Pay an in-house supplier and set up its Xero link

An in-house supplier is a supplier account your agency runs itself, for services you provide, such as your own signboards or photography studio. Unlike outside suppliers, it doesn't send payment requests: you pay it from the campaign when the work is done. To add one, see Add a supplier.

The in-house supplier must have finished Stripe onboarding before it can be paid. Its status on the Suppliers page is then Complete.

Part 1: Pay for the work#

1. Open the campaign and select the in-house supplier's item. Its panel opens.
2. Select Pay internal supplier (marker 1). The Pay internal supplier panel opens.

3. Choose Partial Payment or Final Payment (marker 1). Choose Final Payment when the job is finished.
4. Check the amount (marker 2). It starts at the Available budget; lower it if the job cost less. A partial payment must be less than the available budget.
5. Add a Note (marker 3), then check Supplier Payout (marker 4) and select Release payment (marker 5). A "Payment released" message appears, and the item shows Paid or Partially paid once Stripe has moved the money.

A note is required for a partial payment, and for a final payment after earlier partials. VPA Connect doesn't charge a supplier platform fee at present, so the payout equals the amount; the screenshot comes from a test system where a fee is switched on.

If you pay less than the budget with a final payment, the remainder goes to the campaign's refund credit. It can pay for other items, and what's left is returned to the seller when the campaign is completed.

Without the Accounts role, Release payment sends a payment request instead ("Payment requested"). Someone with Accounts, an Admin or the Director then releases it (see Release or reject a supplier payment request).

The Pay internal supplier button is only offered on a paid campaign, while the item has budget left and isn't waiting for the seller.

Part 2: Connect the supplier to Xero (Admin or Director)#

1. Select Suppliers in the sidebar, then In-house, then the supplier. Its panel opens.
2. Select Accounting (marker 1). The Xero integration panel opens. Only Admins and the Director see Accounting.

3. Select Connect Xero (marker 1) and sign in to Xero. Choose the Xero organisation to connect.
4. Back in VPA Connect, choose the accounts, then select Save mapping. "Xero account mapping saved" appears.
   • Income account: where the income is recorded. The list has Revenue and Other income accounts; an agency that treats VPA Connect funds as non-operating usually picks Other Income.
   • Which account are releases paid into?: The bank account Stripe pays out to (then pick that Payout bank account), or A separate clearing account.
   • Platform fee expense account: required, even if no fee is ever charged.

Which payout option? The bank account suits deposits that usually cover one job with no fee: Xero suggests each match. The clearing account suits deposits that combine several jobs or carry fees, a payout bank that isn't on Xero, or keeping VPA Connect money out of your operating accounts; VPA Connect creates VPA Stripe Clearing (a bank account in Xero) only if you choose it. You can change it later with Edit account mapping, for payments synced from then on.

From then on, each payment you release to this supplier is pushed to Xero. The panel lists what has synced; select Push now or Retry for any that didn't.

Will this double-count the income? No, as long as you don't also code the deposit to income. Each released payment is already in Xero as a paid invoice, so the Stripe deposit in your bank feed is reconciled against it (the matched payments, or a transfer from VPA Stripe Clearing), not entered as new income. Don't raise your own invoice in Xero for these jobs either. See Reconciling your payouts in Xero.

Part 3: Export the supplier's completed work#

1. In the supplier's panel, select Export data (marker 2 in the first Suppliers screenshot).
2. Choose the Completed date range (up to 90 days) and the Accounting format: Xero, MYOB AccountRight or QuickBooks. Fill in the account codes.
3. Select Download. A zip file downloads with invoice and payout files for that format and a README explaining them.

Anyone at the agency can export; only Admins and the Director can connect Xero.

Screens still to do#

• The Xero sign-in and account-mapping screens (Part 2, steps 3 and 4). Connecting needs a real Xero organisation, which the dev showcase agency doesn't have, so these steps are described from the app's labels.

Related#

• Add a supplier
• Reconcile a campaign