Xero branding themes are used to customize the look and feel of your invoices. You can add your own logo, colors, and fonts to better represent your brand.

In this article we'll learn how to customize your Xero branding theme according to best practices and how to set them up with Ignition.

When your branding themes are set up correctly, they help prevent double payments and advises your client on what to do depending on if payment is arranged manually or if it's collected automatically by Ignition.

To do this, log into your Xero account and then head to Settings → Invoice Settings. Alternatively, click this link.

You should see all your current invoice branding themes.

Click New Branding Theme to create a new branding theme from scratch.

We will be creating two branding themes to use with Ignition. One will be for manual payments and the other for automatic Ignition payments.

Note: If you would like to remove individual line items from your invoices, please follow the instructions in this article as the process is different.

When you are setting up new Xero branding themes, you have flexibility to set them up however you like.

Typically we suggest leaving all the settings as default and simply change:

If you are using Ignition payments predominately through our Review + Pay process, copy and paste the below template into the Terms & Payment Advice (Invoice and Statement).

It's also important to ensure that the three Payment Services fields above the Terms

& Payment Advice field are blank.

To clear these, simply click into the fields and press delete or backspace on your keyboard until the field is completely blank.

Your branding theme should be setup like this:

If you are NOT using Ignition payments, then you only need to create this one branding theme.

Copy and paste the below template into the Terms & Payment Advice (Invoice and Statement) field.

It's also important to ensure that the three Payment Services fields above the Terms & Payment Advice field are blank.

To clear these, simply click into the fields and press delete or backspace on your keyboard until the field is completely blank.

Your branding theme should be setup like this:

If you are using Ignition payments on your proposals and are collecting your clients payment details, copy and paste the below template into the Terms & Payment Advice (Invoice and Statement).

Your branding theme should be setup like this:

If your Xero account has been updated to Xero's new branding theme experience, payment services are no longer managed from within the branding theme itself. Instead, they're managed centrally in Xero's online payment settings.

When your Xero account is updated, Xero may automatically apply your connected payment service (e.g. Stripe) to all of your branding themes. On any branding theme used for payments collected by Ignition, you'll need to remove the online payment link and QR code, since payment is already being collected through Ignition. This prevents your clients from accidentally paying the same invoice twice.

To do this:

1. In Xero, click your organization name, then click Settings.

2. Click Online payments.

3. Click Connected services, then click Manage themes.

4. Next to the branding theme you use when collecting payment through Ignition, click the dropdown menu and choose None, then click Save.

This removes the pay online link and QR code from invoices that use that branding theme.

We also recommend checking all of your branding themes after Xero updates your account, to make sure a payment service hasn't been applied to any theme used with Ignition.

Instead of Xero's invoice PDF, you can attach an Ignition-generated invoice PDF to your client invoice emails. Ignition's invoice PDF doesn't include any online payment links or QR codes, so there's no risk of your client paying through Xero for an invoice that Ignition is already collecting.

To switch this on, head to General settings, find the Invoice PDF setting, and change it from Accounting software to Ignition.

For more details, see this article.

Once you have created your Xero branding themes, it's time to link them to Ignition.

Navigate to your Apps → Xero → click Sync to refresh your Xero data.

Once the sync has finished, refresh your browser and then click Invoices → Branding theme section.

Change the branding theme according to the automatic payments and manual payments branding themes that you have created above.

Invoices collected by Ignition = Automatic payments

Invoices paid another way = Manual payments

This will make it so that the correct invoice with the correct Terms & Payment Advice section will be sent depending on whether the invoice is paid automatically through Ignition or arranged manually.

If the payment is collected automatically, then your client will be advised that there is no further action.

If the payment is arranged manually, then your client will be instructed to pay via the Review + Pay process or pay manually via other methods.

This helps prevent your clients accidentally double-paying you, as well as instructing clients on how to pay via the Review + Pay process!