Why Xero invoices go to spam (and how to fix it)

Xero says the invoice was sent. Your customer never saw it. You're not alone: sending invoices from your own email address has been one of the most requested features on Xero's ideas board since 2013.

Why it happens

Xero sends invoice emails from its own shared address, messaging-service@post.xero.com. You can set your business name and a reply-to address, but the email itself still comes from Xero.

• Shared senders get extra scrutiny. Many businesses send through the same Xero address, and scammers imitate invoice emails, so spam filters are cautious with it.
• Strict company mail policies. Universities, larger companies and government customers often quarantine mail from bulk senders, sometimes where the recipient can't see it.
• No history with your customer. Your customer's mailbox trusts people they've emailed with. It has no history with Xero's sender.

Five fixes, easiest first

1. Ask customers to whitelist post.xero.com and check junk and quarantine. It helps, but big organizations often won't change their rules for one supplier.
2. Set your reply-to address in Xero's email settings so replies and questions reach you.
3. Keep attachments small and avoid unnecessary files on invoices.
4. Send the PDF from your own mailbox. Download the invoice PDF from Xero and email it from Outlook or Gmail. It lands best, but it's manual.
5. Automate the send from Outlook. A connector can take the approved invoice from Xero and send it from your Outlook or Microsoft 365 address automatically, then mark it sent in Xero. That's what we're building (see below).

Is Xero fixing this?

Xero's ideas board shows the request as "in discovery," with no release date announced. Until it ships, fixes 1 to 5 are the options.

Disclosure: Code The Cloud makes the early-access tool mentioned above. The other fixes on this page work without it.