Synchronising Contacts Between BigChange and Xero

Synchronising contacts between BigChange and Xero is a crucial step to ensure seamless data management and accurate invoicing. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and maintaining synchronisation between these two platforms, focusing on organising contact groups and creating contact records.

• Contract synchronisation will differ depending upon whether you chose to sync based upon entries made in BigChange or in Xero during setup.

When synchronising from BigChange to Xero, please ensure that: 

• All account contacts have been organised into the correct group.  
• All contacts records are linked to an existing contact record in Xero. 
• All contacts have a valid, unique account reference that matches the corresponding Xero contact.

Contact Groups

Within BigChange, Contact Groups can be found by navigating: [Top menu] Profile (icon) → Admin Settings → Contacts & notes → Contact groups.

• Contact records are defined by these groups. For example all prospective customers might come under a group called 'prospects':

• Some contacts that are referred to as customers are actually (child) site contacts which are linked to a parent contact record.

• Whilst jobs and invoices can be raised against these types of contacts, the invoice itself will go to the parent contact. Any site contact record that is linked to a parent should be organised into a separate contact group, ensuring that no site contacts are created in Xero.

• Account Customers are parent contacts and any customers that have an account in Xero.  The integration software requires that all contacts that have a corresponding record in Xero are contained within a group.  This helps the program identify whether any contact in this group(s) should be synchronised with Xero.
• Please note: Although it is possible to create more than one account or site group, a group cannot contain a mixture of parent and child contacts.

Creating a Contact Record

To create a new record, click on CRM and 'New Contact'.  Now enter the name of the business or business address:

The software will first check whether or not the reference field is populated.  If the field has been left blank and the 'Generate account ref' box was ticked in setup

then a reference number will be generated.  The system will now connect to Xero and check whether a record for this contact already exists.  If not, it will create a record for this contact assuming that this was authorised in setup.

Please note, the Contact Reference outlined in the first image below, is used purely for record searching and is different from the Account Reference (image 2), generated when the record is synchronised with Xero.

• Navigate: CRM → [side menu] Contacts → select contact → [tab] General: Contact Reference

• Navigate: CRM → [side menu] Contacts → select contact → [tab] Financials → [subtab] Terms: Account Reference

 Where you have:

a) Ticked 'Generate account ref' in setup b) Left the Contact Reference field blank BigChange will auto-create an alpha-numeric code and the 2 Reference fields (Contact Reference and Account Reference) will match.  This will not be the case in either of the following scenarios:

a) You have manually populated the Contact Reference field within BigChange b) You did not tick the 'Generate account ref' in setup Note it has also populated the 'Account Type' with 1, denoting Xero, as we selected 'Xero' from the dropdown menu in the Group field when completing the form for this Contact (see illustration for Contact Reference above).

This is how the Contact above appears in Xero:

Conclusion

Synchronising contacts between BigChange and Xero requires careful organisation of contact groups and understanding of reference fields. By following the outlined steps, you can ensure accurate and efficient data management across both platforms. For further assistance, refer to the BigChange Help Centre or contact support.