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@Marc Banyard

That looks really interesting. Thanks for making it open source. There have been a few people trying to take advantage of this situation, so it's refreshing to see an open source real community work around.

We've already decided to stop using xero next year, but if we hadn't I'd be really interested in a google workspace version of this. I think a lot of small businesses use workspace because it's easier to manage than 365 and has a lower TCO. Those are precisely the people hit hardest by not being able to meaningfully automate invoice sending through xero.

@Nicole Reilly anyone willing to help solve these problems is a welcome addition, especially when they're not charging anything for something that is nearly turnkey. Xero has ignored this for a decade. If you think they're going to fix it, it may be when we retire or if AI takes over New Zealand.

Xero is clearly missing the boat and trying to see which customers survive. It's Kiwi Squid Games.

@Kelly, I've been watching these threads for nearly a decade and curious if/when your team will actually ever solve a single item I've upvoted. You would be wise to stop chasing QuickBooks and start giving customers what they need. A better product that lets users not worry about every single feature would be really nice.

@Nicole Reilly

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I completely understand your frustration and agree that Xero should ideally address this issue directly.

Just to clarify, my intention wasn’t to promote anything commercially. I created the web app as a free, open-source workaround for those who are stuck and need a solution now, while we wait for Xero to prioritise this properly. It’s hosted on GitHub, with the source code available for anyone to inspect, modify, or improve.

I’m happy to collaborate with others who want to extend it or adapt it to different setups, and I’ll continue to support the community however I can, whether that’s through code or conversation.

Appreciate your feedback, and I hope Xero hears us all loud and clear, but i'm not holding my breath as this thread has been going for over 12 years now!

@Tim Sneller

Thanks for the great questions, happy to clarify.

Supported Documents
Right now, the app works with invoices and invoice reminders, and it does support the automated chasing process. That was my main use case, so it’s fully functional there.

Extensibility
The structure is modular, so it can be extended to support purchase orders, statements, and other document types. I’d be glad to collaborate with anyone interested in expanding those areas.

Email Providers
It currently hooks into Microsoft 365, but the email component is abstracted enough that it can be adapted to work with Gmail, AWS SES, or any other provider. I just haven’t built those connectors yet, but the groundwork is there.

Multiple Sender Addresses
Support for different sender addresses per document type is a great idea and something I’ve considered. It’s not implemented yet, but it’s definitely doable with the current architecture.

I built this to solve my own pain points, but I’ve tried to keep it open and flexible so others can build on it. If you or anyone else wants to contribute or test out new features, I’d be happy to work together.

@Marc Banyard

Please don't use this customer support forum to promote your solution. It's not an approach we want to use - we want XERO to fix this issue and stop fobbing us off with 'other priorities' .

@Marc Banyard Which emails from Xero will this work with? Is it just the sending of invoices, or does it support other documents, like statements and purchase orders.

Can you configure it to work with Gmail, or AWS, as many companies will not use Micros**t 365.

Does it also additional addresses for different types of documents. (Something else which Xero REALLY need to get their heads around.

Furthermore, if it does not also work with the automated invoice chasing process, then it is of limited use for us.

Has anyone tried the free web app that I created to solve this issue?

You host it on your own server (it can even be setup under a folder on your existing website to save on hosting costs).

The setup is pretty simple and it works with Microsoft 365.

If anyone uses other email providers and are happy to work with me I can look at adding in support for them.

The project is here
https://github.com/MarcBanyard/XeroMailerWeb

The compiled files are here and include the setup guides.
https://github.com/MarcBanyard/XeroMailerWeb/releases/download/v1.0.2/XeroMailerWeb.v1.0.2.zip

Its completely free and the source code is available for you to look through.

At the rate that Xero are going, many of their users will have gone out of business because of outstanding debt before Xero fix the problem. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

@Jonathan,

I submitted a ticket about customers not receiving recurring emails at all (only reminders), or landing in the junk mail, customers started telling me this right after the recent changes Xero implemented that nobody asked for

Xero customer service was not helpful at all and wanted a phone call with me to troubleshoot as if this is a problem at our end and not theirs and we are their Beta test bunnies

Mind you these are long term customers that have been receiving emails for years.

The incompetence is off the charts at Xero...

@Xero

Any update on this? Just had another client this morning telling me they never got the last 3 months invoice because it went directly to SPAM. Had to explain how to find them, guide them, explain that the email wasn't coming from me, etc etc etc.

It's a pain.

@Dean Wilson

Please don't use this customer support forum to promote your own products. It's not a sustainable approach for xero users to pay third party startups to plug the gaps in basic functionality that the xero team haven't implemented.

Customers for whom this is a big problem need to vote with their wallets and switch to one of Xero's competitors.

I built a solution for sending via

You can give it a try at https://app.thothconnector.com

It is in beta, so feed back would be appreciated

Hi,

Please add this functionality to Xero. It makes no sense to have it missing in any year of this past decade.

There is no visibility or diagnostics for what is sent.

Microsoft 365 and Google workspace both have made it "more difficult" to receive email submissions but most small dev teams have got around that so it's not great optics to say "its complicated".

I read it is available through plugins or 3rd party services. Not to diminish their work in any way but its an extra expense and only serves to highlight that its possible.

If its simply a case that Xero don't want to support it put the option behind a warning that Xero won't provide support for emails being sent outside its own SMTP servers.

If its a case that Xero won't compete with existing app developers then please buy them and integrate the functionality.

All the best

Please attend to this. Some of my invoices end up in customer junk folders (or so they claim) because of this very 'spamish' email address.

Yes Please. This is also an issue for our company!

@Marc

We do use Microsoft 365

Yes please!

Out of interest who uses Microsoft 365 (Azure, Entra Exchange Online, SharePoint Online) in their company for emails?

This would be a great selling point. It could be integrated with the frequently-requested ability to be able to see/record the actual emails sent to clients as that has been an issue as there is no visibility of sent emails.

"it will be an issue for any sizeable client - and for the more tech-savvy smaller clients!!!"

It already *is* an issue. Approximately 30% of our invoices go to spam. At least two clients outright block any incoming email from post.xero.com, and what Xero has told us is to ask them to unblock it. Those clients did that for a reason - the constant phishing emails they get with that as the return address.

I really think that this should be a key priority for Xero; it will be an issue for any sizeable client - and for the more tech-savvy smaller clients!!!