Xero invoices and their attachments: two add-ons we are testing

Two things go wrong when a small business emails sales invoices from Xero: the files that should go with an invoice do not go automatically, and an invoice that a customer needs as one PDF still goes as several files. This page sets out both gaps, what people do today, and two add-ons that do not exist yet. Each has its own no-payment interest button, counted separately.

Covers: two attachment gaps described on Xero’s own Product Ideas site, the workarounds used today, and an interest test for two add-ons that do not exist. Doesn’t cover: bookkeeping or tax advice, Xero’s email deliverability, or any promise that Xero’s API will do either job. Guidance only, not a recommendation of any product. Independent page. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Xero. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited. Read the idea pages and the API description (2 November 2026) and check the counts yourself.

The first gap: the file does not follow the invoice

The first request is for an add-on that sets chosen files once (terms, certificates, the original supplier PDF) and has them attached automatically to every sales invoice Xero sends, including bulk sends.

On Xero’s Product Ideas site this request was opened on 14 December 2022. On 2 November 2026 it showed 545 votes and its status was: Not in pipeline.

Source: Xero Product Ideas: chosen files attached automatically to every invoice. Read 2 November 2026.

Xero replied on 29 July 2025 that it saw no near-term change and pointed to putting standard files in the invoice template.

Today the workaround is to put standard files in the invoice template, or to open each invoice and tick the include box before sending. The template covers the same file on every invoice; it does not cover a file that differs from invoice to invoice, such as the original supplier PDF for one job.

The second gap: one PDF per email

The second request is for an add-on that merges each invoice and its attachments into one PDF and emails that single file.

On Xero’s Product Ideas site this request was opened on 31 March 2015. On 2 November 2026 it showed 112 votes and its status was: submitted.

Source: Xero Product Ideas: sales invoices, combine the invoice file and attached files into one PDF. Read 2 November 2026.

Today the workaround is to merge the PDFs by hand before sending, which takes time on every invoice and adds another place for the wrong file to go out.

What the add-ons would rest on

Both ideas depend on what Xero’s API allows. The four lines above are from Xero’s published API description: the first two describe fetching an invoice as a PDF and sending the invoice email; the last two describe an attachment flag that shows a file on the online invoice.

Xero's published API description, on an invoice PDF, the invoice email and the attachment flag:

Retrieves invoices or purchase bills as PDF files

Sends a copy of a specific invoice to related contact via email

Allows an attachment to be seen by the end customer within their online invoice

Include the file with the online invoice

Source: xero_accounting.yaml, XeroAPI's published Xero Accounting API description on GitHub. Read 2 November 2026.

That file does not say whether a file marked that way is also attached to the email Xero sends, or whether the flag can be changed after the file is uploaded. It also shows no way to add a merged PDF to the invoice email; it is silent on that, which is not the same as saying it cannot be done. So the first add-on depends on something not yet confirmed, and the second would probably have to send its own email.

Two add-ons we are testing

The two ideas are separate products with separate prices. Each button is counted on its own, so a press on one says nothing about the other.

This page is a test of interest, not a shop. There is no payment form and no email field anywhere on it. Pressing a button records one anonymous count for the day, and a short tag if the link you followed carried one. There is no limit on presses: press again and it counts again.

Not on sale yet. These add-ons do not exist yet and may never be built. No payment is taken. Pressing only counts your interest.

How this page is checked

Every quoted line above is a line of the page's one data file, and a test fails the build if a served quote is not a line of that file. A second test fails the build if a banned word appears. If a source changes or we find an error, we correct this page and record it here. Read 2 November 2026.

No corrections yet (Xero's Product Ideas pages and API description read 2 November 2026).