Subcontractor bank details, straight from Xero: synced, locked, and verified before you pay

Every RCTI and BCTI you issue carries a subcontractor's bank account. Until now that account lived in two places. Your Accounts team kept it in Xero, the file you actually pay from, and someone keyed the same BSB and account number into Deep Space by hand. When a subcontractor changed banks, one copy got updated and the other quietly went stale. Nobody found out until a payment bounced, or worse, went somewhere it shouldn't. This update makes Xero the single source of truth. Deep Space now pulls subcontractor and supplier bank details straight from Xero into Payment Details, locks them so they can't drift, and puts a human check in front of every change before the next payment run. Features Sync bank details from Xero, with a preview before anything changes User Story As an accounts lead, I used to maintain subcontractor bank details in Xero and again in Deep Space, so I can now keep them in Xero only and let Deep Space follow. Before Payment Details in Deep Space were entered by hand. Nothing connected them to the bank details already held against the same contact in Xero. After A new Sync bank details from Xero option sits under Contacts in Admin > Finance > Finance Integrations > Sync Configuration. It is off by default and only works while the Contacts sync is on. Turning it on opens a preview first. It counts what will be updated, what is already up to date, and what will be skipped: contacts with invalid bank details in Xero, contacts with no bank details, companies not linked to a Xero contact, and companies that match more than one Xero contact. Invalid entries are named so you can fix them in Xero. Nothing is written until you click Apply. After that, bank details refresh on every Contacts sync, either the daily automation or Sync Now. Impact One place to maintain bank details, and a clear picture of exactly what will change before it changes. (1) The new Sync bank details from Xero option, nested under Contacts. (2) It only runs while the Contacts sync is enabled. (1) The preview counts every linked company before anything is written. (2) Invalid bank details in Xero are named and skipped. Managed by Xero: Payment Details you can't accidentally overwrite User Story As a contract administrator, I used to edit a subcontractor's bank account in Deep Space without knowing whether Xero agreed, so I can now see at a glance that the account is coming from Xero. Before Anyone with access could change Payment Details in Deep Space, and the change never reached Xero. After For every company linked to a Xero contact, Payment Details shows a Managed by Xero badge and the bank fields are read-only. To change the account, change it in Xero and it updates on the next Contacts sync. Every update lands in Change history with the source Xero sync, the date and time, and the old and new account number masked to the last three digits. Companies that aren't linked to Xero stay editable as before. Turn the setting off and the fields unlock, keeping the last synced values. Impact The account printed on your RCTIs and BCTIs is the account in Xero, every time. (1) The Managed by Xero badge on Payment Details. (2) Changes are made in Xero and arrive on the next Contacts sync. (3) Change history records each update as Xero sync. Bank-change alerts and a verify banner User Story As an accounts lead, I used to find out a subcontractor's bank account had changed only after a payment went out, so I can now confirm every change with the subcontractor before the next payment run. Before A bank detail change was silent. Nothing prompted anyone to check it was genuine. After When Xero changes an account Deep Space already held, two things happen. An email goes to the workspace's Remittance Email (or to Admin users if that's blank) naming the company and showing the masked old and new account numbers. And Payment Details shows a banner: the date the details changed in Xero, and a reminder to confirm with the subcontractor before the next payment run. Turning the setting on for the first time doesn't trigger alerts, only changes after that do. Impact A changed bank account can't slip through unnoticed. That's the gap payment-redirection fraud relies on. (1) The banner on Payment Details after a change arrives from Xero. (2) The change logged in Change history with masked before and after values. Mark as verified, with a name and a timestamp User Story As a finance manager, I used to have no record of who checked a new bank account, so I can now see exactly who verified it and when. Before If someone did call the subcontractor to confirm new details, there was no trace of it in the system. After Once you've confirmed the new account with the subcontractor, an admin clicks Mark as verified. The banner clears and Change history records Verified by with the user who verified it and the time. If another change arrives from Xero while the banner is open, the older banner can't be verified: the page reloads and shows the newer change instead. Impact An audit trail for every bank account change, from Xero to the person who confirmed it. (1) Mark as verified clears the banner and logs who verified it and when. How it fits together Bank details changed in Xero > Contacts sync runs (daily or Sync Now) > Payment Details updated and marked Managed by Xero > Change history logs it as Xero sync > alert email to your Remittance Email > banner on Payment Details > Accounts confirms with the subcontractor > Mark as verified > next RCTI or BCTI carries the confirmed account. How to run it, step by step Admin, once per workspace Go to Admin > Finance > Finance Integrations > Sync Configuration and make sure Contacts is enabled. Turn on Sync bank details from Xero. Read the preview. Fix any invalid or ambiguous contacts in Xero if you want them included. Click Apply. Check the workspace Remittance Email is the inbox Accounts watches. Accounts, whenever a subcontractor changes banks Update the bank account against the contact in Xero. Wait for the next Contacts sync, or run Sync Now. When the alert email arrives, call the subcontractor on a number you already hold (not one from the email or the request) and confirm the new account. Open the company's Payment Details in Deep Space and click Mark as verified. Getting it set up Works with Australian and New Zealand Xero organisations. Australian accounts sync as BSB and account number. New Zealand accounts sync in the bank, branch, account and suffix format. Companies must already be linked to a Xero contact through the Contacts sync. Deep Space never matches by name. To enter bank details against a contact in Xero, your Xero user needs Xero's bank account admin permission. Without it, the bank fields in Xero are greyed out. The full guide is here: Sync Bank Details from Xero: Payment Details, Alerts and Verification. Frequently asked questions Does Deep Space ever write bank details back to Xero? No. The sync is one way, Xero into Deep Space. What happens if a contact's bank account is blank in Xero? Nothing. A blank in Xero never clears an account already held in Deep Space. What about bank name and SWIFT/BIC? They aren't touched by the sync. Why didn't a company update? One of these: it isn't linked to a Xero contact, it matches more than one Xero contact, the bank details in Xero are invalid or blank, or the Contacts sync hasn't run since the change. The preview on first turn-on counts each of these. Can I still edit bank details in Deep Space? For companies not linked to Xero, yes. For linked companies, change them in Xero, or turn the setting off to unlock them. Who gets the alert email? The Remittance Email set for your workspace. If that's blank, every Admin user.