Xero HQ: Adding a Newly Onboarded Client

Xero HQ connects a newly onboarded client to your practice’s client list and staff. Accept the client’s invitation using your own login, link the correct entity and assign access. Xero now brings these tasks together in Xero Partner Hub.

What Xero HQ is for a Practice

Xero HQ is the practice console for client records and staff access, available through the Xero partner program. Xero’s Australian partner tools now use the Xero Partner Hub name. The client-list task remains the same: connect the right organisation to the right practice record.

Keep the jobs separate when choosing where to work. Xero Practice Manager handles jobs, time and billing. Xero Tax handles tax preparation and lodgement. Partner Hub brings the tools under shared navigation, with the features your practice has enabled. Adding a client record alone does not enable every tool.

Before starting, confirm your practice’s partner membership and your client-record permissions. You need permission to create records for manual additions. Staff management also requires the practice’s staff-management permissions. Map these responsibilities in your accounting practice tech stack.

Getting Adviser Access Without the Client’s Login

Ask the client to invite a named staff member using that person’s own Xero account. Never ask for the client’s password or sign in as them. Separate logins let the client revoke access and keep activity attributable to the person doing the work.

Registered tax and BAS agents must protect client confidentiality. Section 30-10(6) of the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 restricts disclosure without client permission unless a legal duty applies. The Tax Practitioners Board’s confidentiality guidance explains client permission and protecting information. Record the client’s authority for the work and grant staff access within that scope.

For an existing Xero organisation, give the client these steps:

1. Sign in to the correct organisation and open its Settings, then Users.
2. Choose Invite a user and enter the responsible staff member’s name and work email address.
3. Select the accounting role needed for the engagement. Xero’s partner plans call this Advisor. Business-plan help also uses Administrator for the full accounting role.
4. Grant Manage users, or the equivalent user-editing permission shown, if that staff member will assign the practice team. Add payroll access only for agreed payroll work.
5. Send the invitation. The staff member accepts it through their own account and confirms that the organisation opens.

If the client cannot invite users, ask who holds the subscription and who has permission to manage users. The subscriber or another authorised user must send the invitation. A business owner without that permission cannot grant it by sharing a password.

For a brand new organisation, first create the practice client record. Open it and choose Add Xero organisation, then check the prefilled details. The person purchasing on the practice’s behalf needs access to its billing account. Invite the client into the organisation using their own login.

If the client will hold the subscription, the current subscriber requests a transfer from Subscription and billing. Enter the client’s correct email address. The client accepts the transfer invitation and supplies payment details for a paying subscription. Confirm acceptance before treating billing as transferred. Subscription ownership and the practice’s accounting access are separate settings.

Adding the New Client to Your Xero HQ List

When accepting the client’s invitation, select the option to connect the organisation to a practice. Choose your practice if you belong to more than one. Link an existing matching client record, or create a new record if there is no match. Acceptance with that option selected adds or connects the organisation to the practice list.

If you accepted access without connecting the client, use the client-list option to link an existing Xero organisation. Select the organisation and review any suggested match before adding it. A trading name alone is insufficient to distinguish two entities in the same client group.

For a client without a Xero organisation, add a client record from the Clients list. Choose the business structure, enter the required name and add contact details. Save the record without creating an organisation until the client has agreed to that step. This practice record is separate from a contact in another client’s sales or purchases list.

Check the following details against the onboarding record:

• Legal name and ABN, with the trading name kept separate.
• Entity type, including the correct company, partnership, trust or sole trader.
• Financial year-end or balance date.
• GST registration, cash or accrual basis and reporting period.

Some details belong in the practice record. Financial year-end and GST settings also need checking inside the client’s Xero organisation. Do not assume a name match copies those settings correctly.

Start from the checked onboarding details. Tax Genie sends approved client details to your tax software and matches or updates Xero Practice Manager records after a field-by-field review. Use that checked record for the Xero handover. Set the organisation link, staff access, financial settings and bank-feed request in Xero as separate setup tasks.

Before the first day’s setup is complete, confirm each item:

• The correct client appears in your practice list, with the organisation linked if one exists.
• The responsible accountant and bookkeeper have the access their work requires.
• GST settings agree with the client’s registration and reporting obligations.
• Bank feeds have been requested through the authorised account holder, with an owner for any pending connection.

Use the bookkeeping onboarding checklist for the wider handover. The Xero bookkeeping guide covers the accounting setup and work that follows.

Assigning Staff and Access Levels

Practice-record access and access to the client’s Xero organisation are separate permissions. A staff member can see the practice record while still being unable to open the organisation.

1. Open the responsible accountant’s staff record and its Clients tab.
2. Select the new client and edit permissions. Choose the required client-record access, such as View or View and edit.
3. Set the organisation role and any extra permissions needed for the agreed work, then apply the change.
4. Repeat for the bookkeeper, choosing permissions for that person’s responsibilities.
5. Have each staff member open the client record and the organisation using their own login. Confirm both access levels work.

For client-managed subscriptions, the person assigning organisation access needs permission to manage that organisation’s users. Practice administrators can have broad default access to practice-billed organisations. Review defaults and use client-specific permissions so adding one client does not expose them to everyone. This reduces unnecessary access to confidential client information.

On a departing staff member’s last day, remove access to client records and organisations, then remove their practice access. In the client permissions, select No access for both the record and organisation role. Inspect organisation user lists for separately granted access too. Reassign any subscriber responsibility before removing its holder. Record who completed the removal and check that the staff member is absent from the relevant access lists.

Using Xero HQ Practice Tools After Onboarding

Use the client list to find and open the new client’s record. Partner Hub’s homepage widgets include bank-feed alerts and a bank-reconciliation overview, alongside an organisation watchlist. These let the team identify a client needing attention without opening every organisation.

During the first month, review the new client’s bank-feed alert and reconciliation position. If a feed is missing, inspect the connection in the organisation and follow up with the authorised account holder. If unreconciled items are building up, assign the bookkeeper to review them under the agreed bookkeeping work. A client appearing in the list proves neither that its feed is active nor that its books are ready.

Older Xero HQ instructions refer to Explorer. Xero retired Explorer, so use the documented Partner Hub views for client oversight. Connected apps remain a separate check. Open the client organisation’s connected-app settings to review its connections. Partner Hub’s app launcher opens supported apps connected to the practice.

If the new client uses another accounting product, follow the QuickBooks Online Accountant setup guide for that connection.

When the New Client Still Has Another Adviser

Adding your practice does not automatically remove the previous accountant. Ask the client to confirm the handover and identify every former adviser who retains access.

Obtain professional clearance before taking over the file and resolve any matters affecting acceptance. Use the ethical clearance letter guide for the request. Arrange a controlled handover so required records remain available while responsibility changes.

If the previous practice holds the subscription, its subscriber must request the transfer to the agreed new subscriber. An organisation with overdue subscription payments or a suspension needs that resolved before transfer. A pending invitation leaves billing with the current subscriber. Confirm that the recipient accepted it before changing the billing arrangement in your engagement records.

Once the handover permits removal, the client or another user with user-management permission removes the previous adviser from the organisation’s Users settings. Review all former-practice users, since there may be several. A subscription transfer preserves existing user roles unless they are changed, so transfer acceptance alone does not revoke access.

Finally, confirm the new subscriber, your assigned team’s access and the former adviser’s removal. Record any agreed temporary access with its end condition. Xero access is separate from ATO client-to-agent linking, which needs its own completion check before your practice acts in ATO systems.