---
title: "Mapping Xero accounts for Administrators - Payhawk Help Center"
slug: "mapping-payhawk-categories-to-the-xero-chart-of-accounts"
description: "Map Payhawk categories to the Xero chart of accounts, update them from the Fields library, and see where expenses with unmapped categories end up in Xero."
updated: 2026-10-27T15:49:45Z
published: 2026-10-27T15:49:45Z
canonical: "payhawk.com/mapping-payhawk-categories-to-the-xero-chart-of-accounts"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://payhawk.com/help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Mapping Payhawk categories to the Xero chart of accounts

Payhawk supports user-friendly options for mapping the chart of accounts in Xero with the respective accounting categories in Payhawk.

When you connect to your Xero organisation for the first time, Payhawk automatically pulls the available chart of accounts. Later, you can manually update them at any time.

> [!WARNING]
> Expenses with categories that are not mapped to Xero chart of accounts will be automatically mapped to the **Payhawk General** expense account which Payhawk creates in Xero.

To synchronise your categories from Xero with the corresponding Payhawk categories, follow the steps:

1. [Connect Payhawk to Xero](/help/connecting-payhawk-to-xero).
2. In the [Payhawk Web Portal](https://portal.payhawk.com), go to **Settings** > **Fields library**.
3. Click on **Category**.
4. Click on the **Update from Xero** button.
5. Select **Add a category** or choose an existing one.
6. Map your existing Payhawk categories with the corresponding Xero chart of accounts by clicking on the desired category, choosing the account under **Account code** in the panel that opens. Then, click on **Save**.

![Category in the Payhawk Fields library with the Add category and Update from Xero buttons and the account codes from Xero.](https://cdn.payhawk.com/Adm%3AIntegrations%3AXero/xero_category_update_from_xero_20261020_ai.png)
  - Alternatively, you can delete a category by selecting its checkbox and clicking on **Delete** under **Operations** in the panel that opens.
  - You can also create your own category by clicking on the **+ Add category** button.

## Next steps

- [Exporting expenses to Xero](/help/exporting-expenses-and-payments-to-xero)