Automated PayPal Sales to Xero Invoice Reconciliation (Make.com)

1. **Create Scenario & Trigger**: Open Make.com, create a new scenario, and add the **PayPal > Watch Transactions** module. Connect your PayPal Business account and Select 'Verified' as the status to monitor. 2. **Initialize Connection**: In the PayPal module, create a Webhook. Make will provide a URL; copy this into your PayPal Developer Portal under 'Webhooks' to ensure instant data pushes. 3. **Add a Router**: Attach a **Router** module to handle different transaction types (e.g., 'Completed' vs 'Refunded') using filters. 4. **Handle Customer Data**: Add a **Xero > Search Contacts** module. Map the PayPal `Payer Email` to the Xero `Email Address` field. 5. **Conditional Logic (Contact)**: Follow this with a **Xero > Create a Contact** module. Set a filter between the Search and Create modules: `Contact ID` (from Search) `Does not exist`. This prevents duplicate contacts. 6. **Map Invoice Details**: Add a **Xero > Create an Invoice** module. Map `Gross Amount` from PayPal to the invoice line item. Use the `Transaction ID` from PayPal in the Xero `Reference` field. Set status to 'Authorized'. 7. **Calculate Net Fees**: Add a **Xero > Create a Bank Transaction** module. Select 'Spend Money'. Use Make's math function `{{1.fee_amount * -1}}` to record the merchant fee against your 'Bank Fees' expense account. 8. **Data Formatting**: Use the `formatDate()` function in Make to ensure PayPal's ISO date matches Xero’s required `YYYY-MM-DD` format. 9. **Error Handling**: Right-click the Xero modules and select **Add Error Handler (Break)**. This ensures that if Xero is down, Make will retry the execution later instead of losing the transaction data. 10. **Activation**: Run the scenario manually once with a 'Simple Rest' to verify mapping, then toggle the 'Scheduling' switch to ON.

| PayPal Source Field | Xero Target Field | Make.com Transformation/Logic | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | `Transaction ID` | `Reference` | Raw Mapping (Essential for reconciliation) | | `Payer Name` | `Contact Name` | `{{1.payer_first_name}} {{1.payer_last_name}}` | | `Payer Email` | `Email Address` | Raw Mapping (Used for Search query) | | `Gross Amount` | `Unit Amount` | `{{parseNumber(1.gross_amount)}}` | | `Fee Amount` | `Line Amount (Fee)` | `{{1.fee_amount}}` mapped to Expense Account | | `Transaction Date` | `Date` | `{{formatDate(1.create_time; "YYYY-MM-DD")}}` | | `Currency Code` | `Currency` | Raw Mapping (Ensure Multi-currency is enabled in Xero) |

* **Operation Quotas**: PayPal 'Watch Transactions' is a polling trigger unless Webhooks are specificially configured. Polling every 1 minute can consume 1,440 operations/day. Use Webhooks to save quota. * **Rounding Errors**: PayPal sends decimals as strings. Always use `parseNumber()` in Make to ensure Xero receives a numerical value for currency fields. * **The 'Fee' Trap**: PayPal provides 'Gross' and 'Fee'. In Xero, you must record 'Gross' as 'Receive Money' and 'Fee' as 'Spend Money' (or a negative line item) to match the final net deposit in your bank feed. * **Duplicate Syncs**: Always use the Xero 'Search' module before 'Create' to avoid cluttering your CRM with duplicate emails.

- [ ] **Webhooks Validated**: Triggering a $0.01 sandbox payment in PayPal shows an immediate 'Instant' execution in Make.com History. - [ ] **Contact Deduplication**: Running the scenario twice for the same user only results in ONE contact in Xero. - [ ] **Math Check**: The Invoice total in Xero minus the Bank Transaction fee equals the net amount deposited into the PayPal balance. - [ ] **Reference Match**: The PayPal 'Transaction ID' is visible in the Xero 'Reference' field for easy 'Find & Match' audit. - [ ] **Error Logs**: Scenario History shows 'Success' for all bundles; no 'Incomplete Executions' are pending.