Xero Override Rules and Tracking Categories

Each section of your Xero settings has a default ledger account that Qoblex posts to when it syncs a transaction. Override rules let you send specific transactions to a different ledger account, or stamp them with a Xero tracking category, when the default is not right for every case — for example routing one sales location to its own revenue account.

This article explains where override rules live in the Xero settings, how to build a rule and its conditions, how rule priority decides which rule wins, and what the special Inherit, None, and Do Not Sync choices do. After reading it you will be able to add, order, and review override rules with confidence, and know exactly how each rule changes where future transactions land in Xero.

Override rules are accounting controls: a rule changes where future sales, payments, COGS, adjustments, or manufacturing postings land in Xero. Set them with your bookkeeper or finance owner.

Where override rules appear

Open Integrations > Xero. The Xero settings open as a stepped wizard with the steps Tax Mapping, Sales, Purchases, Manufacturing, Inventory, and Review & Save; go to the step you want. Rule sections appear directly beneath the default-account picker they apply to. Each section starts empty, showing No added rules, with an Add rule button below it.

The override-rule sections available today are:

• Sales step — rules for sales/invoice posting (under Sales Account) and payment posting rules (Payments, Payment posting rules (by gateway)).
• Manufacturing step — manufacturing rules. The step header above the default-account picker explains the relationship: If a rule matches, its ledger account & tracking override the defaults above.
• Inventory step — Cost Of Goods Sold account rules and Inventory Adjustments account rules.
• Purchases step — bill payment override rules appear under the Payments header (Bill payments default account). See the note below: these rules are not currently applied by the sync.

Sales, COGS, adjustments, and manufacturing rules choose a Xero ledger account. Sales payment rules choose a Xero bank account instead.

Bill payment override rules (Purchases step) are not applied yet. The Xero settings expose a bill payment rule section, but the sync ignores it: every bill payment posts to the Bill payments default account you set under the Purchases step’s Payments header, regardless of any rule you add. Set the default account to control where bill payments land.

What a rule does

When a transaction matches a rule’s conditions, Qoblex applies that rule’s two actions, shown in the rule builder under Actions (“What happens when a record matches this rule?”):

• Set ledger account to — the Xero ledger account (or, for payment rules, the bank account) this transaction posts to.
• Set tracking category to — the Xero tracking category to stamp on the posting.

Transactions that match no rule keep using the section’s default account, so the default still matters — a rule should only handle a specific exception.

Rules apply to future syncs only. Saving or changing a rule does not rewrite Xero records that were already synced before the change.

How to add a rule

1. Open the relevant Xero settings step (Sales, Purchases, Manufacturing, or Inventory).
2. In the rule section, click Add rule. The Edit Sync Rule dialog opens.
3. Under Conditions, build the condition that should match the transaction: – Pick a Field (the available fields depend on the section — see the tables below). – Pick an Operator (for example matches, Contains, is, or a numeric comparison). – Enter or select the Value to compare against. – To combine two conditions, click Add Rule Part and choose And or Or. A rule can have at most two conditions.
4. Under Actions, choose Set ledger account to and, if needed, Set tracking category to.
5. Click Apply to add the rule, then Save changes at the bottom of the Xero settings page to persist it.

After saving, review the next synced transaction that should match the rule to confirm the condition and the selected account behave as you expect.

Rule conditions by section

The fields you can build conditions on differ per section. These are the fields Qoblex offers in each rule builder.

Sales rules

Sales payment rules

Bill payment rules (Purchases step)

Manufacturing rules

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) rules

Inventory adjustment rules

Rule order and priority

Each rule in a section carries a priority, shown as a numbered badge at the start of the rule row. Qoblex evaluates rules in priority order and applies the first rule whose conditions match; later rules are not applied to that transaction.

Reorder rules with the up and down arrows on each row. Moving a rule renumbers the whole list so the priority badges always match the displayed order. Put your most specific rules above broader ones, so a broad rule does not catch a transaction that a narrower rule should have handled. Click Save changes after reordering.

Inherit, None, and Do Not Sync

The two dropdowns offer different special choices:

• Inherit (ledger/bank account dropdown only) — leave the account at the section default. If a rule’s ledger account is Inherit, the matched transaction keeps the section’s default account. Use this when a rule should override only the tracking category, not the account.
• Do Not Sync (ledger/bank account dropdown) — the “do not sync” choice, meaning the transaction is not posted to that account.
• None (tracking-category dropdown) — do not stamp any tracking category on the posting.

The tracking-category dropdown lists only None followed by your Xero tracking categories — it has no Inherit option. A rule therefore overrides tracking only by selecting a specific category or None; to leave tracking unchanged, leave the rule’s tracking action unset.

A rule can override the account independently of the tracking category. Set the account to Inherit to change only the tracking, or leave the tracking action unset to change only the account.

Reviewing rules

Review your override rules after major accounting changes — new locations, new product categories, a new tax setup, or changes to how you manufacture or adjust stock. For each rule, confirm its condition still matches the records you intend and that the selected Xero account is still active in Xero. Remove rules created for a temporary exception that no longer reflects your accounting policy, then Save changes.

Keep rules limited to the exception they are meant to handle and order them so your accounting team can see why a transaction posted to a different account.

Troubleshooting