1. Turn on Direct Expense as an Extraction Type
❗ Note: Direct Expense is an early feature and requires multi-type extraction to be enabled by your organization owner.
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
Enable Auto-Publish - Automatically sends verified Direct Expenses to Xero.
Allow Tax Amount Override – Lets you manually adjust tax amounts in Tofu.
Self-Prompt - For newly added entities, Tofie learns from your accounting data and applies your rules automatically.
Note: For existing entities that already have a Xero integration, Self-Prompt won’t appear in the QuickBooks configuration settings. To update it, go to:
Settings → Entity Knowledge Base → Select Direct Expense → Click Self-Prompt
These settings help Tofie AI keep your data clean and consistent across both systems, reducing manual work.
🔔 Note: Auto-import is disabled by default, but 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 amount type
Line items
Tax rate/code (if applicable)
Tracking categories (optional)
🔔 Note: You may notice a publish error at this stage. This is normal until the bank account is selected under Account.
Select the Bank Account used to pay the expense
Make any adjustments if needed
Click Save Draft, then Publish
💡 Tip: Train Tofie to select your Bank Account automatically
Click Tofie in the upper-right corner of Tofu
In Knowledge Type, select Direct Expenses
Enter your instruction in the prompt, for example:
“Always select Main Bank Account for payment for Direct Expenses.”
Click Generate, then Save
Now, when you re-extract the same document or uploading documents moving forward, Tofie will automatically select the bank account for you.
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.