Online Receipt Guide for Shopify, Xero, and QuickBooks

If you're using Shopify, Xero, or QuickBooks (or some combination of them), you've probably wondered: "Am I handling receipts the right way?"

Good question. These tools are powerful, but they each handle receipts differently. And if you're not using them correctly, you're probably doing extra work you don't need to be doing. For a broader overview of how receipts work and why they matter, check out our guide on what is a receipt.

Let's fix that.

Quick Overview: What Each Tool Actually Does

Shopify - Your online store. Handles sales, creates receipts for customers automatically, tracks orders.

Xero - Accounting software. Manages your books, tracks expenses, handles invoicing and payments.

QuickBooks - Similar to Xero. Tracks income and expenses, manages invoices, handles payroll and taxes.

The confusion happens when you need to connect these systems so everything talks to each other. That's what we're solving today.

Shopify Receipts: What You Need to Know

When someone buys from your Shopify store, Shopify automatically generates a receipt and emails it to the customer. You don't have to do anything - it just works.

What Shopify receipts include:

• Order number
• Items purchased
• Prices and totals
• Shipping address
• Payment method
• Your store branding

Where to find them:

1. Go to Orders in your Shopify admin
2. Click any order
3. Click "Email invoice" if you need to resend

The receipts look professional right out of the box, but you can customize them under Settings > Notifications > Customer notifications > Order confirmation.

Common issue: Your Shopify receipts don't automatically appear in your accounting software. You have to connect them.

Connecting Shopify to Xero

If you use Shopify for sales and Xero for accounting, you need them to talk to each other.

The easiest way: Use Xero's official Shopify integration.

Setup (takes about 10 minutes):

1. In Xero, go to Settings > Connected apps
2. Search for Shopify
3. Click Connect
4. Log in to your Shopify account
5. Authorize the connection
6. Map your Shopify payments to the right Xero accounts

What happens automatically:

• All your Shopify sales sync to Xero daily
• Customer receipts get recorded as sales invoices
• You can see revenue without manual data entry
• Tax calculations carry over

What you still need to do manually:

• Record business expenses not in Shopify (supplier costs, software subscriptions, etc.)
• Reconcile your bank statements
• Handle refunds (the integration syncs them, but verify they're correct)

Cost: The basic Xero-Shopify integration is free, but you need a Xero subscription ($13-70/month depending on plan).

Connecting Shopify to QuickBooks

Similar process, different tool.

Setup:

1. In QuickBooks, go to Apps > Find Apps
2. Search for Shopify
3. Install the connector app
4. Log in to Shopify and authorize
5. Choose sync settings (daily is usually fine)

What syncs:

• Sales from Shopify become sales receipts in QuickBooks
• Customer info transfers over
• Product sales data
• Taxes and shipping

Important: QuickBooks and Shopify handle inventory differently. If you sell physical products, pay attention to how inventory updates are syncing.

Cost: QuickBooks Online starts at $30/month. The Shopify integration is included.

Managing Receipts in Xero (Without Shopify)

If you're not using Shopify but still need to track receipts in Xero:

For business expenses:

1. Use the Xero mobile app
2. Take a photo of the receipt
3. Xero reads it (with AI) and extracts the details
4. Review and approve
5. It's automatically categorized and saved

For income receipts:

• Create sales invoices in Xero
• Mark them as paid
• Xero generates a receipt you can email to customers

Tips:

• Enable bank feeds so transactions import automatically
• Reconcile weekly, not monthly (way easier)
• Use the "awaiting payment" feature for unpaid invoices

Managing Receipts in QuickBooks

For expenses:

QuickBooks works similarly to Xero:

• Snap photos with the mobile app
• QuickBooks reads and categorizes
• Review and file

For sales receipts:

• Go to Sales > Create sales receipt
• Fill in customer and items
• Save and send to customer
• QuickBooks records it in your books automatically

QuickBooks advantage: The dashboard is really beginner-friendly. If you're not an accounting person, QuickBooks is often easier to figure out than Xero.

The Real Question: Which Should You Use?

If you have a Shopify store:

Use Shopify for customer receipts (it's automatic). Connect it to either Xero or QuickBooks for accounting. Both work fine. Choose based on which interface you prefer or what your accountant recommends.

If you don't have an online store:

Either Xero or QuickBooks is fine. Both handle receipts well. Most people say QuickBooks is easier for beginners, Xero is better for growing businesses. Test both and see which one clicks for you.

If you're a freelancer or service business:

You probably don't need Shopify at all. Just use Xero or QuickBooks to create invoices and receipts directly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not reconciling regularly - If you sync Shopify to your accounting software and never check it, errors pile up. Spend 30 minutes each week reviewing.

Double-recording income - This happens if you manually enter Shopify sales AND have them syncing automatically. Pick one method.

Ignoring failed syncs - Sometimes the connection breaks. Check your integration status monthly.

Not backing up - Both Xero and QuickBooks are cloud-based, but export your data quarterly just in case.

Quick Setup Checklist

For anyone connecting these systems:

• Connect your business bank account to your accounting software
• If using Shopify, install the Xero or QuickBooks integration
• Test the sync with a sample transaction
• Set up automatic receipt emails for customers
• Configure tax settings correctly for your location
• Turn on bank feeds
• Download the mobile app for expense receipts
• Schedule weekly reconciliation time (put it in your calendar)

The Bottom Line

Shopify handles customer receipts automatically when people buy from you. Xero and QuickBooks handle your accounting and let you manage all income and expenses. Connect them so data flows automatically, and you'll save hours of manual data entry. For a detailed comparison of tools and alternatives, check out our guide to the best online receipt generators.

None of this is complicated once it's set up. The hard part is just taking 30 minutes to actually do the setup. After that, it mostly runs itself.

If you're still creating receipts manually or copying data between systems, you're working too hard. Let the software do its job.