Client - Search Using TFN & ABN
Xero announced yesterday that the search via TFN and ABN are now both possible from the Client list. I have tested and we can still only search by using the TFN. ABN search is still not working.
Is anyone else experiencing this same issue.
Tania Kowalski
shared this idea
Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this idea. We understand that being able to quickly find client profiles by key identifiers like TFN or ABN would help when managing a large number of clients.
The suggestion is to allow TFN and ABN searches directly from the main search bar, making it easier to locate the right client without needing additional steps.
For now, you can use client list filters or reports to search and cross-reference these details. We'll continue tracking this idea and update you here if this progress.
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Tania Petersen
commented
Still can't search by ABN, as above post, please re-add this as per Tania above. No update since March 17 2026
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Debra Hancock
commented
Agree. Given we are using additional contacts, it would be good if the system was able to search through client and contact information in Practice Manager
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Carol Cameron
commented
This would be a very useful tool to have for searching especially for clients with & in their name, which XPM has difficulty with. Thanks.
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Suman Devkota
commented
Why can't we get the "universal search" with email or phone no or abn or tfn?
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Carol Cameron
commented
This would be very useful to be able to search by TFN or ABN or mobile number :)
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Paul Price
commented
The new updates to XPM have removed the abilility to seach for clients using an IRD number which is very dsiappointing as this is somthing we used regularly.
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Carey Batchelor
commented
This would definately be an advantage, since we may have 2 clients with the same name, searching by TFN is critical. I also think Renea meant that searching client contacts within practice manager.
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Rachel McCoy
commented
YES!! recently moved to Xero from Handisoft and missing the use of this feature to search clients by TFN!! :(
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Renea Roberts
commented
I'm not sure what you mean.
Please see attached. Currently if i want to search for a phone number in the global search it does not produce any results. in my example attached i have searched for the phone number that is listed in contacts. You are also not able to search by TFN, ABN or the client reference number.
There are plenty of times where a client will call and we don't catch their name or they have a very heavy accent so it's very handy to be able to search their phone number on caller ID into XPM global search to be able to identify who it is.
Or we can also get a document that might have a TFN and have the business name listed on the letter not the trading name and so in XPM we might only have the trading name so sometimes searching by TFN in global search will help us to find them.
We also heavily rely on Client reference numbers but this is also something you can't search by. -
Renea Roberts
commented
The ability to be able to search for client code, email address, TFN and mobile number in the global search.
you are able to search for a phone number but the search doesn't include the contact phone numbers
