1. Turn on Direct Expense as an Extraction Type
Enable Direct Expense for your entity
Go to Entity Settings → Features
Under Document Extraction Types
Toggle Direct Expense ON
Once enabled, Tofu can extract already-paid expenses such as receipts, cash purchases, or card-paid expenses.
2. Configure Direct Expense Settings for Xero
Go to Settings → Integrations → Xero
Open the Xero configuration panel
Under Direct Expenses, choose your preferred sync settings.
Click Activate to save.
Recommended Settings
Auto-Publish ON
Automatically sends verified Direct Expenses from Tofu to Xero.Allow Tax Amount Override
Lets you manually adjust tax amounts in Tofu when needed.Self-Prompt (recommended for new entities)
Tofie learns from your accounting data and applies rules automatically.
📌 Note:
For existing entities with an active Xero integration, Self-Prompt won’t appear in the integration settings.
To update it, go to:
Settings → Entity Knowledge Base → Select Direct Expense → Click Self-Prompt
🔔 Auto-Import:
Auto-Import is not supported for Direct Expenses. You can still manually Import updates from Xero at any time.
3. Upload a Direct Expense Document
Go to the Source Documents column
Click Upload document
Select a receipt or expense file
Tofu will extract the document as a Direct Expense.
💡 Recommended: Connect Google Drive, SharePoint or Email
For the easiest Direct Expense workflow, we recommend integrating Google Drive, SharePoint or Email with Tofu. Once connected, any direct expense you upload to your chosen folder or send via email attachment will automatically sync into Tofu, so you don’t have to upload documents manually every time.
4. Review the Extraction and Publish
Open the extracted Direct Expense from the Extractions column
Review the extracted details such as:
Contact
Bank account
Date
Line items
Tax rate/code (if applicable)
Tracking categories (optional)
💡 Tip:
To show Account Type automatically next to account names:
1. Go to Entity Settings → Features → Accounting
2. Enable Account Type
3. Return to review — Account Type will show automatically.
If this setting is disabled, click the “+” icon in the Account column to view Account Type.
Optional: Combined Line Items
If Aggregate Line Items is enabled for your organization, you’ll see a Combined Line Items button during Direct Expense review.
Use this to merge multiple line items into a single summarized line
Helpful when receipts contain many small line items
The combined line description uses the first line item’s description
Multiple Receipts in One File
If a file contains multiple receipts:
Use Multi-Receipt Cropping before extraction
Each receipt will be created as its own Direct Expense
Publishing to Xero
🔔 Note:
You may see a Publish Error until a Bank Account is selected. This is expected.
Select the Bank Account used to pay the expense
Make any necessary adjustments
Click Save Draft, then Publish
If Auto-Publish is ON, saving will automatically publish the expense to Xero.
💡 Tip: Train Tofie to Auto-Select Bank Account
You can teach Tofie to choose the correct bank account automatically.
Click Tofie in the top-right corner
Set Knowledge Type to Direct Expenses
Enter an instruction, for example:
“Always select Main Bank Account for Direct Expenses.”
Click Generate, then Save
Future Direct Expenses will automatically use this bank account.
5. Make Changes in Xero and Sync Back to Tofu
Open Xero
Make changes to the expense if needed (e.g, tax, category, or amount)
Go back to Tofu
Click Import
Any updates made in Xero will be reflected back in Tofu.
Important notes
No automatic back-sync: Changes made in Xero won’t automatically sync back into Tofu for Direct Expenses.
Tax accuracy matters: Make sure totals and line items are consistent with the chosen tax treatment to avoid validation issues.
✅ You’re All Set
Your Direct Expenses are now flowing from Tofu to Xero and staying in sync.
This allows you to work efficiently, keeping your expense records accurate and up to date.