Overview
To allow your customers to link Xero accounts with Merge, you will need to set up a Xero App and enter your applications credentials within Merge. This is a 4 step process:
Instructions
Step 1: Sign up for Xero
If you do not yet have a Xero account, create one at https://www.xero.com/signup/.
After filling out the form, you should receive a verification email. Open the link in the email and finish setting up your account.
After setting a password, you'll be prompted to set up your business. Enter some details and click Start Free Trial.
Note, you will not need to use this Free Trial Xero account. You just need to set up the account to add an app.
You may be logged out after confirming.
You can continue to the next step now! After logging in to the Xero developer portal in the first step of Step Two, you may be required to set up MFA.
Step 2: Create a Xero app
Log in to your Xero Developer account and navigate to https://developer.xero.com/app/manage/.
Click "New App".
In the pop-up, enter the below details:
App Name: This should be your application's name. When your users link their Xero account, they will see that "App Name" is requesting to integrate with their Xero account.
Integration Type: Web app.
Company or application URL: The homepage of your company's website, i.e. https://merge.dev/.
Redirect URI: https://app.merge.dev/oauth/callback
Check the Terms and Conditions box and click Create App.
Step 3: Generate a client secret
Within your Xero App configured in the above step, navigate to the Configuration tab.
Click the Generate a secret button.
Copy the secret by clicking the Copy button next to the value.
Make sure you copy this value before navigating away from this page. Once navigating away, you will not be able to retrieve this value again.
Step 4: Populate your app's details within Merge
Navigate to the Accounting Integrations Configuration page in the Merge dashboard.
Expand the Xero Integration and select the "I am a Xero Partner..." checkbox.
For each parameter click Edit and enter the corresponding value.
OAuth Client Id: Client Id value under the Configuration Page of your Xero app (will be on the same page as Step 3).
OAuth Client Secret: Client Secret value obtained from Step 3.
OAuth Redirect URI: https://app.merge.dev/oauth/callback.
Step 5 (Bonus): Become a Xero partner
We highly suggest becoming a Xero app partner. You can reference the details and process of becoming a Xero partner on their website, here. As a rule of thumb, Xero requires three active customer connections within a 30-day period of when your app goes through the review process. As soon as you meet this requirement, we suggest starting the process!
Important note: You are only allowed to link 25 Xero accounts to your app before it is certified through the app partnership process. Additionally, your customers also are only allowed to link 2 un-certified applications. So beginning this process as soon as possible is crucial!