If you're trying to figure out how to import purchase orders into Xero from a procurement system, an ERP, or a spreadsheet, you'll run into the same problem: Xero doesn't offer a way to do it. There's no CSV upload for purchase orders, no file import option of any kind.
This guide explains why, and covers your realistic options.
Why Xero doesn't have a purchase order import feature
Xero's purchase order feature is designed for creating POs inside Xero and sending them to suppliers. The workflow assumes Xero is where your purchase orders originate.
But for many businesses, that's not how procurement works. You raise POs in a dedicated procurement tool, an ERP module, or even a spreadsheet — and then you need those POs reflected in Xero for accounting purposes. Budget tracking, bill matching, procurement reporting — none of that works properly unless the POs are in Xero.
Xero doesn't provide a native way to bridge that gap. So if your purchase orders start somewhere else, you're left doing it by hand.
Method 1: Manual entry
Open the PO from your procurement system. Open Xero. Create a new purchase order. Enter the supplier contact, delivery address, PO number, date, delivery date. Then the line items — description, quantity, unit price, account code, tax code. For every line. Save. Repeat.
Where this falls down:
The time cost is obvious — a purchase order with 10-15 line items takes a while to re-enter by hand. Do that a few times a week and it adds up to hours of duplicated work.
But there's a bigger problem specific to purchase orders: bill matching. When a supplier bill arrives, one of the most useful things Xero can do is match it against the original PO — verifying quantities, prices, and totals. That only works if the PO is already in Xero. If your team is behind on manual PO entry, supplier bills arrive with nothing to match against, and you lose one of the key benefits of tracking purchase orders in the first place.
Manual entry is also where discrepancies get introduced. A wrong unit price, a transposed account code, a missed line item — these create mismatches between what your procurement system says and what Xero says, which means more time spent reconciling.
When manual entry is fine: If you create a small number of simple purchase orders per week (say, fewer than 5) with only a few line items each, manual entry is manageable. Beyond that, the time cost and error risk justify automating it.
Method 2: Automated import with EntryRocket
EntryRocket works with whatever file your procurement system exports. You email the file to a dedicated EntryRocket address, and a custom reader — built specifically for your file format — maps every field and creates the purchase orders in Xero automatically.
How it works in practice:
- Export purchase orders from your procurement system as a file (CSV, Excel, XML, PDF — whatever it produces)
- Email the file to your dedicated EntryRocket address
- EntryRocket's custom reader extracts every field — supplier contact, PO number, date, delivery date, line items, quantities, unit prices, account codes
- The purchase orders appear in Xero, with all line items correctly mapped
- You get a confirmation email showing what was imported and whether anything needs attention
Why this matters for bill matching:
The practical benefit goes beyond saving time on data entry. When your POs are in Xero before the supplier bills arrive, Xero's bill matching works properly. You can verify that what the supplier is charging matches what you ordered — quantities, unit prices, totals. That's hard to do if your POs are still sitting in a procurement system that Xero can't see.
What the custom reader handles:
EntryRocket's engineers build the reader around your specific procurement system's export format. If your PO files have non-standard column names, extra fields you don't need in Xero, or complex multi-line structures — the reader handles all of that.
Business rules can be applied too. Multi-currency conversion, project code assignment, delivery tracking fields, conditional account coding — whatever your workflow needs can be built into the reader so it happens automatically on every import.
When automated import makes sense: Any business that raises purchase orders outside Xero and needs them in Xero for bill matching, budget tracking, or procurement reporting. It's especially valuable when PO volume is high enough that manual entry creates a backlog, or when accurate bill matching is important to your accounting workflow.
Which method should you use?
If you create a few simple POs per week and manual entry doesn't bother you, it works. There's no cost and the time investment is small.
If you're doing it regularly, or your POs have many line items, or the main reason you need POs in Xero is bill matching (and you need them there before the bills arrive), automation is the practical choice. The time saved and the accuracy gained both compound quickly.
For comparison, invoices do have a native CSV import in Xero, but purchase orders and quotes don't. If you need to import either of these, your choices are manual entry or a tool that does it for you.