How to Connect Your Restaurant POS to Xero in South Africa

How to Connect Your Restaurant POS to Xero in South Africa

Connecting your restaurant POS to Xero removes one of the most repetitive bookkeeping tasks a restaurant operator faces: getting daily trading data out of the till and into the accounts. This guide covers exactly how to connect MangoPOS to Xero, what data flows across the integration, and how to verify the setup is working correctly. The integration is currently in beta, so MangoPOS support will be closely involved in your setup and keen to hear how it performs for your business.

Before you start: what you need

To connect MangoPOS to Xero, you need: an active MangoPOS account with at least one completed cashup (this gives the integration real data to map against), a Xero organisation, a Xero Custom Connection app created at developer.xero.com (this generates the Client ID and Client Secret MangoPOS uses to authenticate), and a mapping between your MangoPOS revenue categories and your Xero account codes. Your accountant can advise on the correct Xero account codes if you are unsure.

Step 1: Create a Xero Custom Connection

Log in to the Xero Developer portal at developer.xero.com, create a new app, and select "Custom Connection" as the app type. Custom Connections are designed for exactly this kind of server-to-server integration — no staff member needs to log into Xero personally for the sync to keep running. Once created, Xero gives you a Client ID and Client Secret. Copy these somewhere safe; you will paste them into MangoPOS in the next step.

Step 2: Access Accounting Integrations in MangoPOS

Log in to MangoPOS and go to Settings > Accounting Integrations. Select Xero from the integration options, and enter the Client ID and Client Secret from Step 1. Choose your posting mode — Manual Journal for a single compact daily entry, or Sales Invoice if your accountant prefers an itemised invoice per trading day.

Step 3: Map MangoPOS categories to Xero accounts

MangoPOS will display your Xero chart of accounts and ask you to map your sales account code, VAT account code, bank account code (for settlement), and — if you chose Sales Invoice mode — a default contact. Take the time to get this mapping right; it determines exactly how your daily trading appears in Xero.

Step 4: Run a test sync

After configuration, use the test connection option in MangoPOS to confirm Xero accepts the credentials, then trigger a manual sync against a recent cashup. Check the entry in Xero against your MangoPOS Z-report — revenue, VAT, and payment totals should match exactly. If something looks off, revisit the account mapping in Step 3 before assuming there is a connection problem.

Step 5: Enable automatic daily sync

Once the test sync looks correct, turn on automatic sync. From then on, every time a manager completes and signs off the cashup in MangoPOS, that day's data is pushed to Xero automatically, protected by an idempotency key so a retried sync never posts the same day twice. Your accountant will see the previous day's trading in Xero each morning without anyone in your team lifting a finger.

Troubleshooting: what to check if the sync fails

Common causes of a failed sync: an expired or revoked Xero Custom Connection (regenerate the Client Secret in the Xero Developer portal and update it in MangoPOS), a Xero account code that was renamed or archived (revisit the mapping), or a temporary network or Xero API issue (MangoPOS queues the sync and retries automatically). Because this integration is in beta, the MangoPOS support team actively monitors beta tenants' sync status — reach out if a sync is stuck and we will help you resolve it.