FFP Guides

ServiceM8 how-to

Do you need a ServiceM8 Xero integration consultant, or can you connect it yourself?

Connect it yourself first: ServiceM8's Xero integration is included on every plan and the help centre's setup wizard is nine steps. A consultant is worth paying for three things: choosing the settings before the first sync, cleaning up after a bad one, and the gaps the sync never fills, which is a custom build. FFP Digital in Ipswich QLD does both, phone 0459 567 884.

Last checked 4 Nov 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.

ServiceM8 Xero integration consultant: when the fee is worth it

Most ServiceM8 businesses do not need a consultant to connect Xero. ServiceM8 lists the Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB integrations as included on all plans, the Xero App Store listing is published by ServiceM8 itself with 352 reviews at 4.56 out of 5, and the connection wizard is nine steps. A consultant earns a fee when the office cannot settle the settings, when the first sync has already made a mess, or when the thing the bookkeeper wants is not in the sync and never will be. FFP Digital in Ipswich, Queensland, does the first two in a settings audit and the third as a custom integration from $2,000 plus GST.

Yes, natively

Yes, the connection is built in: Settings, ServiceM8 Add-ons, Connect next to Xero Integration, then the Xero login and Authorise. Customers and items import over the next few minutes. What is not built in is judgement about the settings, and anything the sync does not carry, such as the site address, tracking category automation or a PO number in the right field.

Step by step

  1. Before you connect, decide two settings with your bookkeeper. The tax setting in the wizard, and Send invoices to Xero as, which lives under Settings, Invoicing, in the Xero section: Awaiting Approval sends invoices to Xero as drafts, Approved sends them approved. Change it before the first invoice, not after.
  2. Connect: log in to ServiceM8 on a computer, open Settings, then ServiceM8 Add-ons, click Connect next to Xero Integration, step through the wizard, enter your Xero login, pick the organisation and click Authorise. ServiceM8 says your existing Xero customers and inventory items then populate over the next few minutes.
  3. Send one job through end to end: complete it, approve the invoice from the Invoicing page, and watch it arrive in Xero in the status you chose. Record a payment in Xero and confirm ServiceM8 shows the job paid within 30 minutes.
  4. Check the four things that go wrong most. The job's billing address became the Xero postal address, the invoice number did not clash with one Xero already used, the income account on each line is a Sales or Revenue account, and supplier only contacts did not come across (ServiceM8 skips them by design).
  5. If the first sync has made a mess, or the office cannot agree on the settings, that is a consultant's job. ServiceM8's partner directory lists partners, external businesses who charge for their services, for consultation, setup, training and customisation. Its developer directory lists certified ServiceM8 developers for integrations and add-ons. The difference matters: settings is a partner, code is a developer.
  6. If what you need is not in the sync at all, write it down as a list of fields: the site address on the Xero invoice, the PO number in Reference, a tracking category set from the job, the signed form attached to the invoice, a supplier bill linked back to the job. That list is the brief for a custom integration, which FFP builds from $2,000 plus GST, fixed price before any work starts.

Gotchas

  • The connection expires. ServiceM8 says the Xero Access Token Has Expired notice can appear 12 months after connecting, if ServiceM8 is disconnected from inside Xero, if the Xero subscription lapses, or during Xero API interruptions. The fix is the Authorise ServiceM8 With Xero button in the notice, and nothing syncs until someone clicks it.
  • Invoices created in Xero never come back to ServiceM8, and invoices with a zero value are not sent to Xero when approved.
  • ServiceM8 cannot create credit notes. To reverse or adjust an invoice that has synced, raise the credit note in Xero.
  • Xero tracking categories sync once a day, so a category added in Xero can take up to 24 hours to appear on a ServiceM8 job card.
  • A client's billing address in ServiceM8 becomes the contact's postal address in Xero. The job site address is not part of the standard sync.
  • Tax changes made inside ServiceM8 do not sync back to Xero, and items deleted or made inactive in Xero stay in ServiceM8.

What the official help article misses: It walks through the wizard and stops. Nothing on which settings to decide first, what to check after the first invoice, or which asks (site address, tracking categories from the job, PO numbers) sit outside the sync entirely. Read ServiceM8's article.

What the standard sync does, so you know what you are paying a consultant for

ServiceM8's own description: invoices approved in ServiceM8 are raised in Xero, clients and items sync both ways, payments sync both ways, and tax rates and income account codes import from Xero. The help centre adds the timing. An invoice goes across when it is approved from the Invoicing page, and later edits that change the total resync the line items. A payment recorded in Xero against that invoice reaches ServiceM8 within 30 minutes, and the job shows as paid once Xero has the full amount. Contacts and items entered in Xero arrive in ServiceM8 within 30 minutes; clients and materials created in ServiceM8 go to Xero only with their first approved invoice.

That is most of the double entry gone, for free. Anyone who quotes you a fee to switch it on is charging for the nine clicks.

The settings a consultant actually changes

The decisions that cause trouble are small and permanent. Whether invoices land in Xero as Awaiting Approval or Approved, set under Settings, Invoicing. Which system issues the invoice number, because a ServiceM8 job number that collides with one Xero has already used stops the invoice. Which Xero account each line lands in, since only accounts of type Sales or Revenue show in ServiceM8. The tax setting chosen in the wizard. And whether Xero Tracking Categories are switched on under ServiceM8 Add-ons, knowing that categories refresh once a day.

A consultant who knows ServiceM8 asks the bookkeeper those questions in one sitting, sets them, sends one real job through and shows both of you where it landed. That is a two hour job, not a project. If a quote for settings work runs to days, ask what the days are for.

The gaps no consultant can fix with settings

Some asks are outside the sync entirely. The site address on the Xero invoice for a property manager: the sync sends the client's billing address as the postal address and nothing else. A tracking category decided by something on the job rather than typed by hand. The PO number in Xero's Reference field every time. The signed form or the job photos attached to the Xero invoice. A supplier bill in Xero linked back to the ServiceM8 job so profit per job is visible. Each of those is a small program on the two APIs, listening for an invoice being approved, reading the job and site, and writing the Xero invoice with the missing fields filled in.

That is a developer's work, not a partner's. ServiceM8 keeps the two lists separately: a partner directory for consultation, setup, training and customisation, and a developer directory of certified developers for integrations and add-ons. FFP Digital builds the integration side from $2,000 plus GST, fixed before work starts, with a 50 per cent deposit and the balance once it has run on your real invoices for a week and your bookkeeper is happy. You keep the code and the documentation, and Care at $252 a month covers monitoring and fixes when ServiceM8 or Xero changes something.

How to tell which one you need in five minutes

Open Xero and look at the last ten invoices that came from ServiceM8. If the problem is the status they arrived in, the number, the account or the tax, it is settings. If a field is missing that ServiceM8 does not send at all, it is a build. If the invoices stopped arriving on a particular date, check for the expired token notice before ringing anyone. A 15 minute call with FFP sorts your list into those three piles, and the answer is sometimes that the cheaper fix is yours to make.

Sources

  1. To connect: log in to ServiceM8 on a PC or Mac, open Settings, then ServiceM8 Add-ons, click Connect next to Xero Integration, step through the Xero Setup Wizard including the tax setting, enter the Xero username and password, select the organisation and click Authorise; over the next few minutes the ServiceM8 account is populated with existing Xero customers and inventory items. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  2. Invoices are sent to Xero when approved from the Invoicing page; changes that alter the total resync line items; invoices created in Xero are not sent to ServiceM8; zero value invoices are not sent; payments received in Xero against an exported invoice sync to ServiceM8 within 30 minutes; contacts and items entered in Xero sync within 30 minutes; suppliers are not imported; tax changes made in ServiceM8 do not sync back; items deleted or inactive in Xero are not deleted in ServiceM8. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  3. ServiceM8's pricing page lists Xero, QuickBooks Online and MYOB integration on all plans, and Reporting on all plans; prices are in AUD and include GST. ServiceM8, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  4. The Send invoices to Xero as setting is under Settings, Invoicing, in the Xero section: Awaiting Approval syncs invoices as drafts, Approved syncs them as approved. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  5. The Xero Access Token Has Expired notice can appear 12 months after connecting, if ServiceM8 is disconnected from within Xero, if the Xero subscription expires, or during interruptions to Xero's API; the fix is the Authorise ServiceM8 With Xero button in the notice. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  6. Xero Tracking Categories is switched on under Settings, ServiceM8 Add-ons; categories only sync over once a day, so changes in Xero can take up to 24 hours to appear; job level selections are sent to Xero with the job's invoice. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  7. ServiceM8 cannot create credit notes; to reverse or adjust an invoice after it has synced, create the credit note in the accounting package. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  8. A client's billing address in ServiceM8 translates to the contact's postal address in Xero. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  9. The Xero App Store listing for ServiceM8 is published by ServiceM8, shows 352 reviews at 4.56 out of 5, and describes invoices approved in ServiceM8 raised in Xero, clients and items syncing both ways, payments syncing both ways, and tax rates and income account codes imported from Xero. Xero App Store, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  10. ServiceM8's partner directory describes partners as external businesses who charge for their services, offering consultation, setup, training and customisation; its developer directory separately lists certified ServiceM8 developers. ServiceM8, checked 4 Nov 2026.
  11. FFP Digital, Ipswich QLD: a custom ServiceM8 and Xero integration is from $2,000 plus GST, fixed price, with a 50 per cent deposit and the balance once it has run on real invoices for a week; Care at $252 a month covers monitoring and fixes; phone 0459 567 884. FFP Digital, checked 4 Nov 2026.