Xero Accounting vs Xero Practice Manager: which should you connect to Portal 360?

Many firms use two different Xero products and ask us which one to connect. Portal 360 has native integrations with both, so the answer depends on what you want to automate.

The short answer

• Connect Xero Accounting when you want clients, invoices and payments to flow between your ledger and Portal 360.
• Connect Xero Practice Manager (XPM) when you want jobs, time entries and practice data to line up with Portal 360 tasks and workflows.
• Many practices connect both, because they cover different parts of the work.

What Xero Accounting covers

The Xero Accounting integration keeps your contacts, invoices, payments and financial records in step with Portal 360. It centres on the money side of your client relationships: who the client is, what you billed and what has been paid. See the Xero integration page for the feature overview and the guide to what data syncs for the detail, including which records flow in which direction.

What Xero Practice Manager covers

XPM is where many practices manage projects, track time and organise client workflows. Connecting it brings projects, tasks, time entries and client data into Portal 360. The XPM integration guide explains the setup.

Which should you connect first?

Start with the system your team lives in every day:

1. If your team works from XPM jobs and time sheets, connect XPM first so the daily work lines up.
2. If your main pain is invoicing and chasing payments, connect Xero Accounting first.
3. Add the second once the first is stable and your team trusts the data.

Connecting either one

Both connect the same way: open Marketplace in Portal 360, choose the app, click Connect, then sign in to Xero and approve access. Our connection guide lists the permissions you need and how to troubleshoot a failed connection.