If you use Xero and you’ve been asked to use EDI, your head might be in a bit of a spin. It can seem complicated but there’s no need to worry – there are options and they’re not as complex as you might think. Many retailers require a combination of these documents:

• Purchase order
• Purchase order response
• Advanced shipping notice
• Invoice.

And you might be thinking, Xero doesn’t even have all of these. You’re right, Xero doesn’t support sales orders or advanced shipping notices. But that’s not a showstopper.

An EDI web portal is the simplest option

Many Xero users choose to use an EDI web portal. It’s a website you can login to, to view orders and respond to them with the response, advanced shipping notice and invoice. It’s simple to use, inexpensive and gets you compliant with your customer’s requirement. Here at MessageXchange, our EDI web portal is called FormXchange. If you choose to go with our FormXchange product, you can even automate the process one step further. By turning on the integration between FormXchange and Xero, you can sync the invoices you enter in the EDI portal (FormXchange) directly to Xero, so your invoices are always up-to-date in your accounting software. That means whenever you send an invoice to your customer on FormXchange, a copy will go to them, as well as to your Xero account. It’s that simple.

Who can you trade with on FormXchange?

Trade with any of these retailers on FormXchange:

• Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API)
• Aldi
• Anaconda
• Big W
• Bing Lee
• Bunnings
• Chemist Warehouse
• Coles
• Costco
• David Jones
• Drakes
• Harris Scarfe
• Harvey Norman
• Kmart
• Metcash
• Myer
• Officeworks
• Petbarn
• PFD Foods
• Reece
• Repco
• Sigma
• Spotlight
• Symbion
• Target
• The Good Guys
• Winning Appliances
• Woolworths

How do you get started?

It’s pretty easy:

1. Head to messagexchange.com and click register
2. Enter your details, choose FormXchange as your service and select the retailers you wish to trade with
3. You’ll receive a verification email so just click the link in there to verify your account
4. Let your customer(s) know that you’re using MessageXchange as your EDI service provider (they might refer to it as a ‘VAN’ or value added network)
5. Then once you receive your first order, follow the prompts on screen to respond to it. You can also look at our knowledge base here to walk through the entire process in detail.

If you have any questions or need help getting started, just get in touch!

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