Why Xero and Jotter Belong Together for NZ Trades
By Jotter Team
Your accountant set up Xero. Now what?
Most NZ tradies did not choose Xero -- their accountant set it up for them. And fair enough. Xero handles the books, the GST, the bank feeds. But Xero was not designed for someone standing in a trench logging pipe fittings.
That gap between "job done on site" and "invoice in Xero" is where hours and money disappear. You finish a job on Thursday, forget to invoice until Monday, and by then you have forgotten half the materials you used and exactly how long that second callout took.
How Jotter fills the gap
Jotter connects to your Xero account and pulls in two things: your contacts (customers) and your items (products and services). When your team creates a job in Jotter, they pick the customer and line items from your actual Xero data. No re-typing, no mismatched codes.
When the job is marked complete, Jotter creates a Xero invoice automatically. The customer, line items, descriptions, quantities, and pricing are all filled in from what was tracked on site. You choose whether invoices land in Xero as Draft, Submitted, or Authorised.
What this means in practice
- No double entry. Your team tracks the job once. The invoice writes itself.
- Accurate line items. Because they are picked from your Xero items list, the codes and pricing are always right.
- Time tracked to the minute. Jotter's built-in timers attach directly to line items, so billable hours are precise -- not estimated from memory.
- Your accountant gets clean data. Structured invoices with proper line items instead of free-text descriptions like "plumbing work -- various."
What about Xero's own mobile app?
Xero's app is great for checking your bank feed and approving invoices. But it is not a job tracking tool. It does not have timers, it does not let you build up a job over multiple days, and it is not designed for team members who should not see pricing. Jotter handles the field side; Xero handles the accounting side. They work together.
The accountant angle
If you are an accountant or bookkeeper reading this: Jotter means your trades clients send you clean, structured invoices instead of handwritten notes or end-of-month spreadsheets. Their completed jobs flow into Xero as proper invoices with itemised line items. Less cleanup for you, more accurate records for them.
Try it
Jotter's free plan includes full Xero integration -- 2 seats, every feature, no credit card. Connect your Xero account in under a minute.