Can you trust the numbers in Xero?
Xero is online accounting software that connects a business to its bank, accountant, bookkeeper and other business apps. Its own help pages give 3 reasons its numbers can look different from what you expect. The first to rule out: A cash basis report counts money when it moves, so a sale that is invoiced but not yet paid does not show up, as Xero's own guides explain.
Is it broken, or just counted differently?
A number can look wrong because the business changed, or because of how Xero counts it. Below is what Xero keeps, where its help pages say the numbers can differ, and how to check them yourself.
What does Xero keep track of?
Xero keeps accounting reports that can be run on a cash basis or an accrual basis.
In Xero's own words:
Xero supports both cash and accrual reporting.
Cash vs accrual accounting: what’s the difference? | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.Xero keeps bank transactions it has matched and categorized, and reports built from them.
In Xero's own words:
Xero automates bank reconciliation and transaction categorization, and you can run reports on a cash or accrual basis.
Cash vs accrual accounting: what’s the difference? | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.
What can make Xero's numbers look wrong?
A cash basis report counts money when it moves, so a sale that is invoiced but not yet paid does not show up, as Xero's own guides explain.
In Xero's own words:
Cash basis accounting records revenue when you receive payment and expenses when you pay them.
What is the basis of accounting? | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.The bank balance and the books can disagree for a while even when nothing is wrong, as Xero's guides say.
In Xero's own words:
Timing differences occur when you and the bank record the same transaction on different dates.
Bank reconciliation: steps, tips, and best practices | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.Numbers from a cash basis report may not be the ones needed for formal outside reporting, as Xero's guides note.
In Xero's own words:
If you use this method internally, you may still need to prepare GAAP-compliant reports separately for external purposes.
What is the basis of accounting? | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.
How do I check Xero's numbers myself?
An owner can run the same report both ways and see how much of a gap comes from the basis alone.
In Xero's own words:
You can run reports under either method to see how the change affects your numbers before you commit.
Cash vs accrual accounting: what’s the difference? | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.An owner can compare the adjusted book balance with the bank statement to see whether the records line up.
In Xero's own words:
After making all adjustments, your adjusted book balance and adjusted bank balance should match.
Bank reconciliation: steps, tips, and best practices | Xero US, read 2026-11-12.
How does Xero work with Feder?
Connect Xero to Feder and it joins your Money apps. Feder only reads. It never changes anything in Xero.
When you connect Xero, Feder checks the connection straight away and shows Connected only when that check passes. If a reading cannot be taken later, Feder shows it as not read, never as zero.
Other apps that feed Money
- Striperevenue
- PayPalrevenue
- WooCommercerevenue
- Rechargesubscription revenue
- Zohoinvoiced
- Wave Accountinginvoiced
Where do these answers come from?
Everything this page says about Xero comes from Xero's own pages, quoted above with the date we read them. Last reviewed 2026-11-12. We read them again by 2027-11-12. If one changes, this page changes or comes down.
Know the day a number breaks, not the month after.
Some numbers are too quiet to judge daily, such as a form filled in a few times a week. Until there is enough of your own history to judge a change, Feder says it is still learning and scores nothing, rather than guessing.