Faster record-keeping with smart document capture

Getting documents into Xero has always been one of those jobs that’s never quite finished. A receipt forwarded by email. A utility statement waiting to be keyed in. A bill sitting in someone’s inbox. Today, that starts to change.

Smart document capture – Xero’s native document ingestion and extraction tool, powered by JAX, your AI finance partner – is available across most markets, and now rolling out in beta for Australia and New Zealand. You’ll find it in your Files inbox, ready for whenever a new document comes.

In Australia and New Zealand, beta is a deliberate first step. Every market has its own mix of document types, suppliers and tax rules. This beta is how we learn from you directly: what’s working on extraction accuracy, how well transactions are matching, and whether local tax handling is landing the way it should. Your feedback shapes what this becomes. That’s how we build at Xero: with you, not just for you.

Faster, more intelligent data capture

Until now, getting a document ready to review could take up to 24 hours. Smart document capture changes that. JAX reads each document, extracts the relevant information, and has it ready for your review in approximately 30 seconds – so your team spends less time waiting and more time on the work that needs their judgment.

This is just the beginning, here’s what’s already available in Xero now: 

• Multiple ways in – documents can come in via the Xero Accounting app, forwarded by email, or uploaded directly into the Files inbox. However your clients get documents to you, it now comes straight into Xero.
• Accurate extraction at the first read – JAX interprets the whole document rather than just scanning it, and learns from you over time – so you get richer, more complete data with fewer corrections needed. 
• Multi-line, itemised extraction – handles complex documents like rental statements and itemised receipts line by line, automatically.
• Transaction matching – automatically detects potential existing transactions and combines them, helping you avoid duplicates and keep your books clean.

Because everything happens inside Xero, documents are captured, extracted, matched, and reconciled on one platform. When JAX reads a document and helps you create a transaction, it’s ready to be matched when the bank feed arrives – no switching between tools, no extra steps.

What’s coming next

You’ve told us what matters most, here’s what we’re delivering next:

• Tax extraction, so local tax fields including GST and VAT – are pulled and applied automatically.
• Bank Statement Extraction converts PDF bank statements into digital records for accounts without direct feeds.
• Contact rules and automation, so recurring documents are routed and categorised with even less manual input.
• Usability improvements to Files, including better search, smarter organisation, and a clean, personalised email address for forwarding documents into Xero.

The beginning of a longer journey

The vision is a bookkeeping workflow where JAX handles the groundwork – reading, extracting and matching – and gets it ready for you to review and approve. That frees you up for the advisory and judgement work that genuinely needs your expertise. Smart document capture is where that journey starts.

Log in to Xero and navigate to Files inbox from your Xero homepage to capture your first document, or sign in to your Files inbox below.