The Scout Management System (SMS) has all your member details and if you import these details into Xero, this can assist you with Membership invoicing.
Log into SMS. Expand SMS by clicking “+” to the right of the SMS symbol then click “Mail Merge”. To the right of the Formation blank field, select the magnifying glass symbol and select your Group by double clicking on the name. Ensure the “include subformations” is ticked. Then select who you want to include (ie adults, youths and/or supporters) by clicking the appropriate box(s).
To generate this report select “Generate”. Select open to view what has been generated. If you get a message “A website wants to open content using this program on your computer”, click “Allow”. If this is the data you wanted, please save this file. You may be prompted if you want to save in a CSV format, click yes.
Xero Central has very comprehensive details on how to import new contacts into Xero. https://central.xero.com/s/article/Import-contacts-into-Xero#3ImportyourfileintoXero
Please note that it is recommended that you test the import file in the Xero Demo Company first.
To access you Xero Demo, you log into Xero and on the left hand side where it says your Formation’s name, select the drop down menu, click “Change Organisation” then click “Demo Company”. We have summarised the instructions for those familiar with Xero.
In the “Contacts” menu, select “All Contacts” and then click “Import”. Click “Download template file”. You are now preparing the Xero import file from the data you have exported from SMS. Open the file downloaded from Xero and copy and paste the details from the SMS data file to the Xero data file.
As the data has exported into separate columns, we recommend that you copy and paste the first and surname from the SMS export to the Xero import file (column D & E). To get the full name into one cell, we suggest you use the excel formula D2&" "&E2, and then copy this formula for the remaining names.
Please note that the only information that is required to be entered is the contact’s name, all other contact details are optional. We do suggest that you import the email address, member number and appointment eg Cub, Joey, etc. Once you have all the details you want imported into Xero, please save the changes you have made. You may be prompted if you want to save in a CSV format, click yes.
To import the data, in the Contacts menu, select “All Contacts”. Click “Import”, click “Browse” and select your saved file. Choose “Ignore empty fields”, click “Import”.
You will get a message detailing the number of new contacts and if there are any errors. This is an opportunity to amend any errors by clicking go back, fix the error and then repeat the Import.
If you are happy with the data and there are no errors and believe it is all correct, click “Complete Import”.
If you have completed in the demo version and are happy with the results, you can now complete the data import on your live Xero file, following the steps above.
Where can I get assistance?
Please contact financehelpdesk@scoutslqld.com.au