Files is now called Documents: a new name for where Smart Document Capture lives

As Xero evolves Files into an easier way to get data into Xero, we’re renaming it Documents.

We’ve improved and expanded its capabilities. Now called Documents and powered by JAX,  its Smart Document Capture capability automatically captures and extracts data, matches documents to transactions, and learns your patterns over time. Upload, email, or snap a photo of a receipt or bill, and Xero automatically creates the transaction for you – for more accurate, up-to-date bookkeeping.

Here’s what’s changing

Documents is moving from the Organisation name menu to the Accounting menu, alongside your other accounting tools. Your existing documents won’t be affected, and the way you work with them will remain the same. The new location brings Documents closer to the accounting workflows it supports, making it easier to capture and extract information and match it to transactions while managing your books.

What’s new in Smart Document Capture

With Smart Document Capture in Documents, you can already capture and extract information from documents, match them to existing transactions or create new ones- with less manual data entry. Based on what we’ve heard directly from you, we’ve focused the latest improvements on supporting more document types, reducing manual steps and giving you greater control:

• Automatic tax extraction pulls your local tax rate straight from your uploaded documents.
• Credit note support from extraction through to transaction creation means when you upload a credit note, the system extracts the data and can draft the transaction for you. 
• Auto-matching documents to transactions attaches your uploaded documents to an already existing transaction – and you can toggle it on or off, at any time. 
• User permissions lets you give team members upload and view-only access to uploaded documents, without seeing other financial data that’s been uploaded by others. 
• Attachment deletion alerts notifies you if you try to delete a document linked to a transaction. You’ll see an alert before it can be removed, helping prevent accidental deletion.

What’s next for Documents, based on your feedback

Your feedback – from customer research, surveys and conversations – is shaping what comes next. 

We heard from you that subfolders, search and filtering play an important role in how you organise and find documents. We’re partnering with you, our community, to redesign these experiences in Documents, using your feedback to shape solutions that better support the way you work. We’ll share more on this soon.

Alongside this work, we’re also planning to deliver further capabilities in the coming months, including:

• Supplier rules – recurring suppliers are recognised and propose matches automatically, so you’re not deciding the same thing twice.
• Bespoke email address – forward documents to a custom email address in Xero.
• Tax Number validation (UK & AU only) – Extract and validate tax numbers, catching errors before they land in your records.

Looking further ahead you’ll also be able to create bills straight into an awaiting approval or awaiting payment state and extract details from Bank Statements. We’re also adding notes and item codes to documents so your inventory updates as you go.

Smart Document Capture learns your patterns, extracts more accurately over time, and and helps keep your records organised and up to date. But you stay in control – every extraction, every match, every decision is still yours to review and approve.

Try it out for yourself

Log in and upload your first document to see it in action, or register for a webinar to learn more about Smart Document Capture.

ANZ

UK/EMEA

US/CA

Asia