This is a guide for setting up the import of Sales orders from Xero to Katana via Zapier.

Katana has a native Xero integration that enables you to push Sales orders to Xero as invoices and Purchase orders as bills. The native Katana - Xero integration does not include the possibility of importing Sales orders from Xero to Katana. This can be set up separately via Zapier.

You can either follow this guide or use our Zapier template for easily setting up the Zap:

- Template for importing Sales orders from new accepted quotes in Xero.

- Template for importing Sales orders from new paid invoices in Xero.

If you want to learn more about Zapier, check our Zapier integration overview.

Depending on your workflow, you can set up an automation to import either approved quotes or paid invoices that are waiting for fulfillment from Xero to Katana as Sales Orders.

1. In your Zapier account, create a new Zap.

2. Enter a name for the Zap.

3. Choose a trigger:

- Find and select "Xero".

- Select a Trigger event: "New Sales Invoice". This will start the Zap every time a new invoice is created in Xero.

- Choose your Xero account and log in.

- Select the organization you want to connect with.

- You can customize the import to be triggered at certain order status.

Use “Paid” if you start processing the orders only when the customer has paid for the order.

Second option: if you manage your quotes in Xero, you might want to import the order when the quote is approved by your customer. In that case, set up the Trigger Event as “New Quote” and activating on Status “Accepted”

You can then test the trigger and continue.

4. Choose an action to find or create a customer:

- Find and select "Katana".

- Select an Action Event: we recommend selecting "Find customer" as the first action. This will enable you to match customers in Xero to your customers in Katana and avoid creating duplicates.

- Choose your Katana account and log in.

- Select a "Search By" field. This is a field in Katana that is used for matching the customer in Xero. This is typically a unique identifier for the customer and we are going to use the e-mail address in this case.

- Select a Search Term. We are going to select "Contact Email Address" from Xero in this case.

- If you wish to create new customers in Katana if a matching e-mail does not already exist, enable "Create Katana MRP Customer if it doesn't exist yet". Then map the fields from Xero to respective fields in Katana.

You can now test the action and continue.

5. Create an action to create a sales order:

- Click on the "+" button at the end of your workflow.

- Find and select "Katana".

- Select an Action Event: "Create Sales Order".

- Choose your Katana account and log in.

- To fill the “Customer ID”, go to "Custom", then “2. Find or Create Customer in Katana MRP” and select "ID" from the Katana section. This ID is not visible in the Katana user interface, but we recommend using it as a Customer ID in the Zap as it is a unique identifier.

- As an Order Number, choose an appropriate identifier from Xero fields. We recommend using "Invoice number" paired with a keyword “Xero-“. This will generate orders “Xero-101”, ”Xero-102”, etc., which will help you to easily identify Xero orders in Katana.

- Choose a Katana Location to which you wish to send all sales orders from Xero with this Zap. Clicking on the Location field will display the list of all existing Locations on your chosen Katana account.

- Choose “Created Date”. Choose a field from Xero which will be used to create Katana SO. This can be “Fully Paid On Date” or “Invoice Date” depending on your workflow.

- Choose “Delivery Date”. You can leave it empty and let Katana calculate it based on your default delivery settings or create your own calculation based on “Created Date”.

- Choose the “Line Items Item Code”, “Line Items Quantity”, and “Line Items Unit Amount” columns from Xero to respective fields in Zapier.

Important! The Variant SKU for an item on a Sales Order line must already exist in Katana. If the Variant SKU does not yet exist in Katana, then the sales order (line) will not be imported to Katana. New items cannot be created in Katana via Zapier.

- Choose a Tax Rate ID. You cannot map a Tax Rate from Xero to a Tax rate in Katana at a sales order or sales order line item level. All sales orders and line items will be assigned the same chosen tax rate (from the list that includes all existing tax rates in Katana).

Continue and test the action.

Important! Creating Sales orders in Katana via Zapier does not create links back to Xero. You need to be careful not to create any duplicates in Xero via Katana as it will be possible to push a Katana Sales order back to Xero as an invoice regardless of what has been already created in Xero beforehand.

Your Zap for importing Sales orders from Xero to Katana is now ready for turning on!