Archive every receipt and attachment for record keeping: a guide for Xero users

Xero has no button to download all attachments at once: you open each transaction and save each file. To keep your own copy of every receipt and supplier bill, export the attachments in bulk with a tool that reads them and saves them as dated ZIP files with an index. This guide covers why to keep them, what Xero lets you do on its own, a checklist, and a way to pull them out in one run.

Checked against Xero Central on 12 October 2026.

Why keep your own copy

• Record retention. The UK government says a limited company must keep accounting records for 6 years from the end of the last company financial year they relate to, or longer in some cases (GOV.UK: company and accounting records, checked 12 November 2026). Other countries set their own periods, so check yours with your accountant.
• Audits and tax enquiries usually ask for the receipts and supplier invoices behind a whole year, often at short notice.
• Grant and funding applications can ask for several years of invoices.
• Closing a company. The records still have to be kept after trading stops.

The native way: what you can export

1. Reports and ledgers. Xero lists what can be exported out of the system, including contacts, invoices and bills, the chart of accounts and reports (Export data out of Xero).
2. Invoices and bills as CSV. Up to 500 transactions per export (Export invoices and bills). That is the data, not the files attached to it.
3. The attached files, one by one. Open each transaction, open the file and download it (View, download and delete files in transactions).
4. The document library. Accounting > Documents, open a file, click the download icon (Organise your document library).

Where the native way runs out

• The data exports leave the files out. The list of exportable data does not include files attached to transactions.
• There is no bulk download. Xero's reply on the bulk export request (close to 700 votes), dated 20 November 2025, says it is not in its plans at the moment and points to third-party apps.
• The library may be incomplete. Xero says a file attached from your device to a bill or expense claim is saved to the library archive automatically, but for other transactions, including invoices, it is saved there only if you uploaded it to the library first (Attach a file to a transaction).
• Names tell you nothing. A file keeps the name it was uploaded with, so scan001.pdf does not say which supplier, date or number it belongs to.
• You cannot prove you got everything. Nothing in the manual routes counts the files for you.

A checklist for a clean archive

1. Decide the period: one financial year, or everything you must retain.
2. Include sales invoices, bills and credit notes, and spend and receive money if your receipts are attached there.
3. Keep an index that ties each file to its Xero document: number, contact, date and amount.
4. Check the count: files you expected against files you got.
5. Store the ZIP files where your retention policy covers them, with a second copy, and note the date you made them.
6. Repeat each year.

For the step-by-step export, see the guide to downloading all attachments and receipts.

The faster way: Unapprove

Unapprove is a web app that works with Xero. Its attachment export reads the files attached to your documents and streams them to you as ZIP files. The export only reads: nothing in your books changes.

How a run goes

1. Connect: you sign in at Xero and choose the organisation.
2. Scan, which is free. It reads which documents have files attached and how big they are, for sales invoices, bills and credit notes, and for bank transactions if you tick them. Leave the dates empty for everything, or set a range.
3. Read the totals: documents, files and size. That is your count to check against.
4. Download the ZIP parts. Each part holds up to 200 files and 300 MB, and a document's files stay together in one part.
5. Open manifest.csv and compare.

What you get

• Folders by document type, year and month, and names that carry the date, number and contact, for example Bills/2025/2025-03/2025-03-14_INV-8812_Acme Supplies_receipt.pdf.
• A manifest.csv with one line per file: its path in the ZIP, document type, number, reference, date, contact, status, total, currency, original file name, size, the result, and the Xero document and attachment identifiers.
• A file that Xero will not hand over is not skipped silently. It is listed in the manifest and in _ERRORS.txt.
• Voided documents' files are included. Deleted documents' files are left out, because deleted documents are not part of the books.

Time and limits. The export runs at about 55 files a minute, so 3,000 files take about an hour. Xero also limits how many API calls an organisation may make in a day; if a part cannot finish today, it stops and you start it again later. The scan's results are kept for 30 days. Fair use is 5 GB per organisation per 30 days. It does not cover the library inbox, or files attached to quotes, purchase orders, manual journals or contacts: for those, use the manual routes above.

What access it asks for: the same connection as the clean-up tools, including read and write on invoices and attachments, plus read-only on settings and contacts. Bank transactions need one more read-only permission, requested only if you tick them.

What it never does: see your Xero password, change your books during an export, or keep your files. Each file is streamed from Xero to your download and is not stored.

Price: the scan is free, and the free trial (14 days, three documents processed in total) includes one sample download of 25 files, enough to check the layout. Downloading everything needs a plan: $29 per month per connected organisation, or a one-off $49 Clean-up Pass for 30 days with unlimited documents, where the export is included. For a one-off archive, the pass is the shape that fits. Prices in USD, excluding VAT / sales tax; Paddle adds any that applies at checkout. The pricing page has the details.

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Questions

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