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How To Use Xero Tracking Categories
How To Use Xero Tracking Categories

Learn how to use the Xero Tracking Categories feature on clients and invoices that can be pushed from Ignition to Xero.

Pat Kuo avatar
Written by Pat Kuo
Updated over 6 months ago

Xero Tracking Categories lets you see how different areas of your business are performing, so you can make proactive business decisions.

For example, let's say you’re a business with multiple work locations. You can track sales for each location by setting up a tracking category with tracking options for each location.

If you’re on a Pro, Pro+ or Scale plan, you can set tracking categories on your clients in Ignition and they’ll automatically be included on your invoices in Xero.

Before getting started, you’ll need to have:

Once you’re ready to go, there are two ways you can set tracking categories on your clients in Ignition:

  1. One-by-one directly inside Ignition.

  2. In bulk using the Client Import Template.

Setting tracking categories one-by-one

Here’s how you set tracking categories on a client one-by-one in Ignition. Just repeat this process for each individual client you want to set tracking categories on. 

  1. Navigate to your Clients tab and open a client record. 
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  2. Click the Edit Client button, which will open a slider on the right side.
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  3. Select the Apps tab. You’ll then see the active tracking categories you’ve set up in Xero with a dropdown menu below each.
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    ​Note: Xero only allows you to have up to two active tracking categories at any one time.
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  4. Using the dropdown menu, select an option for each tracking category. 
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  5. Click the Save Client button. The slider will then disappear and you’ll see the Client Saved confirmation to indicate that the change was successful.
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From this point onwards, all invoices created in Xero for the client will automatically show the tracking option(s) you’ve set on that client in Ignition. 

Note: The tracking options you set will show on all line items on the invoice.

Updating tracking categories one-by-one 

If at any time you want to change a tracking option already set on a client, you just need to repeat the above steps selecting a different tracking option from the dropdown menu. 

Alternatively, you can remove a tracking option already set on a client by selecting the “None” option from the dropdown menu.

Setting tracking categories in bulk 

If you prefer to set tracking categories on multiple clients at once, you can do this using the Client Import Template.

Please note: This method below is for when you have clients already in Ignition. If you do not have a client list yet, you can assign the tracking categories when you are importing your clients for the first time.

  1. Navigate to your Clients tab and click Export to download your entire client list.
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  2. Once you have downloaded the CSV file, open it and start entering tracking option names for each client row in the columns named “Xero Tracking Category 1” and “Xero Tracking Category 2”.
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    It's a big spreadsheet, so scroll to the right if you can't see it.
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  3. Once you’re done, save the file, navigate back to your Clients tab in Ignition , and click Import.
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    A slider from the right hand side will appear. Drag the CSV into the box provided to upload the file.
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    Once uploaded, click on Import Clients to start the import process. Wait for it to complete, and you’re done!

Note: When entering tracking options into the CSV, be sure to enter a valid tracking option for each tracking category otherwise the import will fail for the rows containing an invalid option.
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​If you are unsure which is Tracking Category 1 versus Tracking Category 2 for your practice, click the Edit Client button on any client record in Ignition and you’ll see each tracking category labelled with a 1 or 2.

Updating tracking categories in bulk

You can update tracking categories on your clients in bulk by first exporting and making changes to your current client record and then importing them back into the system.

  1. Navigate to your Clients tab and click Export to download your entire client list.
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    You’ll receive an email with a download link to open the export file in a spreadsheet.
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  2. Open the spreadsheet and start editing the tracking category names for each client row in the columns named “Xero Tracking Category 1” and “Xero Tracking Category 2”.
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    It's a big spreadsheet, so scroll to the right if you can't see it.
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    ​Ensure that you do not make any changes to the other columns!
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  3. Once you’ve made the necessary updates, save the file.
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    Then navigate back to your Clients tab in Ignition, and click Import.
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    A slider from the right hand side will appear. Drag the CSV into the box provided to upload the file.
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    Once uploaded, click on Import Clients to start the import process. Wait for it to complete, and you’re done!
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Frequently Asked Questions 

Why don’t I see any tracking categories in Ignition? 

There are several possible reasons:

  • You don’t have any active tracking categories for the Xero organisation you connected with Ignition. It could be that the tracking categories have not yet been set up in Xero, or they have been set up but have since been deleted or archived. You would need to go to Xero and ensure that tracking categories are set up and active for the organisation you have connected. Alternatively, you can connect to a different Xero organisation with active tracking categories.

  • You have recently set up active tracking categories in Xero but there is a data sync delay between Xero and Ignition. We suggest you either wait one business day before trying again or trigger a manual sync by going to Apps > Xero > clicking the Sync button.

Why do I see a tracking category but it doesn’t have any options to select? 

There are several possible reasons:

  • You don’t yet have any tracking options added to your active tracking category in Xero.

  • You have recently added an active tracking option in Xero but there is a data sync delay between Xero and Ignition. We suggest you either wait one business day before trying again or trigger a manual sync by going to Apps > Xero > clicking the Sync button.

I've updated a tracking category or option in Xero …why can’t I see the change in Ignition? 

It’s possible that there is a data sync delay between Xero and Ignition. We suggest you either wait one business day before trying again or trigger a manual sync by going to Apps → Xero → clicking the Sync button. 

What happens to tracking categories already set on my clients after I subscribe to the Starter plan?

Tracking categories are available only on the Trial, Pro, Pro+ and Scale plans in Ignition. If you are using tracking categories on any of these plans and then move to Starter:

  • You will no longer be able to set/update tracking categories on your clients in Ignition.

  • Tracking options already set on your clients will not be shown on future invoices created in Xero. 

  • Tracking options already set on your clients can still be bulk exported from Ignition.

  • Tracking options can still be set on your clients in bulk using the Client Import Template (but they will not be available for use within Ignition or shown on future invoices created in Xero).

How do I assign a different tracking option to each line item on an invoice?

We don’t yet support this feature. When a tracking option is set on a client in Ignition it will automatically appear on all line items on the invoice. For now, you can manually update the tracking options we set on your invoices in Xero before sending. To do this, you would need to first ensure that:

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