OFX's Xero integration now gives you clear, explicit control over which Xero contact each of your OFX recipients syncs to. You can view, set, and update the link yourself — either from the Recipients screen or directly within the Bills flow.

Prerequisites: You must have Xero connected to your OFX account before using this feature. To connect Xero, navigate to Setup > Integrations and follow the prompts under Accounting packages. You will also need permission to manage recipients in your OFX account.

How does OFX match a recipient to a Xero contact?

When you open a recipient's detail panel or work on a bill, OFX automatically searches your Xero contacts for the best match using the recipient's name. Here is how the matching works:

1. OFX searches your Xero contacts using the recipient's name as the search term.

2. If one or more suggestions are found, OFX auto-selects the first suggestion and shows it with a green indicator so you can confirm or override it.

3. If no match is found, OFX shows a "no match" message and invites you to search manually.

4. A Xero contact that is already linked to a different recipient is excluded from suggestions — each contact can only be linked to one OFX recipient at a time.

5. Once you confirm or save a link, it is stored as a permanent 1:1 mapping between that recipient and the Xero contact. All future bills and payments to that recipient will sync to the linked contact automatically.

Tip: The auto-suggestion is a starting point only. You should always review the suggested contact and use the search to override it if the wrong contact has been suggested — for example, if you have multiple suppliers with similar names (e.g. "Bunnings Rockdale" vs "Bunnings Kogarah").

Next steps

Option 1 — Link a Xero contact from the Recipients screen

You can manage Xero contact links for all your recipients in one place from the Recipients screen. This is the recommended approach when you want to set up or review mappings in bulk, or fix a mapping without needing to open a bill.

1. Log in to your OFX account.

2. Navigate to Recipients in the left-hand menu.

   

3. Locate the recipient you want to link and click on their name to open the recipient detail panel.
   

   

4. In the recipient panel, look for the Xero contact section. If a suggested match has been found automatically, it will be displayed with a green dot.
   

   

   • If the suggestion is correct, click Use this contact (or the equivalent confirm button) to save the link.

   • If the suggestion is incorrect, click Reset (x) to clear it, then use the Search contacts function to find and select the correct Xero contact.

   • If no suggestion was found, use the search field to type the Xero contact name and select the correct match from the results.
     

5. 

   Once saved, the linked Xero contact name will appear in the recipient's detail panel. All future bills and payments to this recipient will sync to this Xero contact.

To update or remove an existing link:

1. Navigate to Recipients and open the recipient's detail panel.

2. In the Xero contact section, click the edit or unlink option next to the currently linked contact.

3. Search for and select a new contact, or confirm the removal.

Option 2 — Link a Xero contact through the Bills flow

When creating or editing a bill, OFX displays the linked Xero contact directly on the bill form so you can see exactly where the bill will sync before saving. You can also set or change the mapping from within the bill.

1. Log in to your OFX account.

2. Navigate to Bills in the left-hand menu and open an existing bill, or create a new one.

   

3. Select the recipient for the bill. Once a recipient is selected, the Xero contact section will appear below the recipient field.

4. OFX will automatically search for a suggested Xero contact based on the recipient's name:

   • If a suggestion is shown with a green indicator, review it and Submit the Bill to use this contact.
     

     

   • If the suggestion is incorrect, click Reset Xero contact and use the search contact function to find the correct Xero contact.

   • If no suggestion is found, use the search field to manually search and select the correct contact OR continue processing the Bill for a new Xero contact to be created.
     

     

5. The selected contact is held as a pending selection until the bill is saved. Once you save the bill, the mapping is permanently stored and the bill will sync to the linked Xero contact.

Note: If the linked Xero contact has been archived in Xero, OFX will display a clear prompt on the bill asking you to select an active contact before retrying the sync. You can either reactivate the contact in Xero, or select a different active contact from within OFX.

Why is this important?

Previously, OFX attempted to match recipients to Xero contacts automatically using name-based guessing. This could lead to:

• Bills and payments syncing to the wrong Xero contact, especially when multiple suppliers share similar names or bank details.

• Duplicate contacts being created in Xero when no match was found.

• Confusing and hard-to-diagnose sync errors when a contact was archived or had been merged.

With explicit contact mapping, you are always in control. You can see exactly which Xero contact each recipient is linked to, fix incorrect links in seconds from the Recipients screen, and have confidence that your accounting data is flowing to the right place every time.

This is especially useful for businesses that manage multiple locations or branches of the same supplier (e.g. "Bunnings Rockdale" and "Bunnings Kogarah") — each OFX recipient can now be independently linked to its own Xero contact.

Related FAQ Articles

• How to connect with Xero

• Can I sync my contacts from Xero to OFX?

• How do I handle failed sync attempts with Xero?

• How do I view which OFX transactions have synced to Xero?

• Can I undo a sync with Xero?

• What do the Xero sync errors mean?