Organise your Xero attachments into the folders your business uses

Example folder structures and file names

Your choice of folders and file names is called a layout. These examples show how three kinds of business use a custom layout. Each example gives the need, the setting and the result. All the company names are fictional. You can also combine the fields in other ways: see Fields you can use in a layout.

File names that say what each file is

A marine fleet management company sends files to the owners of the ships it manages. Each file name must show what the file is, so that an owner does not have to open it. The company keeps the default folders and changes only the file names.

File names: Type code, Date, Contact, Total, Currency

files/
|-- banktransactions/
|   `-- SPEND_2025-02-03_Sodor-Port-Authority_150-75_USD_<Xero-ID>.pdf
`-- invoices/
    |-- ACCPAY_2025-01-14_Globex-Corp_1234-50_EUR_<Xero-ID>.pdf
    |-- ACCPAY_2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_880-00_EUR_<Xero-ID>_001-of-002.pdf
    `-- ACCPAY_2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_880-00_EUR_<Xero-ID>_002-of-002.jpg

Numerint adds the Xero ID after the other fields, so that each name is unique.

Folders by supplier or customer, then year and month

An accounting practice gives files to a tax authority, such as HMRC, the ATO, SARS or Inland Revenue, when the authority asks for them. The practice keeps bills apart from sales invoices, and sorts both by supplier or customer, then by year and month. Each file name starts with the Xero ID, followed by the item's number.

Folders: Record type, Type code, Contact, Year, Month
File names: Xero ID, Number

files/
|-- banktransactions/
|   `-- SPEND/Kwik-E-Mart/2025/01/
|       `-- <Xero-ID>_RCPT-8841.pdf
|-- invoices/
|   |-- ACCPAY/
|   |   |-- Dunder-Mifflin/2025/01/
|   |   |   |-- <Xero-ID>_DM-0153.pdf
|   |   |   |-- <Xero-ID>_DM-0198_001-of-002.pdf
|   |   |   `-- <Xero-ID>_DM-0198_002-of-002.pdf
|   |   `-- Planet-Express/2025/01/
|   |       `-- <Xero-ID>_PE-0042.pdf
|   `-- ACCREC/
|       `-- Riverside-Hotel/2025/01/
|           `-- <Xero-ID>_INV-0042_GENERATED.pdf
`-- manualjournals/
    `-- MANJOURNAL/(No-Contact)/2025/04/
        `-- <Xero-ID>_Monthly-depreciation.pdf

A bank transaction has no number, so its name uses the Reference. A manual journal has no number and no Reference, so its name uses the Narration. A manual journal also has no contact, so it goes in the (No-Contact) folder. When a field has no value gives the rules.

Folders by project, using Xero tracking categories

A production company records the costs of each project in Xero with a tracking category. The company wants all the files for a project in one folder, sorted by account code. The layout has no file name fields, so each file name has the date, the contact and the type code, then the Xero ID.

Folders: Tracking option, Account code

files/
|-- (No-Tracking-Option)/
|   `-- (No-Account-Code)/
|       `-- 0000-00-00_Reel-Deal-Studios-Ltd_CONTACT_<Xero-ID>.pdf
|-- P101-Summer-Campaign/
|   |-- 310/
|   |   `-- 2025-01-14_Reel-Deal-Studios-Ltd_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf
|   `-- 420/
|       `-- 2025-01-20_Phil-A-Ment-Lighting_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf   (copy 1)
`-- P102-Product-Launch/
    `-- 420/
        `-- 2025-01-20_Phil-A-Ment-Lighting_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf   (copy 2)

The bill from Phil-A-Ment Lighting has one line for project P101 and one line for project P102, so its file is in both project folders. A file attached to the contact Reel Deal Studios Ltd has no project and no account code, so it goes in the placeholder folders.

How to get custom folders

1. Use the Ask for custom folders button to open an email that lists the details we need.
2. Fill it in. Point to an example on this page, or describe your own using the fields you can use in a layout.
3. We set up the layout for your Xero organisation, at no extra cost. Each organisation can have its own layout.
4. Your next backup, and every scheduled backup after it, uses the new folders and names. The CSV index updates to match, so a spreadsheet or script can still find every file.

We are a small team based in the UK. A complete first email lets us set up your folders without writing back, whatever your time zone. To change or remove a layout later, email us again. If the button does not open your email, write to info@numerint.com.

What the Xero export ZIP file contains

Each backup gives you one ZIP file, containing a workbook, a CSV file, a data folder and a files folder. This is the default layout:

Your_Company_2025-12-01_0930Z_backup.zip
|-- Your_Company_2025-12-01_0930Z.xlsx        (the workbook)
|-- Your_Company_2025-12-01_0930Z_data.csv    (the CSV index)
|-- data/                                     (the JSON records)
`-- files/
    |-- banktransactions/
    |   `-- 2025-02-03_Business-Account_150-75_Sodor-Port-Authority_SPEND_<Xero-ID>_001-of-001.pdf
    |-- invoices/
    |   |-- 2025-01-14_Globex-Corp_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>_001-of-001.pdf
    |   |-- 2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>_001-of-002.pdf
    |   `-- 2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>_002-of-002.jpg
    `-- manualjournals/
        `-- 2025-04-30_Monthly-depreciation_MANJOURNAL_<Xero-ID>_001-of-001.pdf

The ZIP file name starts with your organisation's name, followed by the date and time (UTC) the backup started.

The files folder has one folder for each record type, for example invoices, banktransactions and manualjournals. A default file name has these parts, with an underscore between them:

In each part, a space becomes a dash. A fixed asset has a different default name: the asset number, the asset name and the position, for example FA-0012_Delivery-van_001-of-001.pdf.

The workbook, the CSV index and the JSON records

Each part of the ZIP file has a different use:

The CSV index: one row for each line

The CSV file has one row for each line of each accounting item. A bill with three lines has three rows. If a line uses more than one tracking category, the line has one row for each tracking option. An item with no lines, such as a contact, has one row.

Each row has 65 columns. These are the columns that you use most:

AttachmentFolder gives the folder that holds the files, and AttachmentFilenames gives their names, separated by " : ". With a custom layout, both columns show the new folders and names, so the CSV always matches the ZIP file.

For example, to collect all the bills from one supplier, filter the rows by Type ACCPAY and by Contact.Name. Then use AttachmentFolder and AttachmentFilenames to find the files. If you record each client as a tracking option, filter by LineItem.Tracking.Option to collect all the bills for one client. With a scheduled backup, you can repeat the same steps after each backup.

Files from earlier backups

Numerint keeps every file it collects. Each backup adds any new or changed files, so the ZIP file holds the files from all your organisation's backups so far. If you chose to have Numerint delete your data when you disconnected, your next backup collects all the files again, and you pay for them again.

The accounting data is always complete. The workbook, the CSV rows and the JSON records include all the data, even when you use filters. Filters change only which files Numerint collects. If a filter leaves out a record type or a date range, Numerint does not collect the files of those items. If no earlier backup collected them, AttachmentFolder and AttachmentFilenames are empty in their rows.

Accounting items with more than one file

An accounting item in Xero can have more than one attachment. For example, a bill can have the supplier's invoice and a delivery note. Numerint gives each file a number that shows its position and the total number of files: 001-of-002, then 002-of-002. The default layout adds this number to every file, even when an item has only one file. A custom layout adds it only when an item has more than one file.

On the Filters page, the options Generate Customer Invoice PDFs, Generate Credit Note PDFs, Generate Quote PDFs and Generate Purchase Order PDFs add the PDF that Xero makes for each sales invoice, sales credit note, quote and purchase order. The sales invoice option is on by default. Each of these PDFs has GENERATED in its name, so you can tell it apart from the files you attached.

Default layout:
  2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>_001-of-002.pdf
  2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>_002-of-002.jpg
  2025-01-31_Riverside-Hotel_ACCREC_GENERATED_<Xero-ID>_001-of-001.pdf

Custom layout (Type code, Date, Contact, Total, Currency):
  ACCPAY_2025-01-14_Globex-Corp_1234-50_EUR_<Xero-ID>.pdf
  ACCPAY_2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_880-00_EUR_<Xero-ID>_001-of-002.pdf
  ACCPAY_2025-01-20_ACME-Fuel-Co_880-00_EUR_<Xero-ID>_002-of-002.jpg

Why a file can be in more than one folder

A file is attached to a whole accounting item, for example a bill. But Account code and Tracking option belong to the lines of the bill, not to the whole bill. A bill can have many lines with different account codes. Each line can also have more than one tracking option.

If you build folders from Account code or Tracking option, one bill can belong in several folders. Numerint then puts a copy of the bill's files in each of these folders, so the same file is in the ZIP file more than once. Lines that lead to the same folder share one copy. The bill from Phil-A-Ment Lighting in the project example shows this.

For example, a bill from Reel Deal Studios Ltd has four lines. The layout uses Tracking option, then Account code:

Line 1: project P101, account 310
Line 2: project P101, account 420
Line 3: project P102, account 420
Line 4: project P101, account 420

files/
|-- P101-Summer-Campaign/
|   |-- 310/                  (line 1)
|   |   `-- 2025-02-10_Reel-Deal-Studios-Ltd_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf
|   `-- 420/                  (lines 2 and 4)
|       `-- 2025-02-10_Reel-Deal-Studios-Ltd_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf
`-- P102-Product-Launch/
    `-- 420/                  (line 3)
        `-- 2025-02-10_Reel-Deal-Studios-Ltd_ACCPAY_<Xero-ID>.pdf

A line can also use two tracking categories, for example Project and Region. Then the line has one CSV row for each option, and Numerint puts a copy in the folder of each option. Project folders and region folders are then at the same level.

Each copy has its own row in the CSV, with its own AttachmentFolder. Each copy also makes the ZIP file larger. To prevent copies, use only fields that belong to the whole item, for example Type code, Contact and Date.

When a field has no value

Some record types do not have every field. For example, a manual journal has no contact, and a fixed asset has no date. When a field has no value, Numerint uses a placeholder. A text placeholder starts with a bracket and a date placeholder is all zeros, so these folders sort to the top of a list.

The Number field has fallbacks. Numerint uses the item's number, or its Reference if there is no number, or its Narration if there is no Reference. It uses (No-Number) only when all three are empty.

What each field gives for each record type

Each record type fills different fields. This table shows the result for each record type in the files folder.

Fields you can use in a layout

A layout has two lists of fields: one for the folders and one for the file names. Numerint makes one folder level for each folder field, in the order you give, and joins the file name fields with underscores. If a layout has no folder fields, Numerint keeps the default folders. If it has no file name fields, the file names use the date, the contact name and the type code, then the Xero ID.

How Numerint makes names safe

Some versions of Windows cannot extract a ZIP file that has very long file paths. Some operating systems and ZIP tools also do not accept some characters in a name.

• A space becomes a dash.
• The decimal point in a total becomes a dash.
• A character that Windows does not allow in a name (< > : " / \ | ? *) becomes X.
• In a folder name, two or more dashes in sequence become one dash.
• A folder name that Windows keeps for its own use, such as CON or NUL, gets an underscore after it.
• A folder name that is too long is cut. It then ends with ~ and a code of four characters. The code keeps the name unique, and the name stays the same from one backup to the next.
• In a file name longer than 180 characters, Numerint shortens the field values. It does not shorten the date, the type code, the Xero ID, GENERATED, the position number or the extension.

Questions about custom folders