Xero can email a file attached to an invoice, but only on a manual send, only when a box is ticked, and never on an invoice reminder. To send your own invoice PDF as the invoice, on reminders and in the customer portal, you need an app that reads the attachment on the Xero invoice and uses it in place of the PDF Xero generates.
Anyone whose invoice is born somewhere other than Xero. The invoice is raised in a system built for the work, it syncs into Xero as a ledger record, and Xero rebuilds the document from the line items using its own branding theme. The customer was sent the original on day one. The rebuilt version is the one every follow-up now carries.
The reasons the customer wants the original are the same every time. The purchase order (PO) number and reference are on it. Their accounts payable (AP) system reads it with optical character recognition (OCR). Their security policy stops staff from clicking links in emails. Several comments on Xero's ideas board come from suppliers to government departments and listed companies, whose AP teams reply to a reminder asking for the PDF, which puts the invoice back at the start of the approval queue.
Xero has two separate switches, and both are per invoice. On the invoice, each attached file has an Include with online invoice option, which makes the file visible on the online invoice page. When you email the invoice, the send window has an Include files as attachments checkbox, which attaches the files to that email. Xero community manager Kelly Munro confirmed on 29 July 2025 that the checkbox follows the last invoice the user sent, resets in incognito mode or after a browser reset, and that Xero has no plans to change the send window in the near term.
Invoice reminders are a different path. A reminder carries a link to the online invoice and, if you enable it, a link to the Xero PDF. It never carries an attachment, and it never carries the PDF as a file. Whatever you attached to the invoice, the reminder does not know it exists.
| What you want | Manual send from Xero | Xero invoice reminder | Xero online invoice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero's own PDF attached | Yes | No, a link only | Viewed on the page |
| Your attached file sent as an extra | Yes, when the box is ticked | No | Yes, when marked Include with online invoice |
| Your attached file sent instead of the Xero PDF | No | No | No |
| Works without a tick on each invoice | No | Not applicable | No |
Both live on Xero's ideas board, and both describe this exact job.
| Request | Posted | Votes | Status | Xero's last word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Invoice: include files attached to an invoice when sending | 14 December 2022 | 538 | Not in pipeline | 29 July 2025. Xero has "no intentions of changing behaviour of how the send modal works in the near term" and suggests adding standard files to the invoice template. Comments are closed. |
| Invoice reminder: auto include PDF of invoice | 21 March 2023 | 99 | Submitted | No response from Xero as at 3 September 2026. |
The template suggestion works for a static terms document. It does nothing for the invoice PDF itself, which is different on every invoice.
The figures above were read on 3 September 2026. Xero's ideas board updates live, so open the linked threads for the current count before quoting them.
Everything downstream depends on the file sitting on the invoice record in Xero. There are three ways to put it there.
Check the invoice sync options in the system that raises the invoice. Some tools document sending attachments with the invoice, as Synergist does. Others document invoice data only. The two PSA connectors we read in September 2026, Cloud Depot's invoice sync options and Wise-Sync's ConnectWise Marketplace listing, describe invoice numbering, status, line formatting and contact matching, and do not mention the PDF. That is not proof the feature is missing. Ask the vendor the exact question: does the sync attach our generated invoice PDF to the Xero invoice?
The Xero API accepts an attachment on a sales invoice in a single call, with a flag that also marks it for the online invoice:
Zapier's Xero app has an Upload Attachment action that takes a resource and a file, with a limit of 10 attachments per resource. Make, n8n and Power Automate need an HTTP request step with the file as the body. Trigger it from the event that creates the invoice and it runs unattended.
Open the invoice in Xero, click Attach files, and upload the PDF. Tick Include with online invoice if you also want it visible on Xero's online invoice page. This is fine for a handful of invoices a month. Above that, use one of the routes above.
Whichever route you use, decide the filename once. Every generated invoice PDF should carry the same recognisable text, such as INV- or the name of the system that made it. A consistent name is what lets an app pick the right file without a person looking at it, and it is easy to forget when the integration is first set up.
Paidnice reads the attachments on each Xero invoice. With one setting, it uses the file whose name matches your prefix in place of the Xero-generated PDF: on every reminder, one-off send, late fee or discount email, and in the portal.
| Fallback | What happens | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Use the Xero generated PDF | Xero's PDF goes out for that invoice. | Only some invoices carry an attached file. |
| Send with no PDF attached | The email goes out with the portal link and no invoice file. Save as PDF is unavailable for that invoice in the portal. | The portal page is enough for your customers. |
| Don't send, report an error | Nothing is sent, and the action is reported as an error so you can see which invoices are missing their file. | Customers must never receive the Xero template. |
What does not change: the wording and design of your email templates, the files you attach to a template such as terms and conditions, the separate Include invoice attachments option that sends the other files on the Xero invoice as extras, and the portal's invoice details and payment options. Only the invoice PDF itself is swapped.
The full setup, the matching rules and troubleshooting are in the help centre: Alternative Invoice PDF.
The reminder on day seven arrives with the same PDF the customer approved on day one, so the PO number, the itemised lines and your layout are on it. When they open the portal and choose Save as PDF, they get the same document. When their AP system reads the attachment by OCR, it finds the fields it was set up for. The follow-up carries the evidence, and the "please resend the invoice" reply stops arriving.
For MSPs this closes the last gap in the MSP credit control process. The PSA keeps owning the invoice document, Xero keeps the ledger, and the reminders, late fees and statements run from the ledger with the PSA's document attached.
No. Xero reminders include a link to the online invoice and, if enabled, a link to the PDF. Attaching the PDF or any file to a reminder has been an open request since 21 March 2023, with 99 votes and no response from Xero as at 3 September 2026.
Not with a setting. Xero remembers the last choice per user and browser. Xero marked the 538-vote request for a default "Not in pipeline" on 29 July 2025 and suggested adding standard files to the invoice template instead.
Open the invoice, click Attach files, and upload from your computer or pick from the Xero file library. Tick Include with online invoice to show it on the online invoice page. Integrations and automations can do the same through the Xero API.
Send a PDF. The matched file is delivered as the invoice, so any other format confuses the customer and their AP system.
Paidnice uses the first match. Keep one generated invoice file per Xero invoice, and give supporting documents a different naming pattern.
Alternative Invoice PDF is a Xero feature at present. QuickBooks organisations can still send attachments as extras, and merge the invoice and its attachments into a single PDF for AP portals.
Yes. On the Pro plan, reminders send from your own domain, with the alternative PDF attached.
Attach the generated PDF to the Xero invoice with a consistent name, switch on Alternative Invoice PDF, and every follow-up from then on carries the right document. Connect Xero to Paidnice, no credit card required, or book a 20-minute setup call and we will configure it with you.
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