Xero can't consolidate several organisations into one set of group reports, and it isn't coming soon. The request on Xero's own ideas board has been open since 2012, has 278 votes, and in July 2025 Xero said consolidated reporting is "not currently planned". So if your group runs several Xero files, you have four realistic ways to get rid of the monthly consolidation spreadsheet, simplest first: line up the chart of accounts and tracking across every entity so the spreadsheet becomes mechanical; use a consolidation add-on from the Xero App Store; have your accountant run the consolidation as part of the monthly service; or build a reporting layer that pulls every file together automatically. Which one fits depends on how messy your intercompany is and whether you need operational data alongside the finance figures.
Why groups end up with several Xero files
Few groups plan to run five Xero files. It happens one sensible decision at a time:
- Structure for tax and asset protection. An operating company, a trading trust, a company that owns the property or the plant, and maybe a family trust. Each is a separate legal entity, so each gets its own file.
- A new site or brand. A second branch or a new line of business is set up as its own company to keep it clean.
- An acquisition. You bought a business and kept its books as they were. (If that's your situation, our post on bringing an acquired business onto your systems covers the order to do things in.)
- A New Zealand or overseas entity that has to report in its own currency.
Each file is fine on its own, but the owner, the bank and the board want to see the group. Xero's July 2025 response on the ideas board acknowledged that people want consolidated profit and loss reports and intercompany handling "without the need for manual exports and external spreadsheets", and pointed them to app partners in the meantime. Source: Xero Product Ideas, "Reporting - ability to consolidate multiple Xero organisations".
What the monthly spreadsheet looks like
In most groups, it goes like this. After each file is reconciled, someone exports the profit and loss and balance sheet from every organisation to Excel. They paste each one into its own tab of a consolidation workbook. A mapping tab lines up each entity's accounts against a group layout. An eliminations tab takes out the management fees, recharges and loans between the companies. A summary tab adds it all up, and the result gets copied into the board pack or emailed to the bank.
It works, but only while the person who built it is there, everyone closes on time, and nothing in any file changes shape.
Where it goes wrong
Intercompany that doesn't match
The operating company charges the property company a management fee. One side codes it to "Management fees received", the other to "Consulting", or posts it a month later. The eliminations tab assumes both sides agree, so when they don't, revenue and expenses are overstated or the loan balances don't net to zero.
Eliminations done by hand
Every month someone decides what to eliminate and types in the numbers. A new recharge or a stock sale between entities only gets picked up if that person knows about it.
Different charts of accounts
One file has "Motor Vehicle Expenses" as one account, another splits it into fuel, rego and repairs, and the acquired business uses its old numbering. The mapping tab copes until someone adds a new account in one file. The new account doesn't appear in the mapping, so its balance quietly drops out of the group total, or lands in "Other". Our post on cleaning up your chart of accounts covers the tidy-up for a single file; across a group, it's the same job done to an agreed group layout.
Timing
The consolidation can only start once the slowest entity has closed. If one file is a fortnight behind on bank reconciliation, the whole group is a fortnight behind. Late journals posted after the export mean the board pack and the bank's figures no longer agree, a familiar case of systems giving different numbers.
Currency
An NZ or overseas entity has to be translated into Australian dollars. The usual approach is average rates for the profit and loss and the closing rate for the balance sheet, with the difference going to a translation reserve. In a spreadsheet, that means looking up rates every month and hoping the same method is used each time.
The options, simplest first
1. Make every file line up
Before buying anything, make the files consistent. This alone turns the spreadsheet from a judgement exercise into a mechanical one, and every other option needs it anyway.
- Agree a group chart of accounts layout. Each entity can keep accounts it alone needs, but the shared ones (wages, rent, vehicle costs, revenue types) use the same names and codes in every file.
- Set up dedicated intercompany accounts in each file: an amount owed to each related entity, an amount owed by each, and separate accounts for management fees, recharges and interest. Never post intercompany to general revenue or expense accounts.
- Agree a monthly intercompany match. Before anyone exports, each side confirms the balances with the other entity and fixes differences in Xero, not in the spreadsheet.
- Use tracking the same way everywhere. If one file tracks by branch and another by job, the group can't report by either. Remember Xero only allows two active tracking categories per organisation, so choose them for the group, not file by file.
- Set a close timetable. Every entity reconciled and locked by an agreed day, so the consolidation starts from final numbers.
For a group of two or three entities with simple intercompany, this may be all you need.
2. A consolidation add-on
The Xero App Store has a category of consolidation and group reporting apps. In general they connect to several Xero organisations, let you map each file's accounts to a group layout once, handle eliminations and currency translation, and produce consolidated profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow reports. They're charged as a subscription, and pricing often rises with the number of entities, which some users on the Xero ideas thread object to.
An add-on usually suits an all-Xero group with standard intercompany that needs monthly finance reports. Before committing, check how it handles intercompany loans and stock sales between entities, whether it can include a MYOB file, how it treats a new unmapped account, and what it costs as you add entities.
3. Have your accountant run it
Some accounting firms run the group consolidation as a monthly or quarterly service. This suits groups that only need consolidated numbers for the bank, the board or the tax return. You give up some control over timing and layout, and the groundwork in option 1 still makes their job quicker.
4. A reporting layer
A reporting layer pulls data from every Xero organisation (and any MYOB file) through the API on a schedule, stores it in a reporting database, applies the mapping and elimination rules there, and presents the group in Power BI or similar. It flags unmapped accounts and intercompany balances that don't agree, rather than letting them disappear. We've written about how that build works in our post on a multi-entity finance dashboard for Xero and MYOB, so we won't repeat it here.
When it needs a proper connection to operational data
A consolidation tells you what the group made, not why. Often the real question is margin by site, job or customer across entities, and that detail lives in job management, inventory, rostering or CRM systems, not in Xero.
That's when consolidation stops being only an accounting exercise. Signs you're there:
- Entities trade stock or labour with each other every week, and recharges are worked out from another system.
- Shared staff are paid by one company and charged to the others from a timesheet or rostering system.
- You need group figures weekly or daily, not a month after the fact.
- Some entities are on Xero and some on MYOB, or one is moving between them.
In these cases, the recharges and intercompany entries themselves should be created from the operational data and posted to both sides automatically, so they match by design. That's the integration work behind our Xero and MYOB multi-entity and intercompany service, and our Xero and MYOB integration and migration guide covers the wider picture.
When it's worth getting help
You can do option 1 yourselves with your accountant, and many groups should start there. It's worth bringing someone in when the spreadsheet depends on one person, when intercompany differences take hours to chase every month, when the group spans Xero and MYOB, or when you need operational figures alongside the accounts. If you'd like the whole picture mapped before deciding, our $5,000 Process & Systems Audit reviews your entities, charts of accounts, intercompany arrangements and reporting, and gives you a written report with the options. Anything we build is scoped and given a fixed quote after a free initial chat.
Frequently asked questions
Can Xero consolidate multiple organisations?
No, not as a built-in feature. Each Xero organisation is a separate business, and Xero said in July 2025 that consolidated reporting is not currently planned. Groups use the spreadsheet, a consolidation app from the Xero App Store, their accountant, or a reporting layer.
How do I eliminate intercompany transactions between Xero files?
Post all intercompany amounts to dedicated intercompany accounts in each file, agree the balances with the other entity each month, and then remove both sides in the consolidation. If the two sides don't match, fix it in Xero before consolidating, not in the spreadsheet.
Do all our entities need the same chart of accounts?
Not identical, but the shared accounts should use the same names and codes, and every account needs a place in an agreed group layout. That's what makes consolidation mechanical rather than a monthly judgement call.
Can we consolidate a Xero file and a MYOB file?
Yes. Some consolidation apps handle both, and a reporting layer can pull from both APIs and map them to one group layout. Check this before choosing an app if you have a mix.
If your group still runs on a monthly consolidation spreadsheet and you'd like to know which of these options fits, book a free initial chat.