Contacts - Allow multiple addresses for a single contact record
Ability to create and save multiple addresses for a single contact record
Purpose: Allow customers to map customer & supplier details against a single contact record
Hi community, we understand your needs in this feature and want to assure you were taking on board all your feedback.
As many of you accustom to this idea will know, multiple addresses requires a complex solution. It's been something we’ve been moving towards for some time and we’ve done a lot of back end work that will allow us to bring it to you in the future.
We have 12 different products within Xero that rely on contact data, as well as many of our app partners. This means that contacts need to seamlessly flow across technology, products and all connections on Xero. And that’s exactly what we’ve been working on.
One of the reasons we announced the retirement of classic invoicing is because many of the features being asked for, just can’t be brought into classic invoicing. The old technology has too many technology limitations to enable this. Change to new invoicing is key to being able to enable us to build features like multiple address details. Between now and September our invoicing team are focused on prioritising the features from classic invoicing that need to be brought across to the new version. Multiple addresses is one of the key features they want to work towards but includes many steps. For example, we enabled it in the back end of contacts last year, but now need to be able to build it into our new invoicing solution. We will keep you updated here of any progression.
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Sherri Mackey commented
Chariel Kines - How we got around this was including the address as a LINE ITEM with the Shipping. Example: UPS Ground: ABC Company, 123 Main Street, Anywhere, NY
This helped it retain on the invoice incase we had to resend. It was an easy fix since the "Ship To" box was not included on the invoice template anyway, we removed it from our custom template so it only shows the Bill To on the top of the invoice.
Hope this is helpful to you.
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Chariel Kines commented
I would not be using your program if I wasn't forced to. Multiple shipping addresses per customer should be standard to ANY accounting software. My time is precious and having to constantly change the shipping address on the invoice because I am shipping to the same bill to but 6 different delivery addresses is a nightmare. Copy and paste, copy and paste...every single line six different times only to find out the address I just removed is the very next address I need. And the information on invoice A shouldn't be changing every time someone has to change the shipping address for a different invoice to the same billing address! OMG. So I have to go back and change the information AGAIN just to resend a copy of the A invoice because the customer lost it. And I am not even in accounting! I just close out drop shipments and send the customer a copy of the paid invoice! PLEASE FIX THIS! If a program like Dac Easy could do this 25 YEARS AGO...I don't understand why Xero is having such a problem with it.
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Simon Park commented
How about fixing this useless **** app/program so you can have multiple addresses and names for 1 contact for example like a real estate company where I have to input landlords while keeping the real estates address with a work order! Time to put on a suit rather than a Star wars t shirt! Happy to discuss further. That is 1 of many comments about this company!
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Graham Tottle commented
So three months have passed since I wrote about this on X (Twitter) and despite a 'phone call from a Xero rep' assuring me that this would be expedited, nothing has been seen of heard since, which kind of proves my point - Xero don't care, they just want to get you off X asap to protect their image.
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Joseph Powell commented
Just adding my vote to this very basic feature to be added - hoping it finally does at some point.
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Darryl WESTBURY commented
I think Xero is pathetic in this area, as every other decent accounting package has this as standard in such as RECKON, MYOB, QUICKBOOKS and many more. Your customers have been asking for this for years, how much longer do we have to wait? Xero is good but should we move onto something that streamlines our business much more effectively and up with the times of most accounting packages. Regards Darryl
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Neville Gardner commented
I don't need to comment further, enough has been said by many others and I have no doubt there are many more who remain silently frustrated with this inept package called Xero.
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Yvonne Ruge commented
Any progress on this as the same question is appearing on multiple discussion threads however it has been years based on what I am reading?
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Claire Kirkcaldy commented
Make my Xero life function better before I retire, be most helpful!
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Oisin Kelly commented
This is a ******** answer. It's not that hard: a many to many relation, common in databases. It's taken years so far to do nothing. You clearly don't care and are not responding to customer feedback.
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Lisa Gaudie commented
So disappointing. The initial request for this is well over ten years old. We had to create a work around for this more than five years ago. You'll just have to understand that most of us have no faith that multiple addresses will ever come to fruition.
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Graham Tottle commented
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GT
Dear Briana,Thank you for your reply the format of which suggests that it is an edited cut and paste "stock" reply which has been used many times in response to several client complaints.
I am aware of the "Xero Product Idea" within Xero Central - indeed if you read the comments that go back several years, you will see that I have contributed many times. Unfortunately, despite Kelly Munro's assurances on March 6th 2023 that the team were "working on it" (see excerpt of her reply below) nothing has been heard from her in the intervening 12 months and a solution has still not been achieved for the (nearly 1000) clients who have voted for it.
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Kelly Munro - " Multiple addresses has been enabled in the back end of contacts. As mentioned in our previous update this is a complex piece of work, as we need to now build this into other areas of Xero where it'll add value.For this reason the work within Contacts is not live yet, as without building this feature across these other areas it wouldn't have much practical use. But to confirm, work's moving along and we look forward to being able to share more"
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I do not accept that a company the size of Xero with all of the IT specialists and technicians it employs can't find a way to resolve this quickly if the will to do so exists. The fact that this has been ongoing for so many years indicates that Xero is not taking the issue seriously despite its assurances to the contrary.
I am also aware of the "work around" involving setting up a separate account for each different delivery address - this is messy and time consuming. Furthermore, sending multiple statements out to a single entity, which this would necessitate, is impractical, time consuming and annoying for both vendor and purchaser. Analysing client sales / payment data would also be considerably more complex if multiple account files were to be set up in this way.
Similarly, editing the customer account with a new delivery address each time is both messy and time consuming - particularly as it has to be done on a line by line basis (it is not possible to simply cut and paste multiple lines of an address into the available fields).My request also mentions another issue regarding the transition from Classic to "New" Invoicing, which you have not addressed. In Classic, the available stock was shown on the invoice template when entering a figure in the quantity column, however in the New Invoicing system it does not - meaning the operator has to open another "session" and view the available stock in "Business / Products and Services". Again, this is time consuming and effectively a downgrading of Xero's product. This functionality is still available in "Quotes" and indeed shows when raising a "Credit Note" within the Invoicing tab, so the coding obviously exists, leading me to think that Xero has deliberately turned the function off within Invoicing for some reason. Again, this is a popular topic on the "Product Ideas" page of Xero Central that has not been addressed by anyone at Xero since I first wrote about it in August 2022!
https://productideas.xero.com/forums/939198-for-small-businesses/suggestions/45529378-new-invoicing-show-stock-level-when-adding-a-traSo, I remain highly unsatisfied and frustrated with the lack of progress and poor communication from Xero. I get the feeling that, on the rare occasions that Xero do reply, the aim of the reply is to stall, obfuscate and placate, with no intention to actually address the issues raised. My position therefore remains, that if at the end of my financial year Xero has not addresses these issues and provided solutions, I will be looking to change to another platform where the aforementioned functionality already exists and you will lose my business. In the meantime, I will also continue to use X (Twitter) to keep others aware of the lack of progress and the disregard that Xero has for its existing customers. As a courtesy to other Xero clients I will also be copying this thread to the Xero central.
I look forward to receiving your further and more positive feedback in due course.
Sincerely,
Graham Tottle
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Graham Tottle commented
I recently wrote about this on X (Twitter) and almost immediately received a reply directing me to write to them directly (to get me off Twitter ASAP...?)
To be fair, they have replied - but as you can see from the text below, I am not altogether happy with their response...------8<-----
GT:
Contacts - Allow multiple addresses for a single contact record.
Invoicing - show available stock (as on quotations)
There has been no response from Zero regarding the above topic since Kelly Munro's reply of March 6th 2023 despite over 1000 (Xero) clients voting and stating they are serious issues for them. I have posted to Xero Central many times and written to your CEO Sukhinda, only to be either ignored, or referred back to Xero Central. This is not good enough. Not only is there no progress, but there is no feedback from Xero who seem to be holding their clients in complete contempt. Even after posting to X (Twitter) your colleagues referred me back to Xero Central - which is like going round and round in circles. At the end of my financial year, I will be switching to another provider - I am sick and tired of being ignored.
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Xero:
Agent profile pic
Briana
Support specialist
Yesterday 10:04 PM
Hi GrahamThank you for inviting Xero Support into your organisation.
It sounds like you want to enter multiple delivery addresses for a single contact record in Xero. If that's correct, this isn't currently possible in Xero but we've noted your interest in this feature and passed the feedback to our Product Team for inclusion in their regular reviews.
The Product Team is already looking into developing that functionality for the future and there's an existing Xero Product Idea for this feature where you can vote and comment on the request. I've included the link below. When there are any new developments or releases for this feature, we'll post an update on that page to let our users know.
In the meantime, one option would be to create a separate contact record in Xero for each delivery address. However, please note that every contact in Xero must have a unique name, so you'd need to enter a different name for each contact record. This can be as little as added a period or number to the name.
Alternatively, you could update the delivery address on each invoice as needed. With that method, the new address will automatically be saved to the contact record and update the details there as well.
I've included links to support articles with more information.
Xero Central articles:
Add a new contact
Edit a contact
Add a delivery address to an invoice
Xero Product Ideas: Contacts - Allow multiple addresses for a single contact record
If we've misunderstood your question, please let us know.
Kind regards
Briana
(As Xero limit this field, my rely to Briana will follow)
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Matthew Baker commented
Any update on this Xero?
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Bevan Illman commented
Incredible... it's taking more than 12 years to implement such a fundamental and basic function?!
The complete absence of communication regarding the status of this request is simply unacceptable.
Customers have been left in the dark, unsure whether their concerns are even being considered, let alone addressed. This lack of transparency breeds frustration and erodes trust in your brand.
It is evident that Xero's priorities are misplaced, focusing more on acquiring new customers rather than prioritising the needs and concerns of existing ones.
Customers who have invested time and resources into your platform expect better treatment and... respect! -
Mel Allen commented
I have xero integrated with my capsule crm and would like for xero to have the multiple addresses, so it can sync correctly when identifying and updating. At present my CRM allows for multiple addresses for a customer, but xero just creates new contacts so I end up with many of the same name.
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Marie Scott commented
Hi,
We add the delivery address twice, once on the quote where it states add title and summary and because it does not show on the invoice, we copy and paste the address to the body of the invoice, we give each account/delivery address a code and add that alongside the reference number. It is a pain but you get used to it!
There are a few things I find a pain but a lot of positives too.
I think all systems have their pros and cons. -
Perry Paolantonio commented
@Martin - We've been using Xero for about a year. As soon as (US) tax season is over, we're switching to Zoho, which seems to not have the issues we've had with Xero. And they seem to actively update the software with actual user requested features. Xero pays lip service to user requests, but doesn't seem to be doing any active development beyond tinkering with the invoice layouts.
Real issues like this feature request, and the problems with sending emails through their server (which often get flagged as spam by our customers, who never see invoices), are critical. But they seem to have no interest in fixing them. Honestly, I'd keep looking if I were you.
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Jonathan Loake commented
@Martin you'll find many standard features missing in Xero vs Sage, multiple addresses is one whichever has been requested for over 10 years.
You'd be better off sticking with Sage.
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Josh Buesking commented
Yes seperate contact account for every delivery address is what Xero Support told me over two years ago. I have been using the reference field for address.
This is a 10 year issue.