Xero | ElevenLabs Documentation

Your receptionist can check whether a caller is already a contact in your Xero organization and add new callers as contacts, so they’re ready when you send a quote or invoice. Xero’s API only accepts OAuth sign-in tokens that expire every 30 minutes, so webhook tools can’t connect to it directly. Reception connects through Zapier.

Xero holds your financial records. Don’t add actions that create or send invoices, bills, payments, or credit notes. A caller could talk your receptionist into the wrong amount or recipient. Create invoices yourself in Xero.

Set up

Connect Zapier

If you haven’t yet, connect Zapier in Reception.ai.

Add the Xero actions

In your Zapier MCP server at mcp.zapier.com, add the actions below from the Xero app and sign in to Xero when Zapier asks. For each field, either set a fixed value or let the AI fill it in, as listed.

The actions can do anything the Xero user you sign in as can do. Consider a dedicated user with the lowest role that can manage contacts.

Assign the tools

In Reception.ai, open the Zapier integration’s Tools tab, select Refresh tools, and assign each action to the Client (receptionist).

Test it

Test your receptionist as an existing client who gives their business name, then as a new caller. The new contact appears under Contacts in Xero.

Actions

Find the caller

Field	Value
Zapier action	Find Contact
Set in Zapier	Organization: your Xero organization. Search by the contact’s name.
Let the AI fill in	The contact name: the caller’s business name, or their full name.
Assign to	Client

Xero finds contacts by name or account number, not by phone number, so your receptionist must ask for the name the account is under.

Add the caller

Field	Value
Zapier action	Find or Create Contact
Set in Zapier	Organization, and search by the contact’s name. Leave account codes, tax number, bank account, and payment terms empty.
Let the AI fill in	Contact Name, the primary person’s first name, last name, and email, the phone number, and the address.
Assign to	Client

Use Find or Create Contact, not Create/Update Contact. Create/Update Contact changes a contact that already exists, so a caller who gives another client’s name could overwrite that client’s phone number or email.

Add a procedure so your receptionist asks for the caller’s business name and searches for it before it adds a contact.

Find Contact returns whatever is saved on the contact. Add a rule telling your receptionist to never read a contact’s details, balances, or invoices back to the caller, and to use them only to recognize the caller.

Limitations

Your receptionist can’t look callers up by phone number. It needs the exact name the contact is saved under in Xero.
Your receptionist can’t create invoices or quotes. Take the details in the call, and create the invoice yourself from the contact.
Each action your receptionist runs uses tasks from your Zapier plan. Zapier currently counts two tasks per successful call; failed calls aren’t counted. When the plan runs out, the actions stop until it resets.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
A Xero action doesn’t appear in Reception.ai	Select Refresh tools on the Zapier integration after adding actions in Zapier.
An action shows Changed and isn’t used	You edited it in Zapier. Select Update in the Tools tab.
Known callers aren’t found	Xero matches the contact name as saved. Ask the caller for the business name on their invoices.
Contacts land in the wrong organization	Set Organization as a fixed value in Zapier.
Zapier stops connecting to Xero	Reconnect your Xero account in Zapier. Xero ends connections that aren’t used for a long time.