookkeeper the short list.
- Good for
- Businesses where the books have to match Stripe, and nobody has the hours to check each payout.
- Where it breaks
- Anything your rules keep for a person, like a large refund or a payment with no invoice, goes to your team in one message.
Set it up: the five steps
Xero's and Stripe's help pages have the full screens. Most businesses that take card payments set up both the payment service and the feed.
- 1Check the country on both accounts
Stripe's help says you can't change the country of your Stripe account or your Xero organisation after you connect them.
- 2Add Stripe as a payment service
In Xero, open the payment services screen (Stripe's help lists Settings, then Payment Services; Xero's help now lists Sales, then Online payments) and add Stripe. Sign in to Stripe, select the account, and turn on Automate my fees.
- 3Keep Stripe paying out on its own
On the Payouts page of your Stripe Dashboard, keep an automatic payout schedule, and check the bank account matches the one you set in Xero. The automatic match needs both.
- 4Turn on the Stripe feed
In Xero's Accounting menu, open Bank accounts and click Add bank account. Select Stripe, sign in, connect your Stripe account, and tick each currency you want.
- 5
Bring in older payments, then match one payout
The feed only brings in payments from the day you turn it on, so import anything older yourself. Then take one payout and match each payment, fee and refund in Xero.
What still has to be done by hand in Xero
The link works best for one case: a customer pays a Xero invoice through Stripe. Everything else lands on your bookkeeper's desk, and Xero's own help says so.
Refunds and chargebacks. Xero's help says to enter Stripe refunds and chargebacks by hand as credit notes, then match them to the payout. A payout with a refund in it only partly matches until someone does.
Payments made outside Xero. Sales from a website checkout, a Stripe invoice or a Stripe subscription aren't Xero invoices. Xero's help says to enter each one by hand as receive money, and fees only record on their own for Xero invoices. Stripe's help adds that Stripe invoices don't come into Xero at all.
Gaps in the feed. Nothing imports after a manual payout, older payments never come in on their own, and a currency with no payout in 30 days is skipped. An idea on Xero's public ideas board, backed by other users' votes, says the feed doesn't show what each payment was for, so people still open Stripe to find out.
So each week, someone in a 20-person company opens Stripe and Xero side by side, adds the refunds and outside sales by hand, and works out why one payout is a little off.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish: some in your Stripe, some in your Xero, passing the work between them. Your team talks to them in Slack or Teams.
Your numbers, without pulling them by hand.
- Adds up new, upgraded and lost customersweekly
- Checks Stripe against Xeroweekly
- Sends the report to your teamMonday morning
Trials that stall on day two, not day 30.
- Tracks each trial to paidreal time
- Spots trials going quietwithin 48 h
- Wins them back by emailsame day
Keep customers a failed card would lose.
- Spots failed paymentsas they happen
- Emails the customer to update the cardsame day
- Tells your team who may cancelevery week
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own Stripe and Xero and see only what their job needs. Customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Does Xero have a Stripe integration?
Yes, two. You can add Stripe as a payment service so customers pay your Xero invoices by card. And you can turn on the Stripe feed, which brings your Stripe payments and fees into Xero like a bank account.
Why are my Stripe payments not showing in Xero?
Xero's help gives three common reasons. The payments came before you turned on the feed. You made a manual payout in Stripe. Or there hasn't been a recent payout yet. Payments show up in Xero after a payout, on your Stripe payout schedule.
Can I connect Stripe to more than one Xero organisation?
You can, but Stripe's help says the automatic match only works when one Stripe account is linked to one Xero organisation. With more than one, you match payouts by hand.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.