How to add subtotals to a Xero invoice

Xero invoices have no subtotals: every line goes into one list with one total. Here is every way people work around it, what each one costs you, and how to get real sections with a subtotal under each one.

What Xero's invoice has

Xero's invoice is one list of lines, with one subtotal, VAT and total at the end. You can't group lines into sections with their own subtotals.

So the question is which workaround costs you least.

The usual workarounds

1. Split the work into several invoices

One invoice per room, site or phase. Each has its own total, so the client sees what each part cost.

The catch: more invoices to send, chase and reconcile, and the client still adds them up to see the whole job. Payment terms and reminders multiply too.

2. Type the subtotal into a description line

Add a line with no price whose description says something like "Subtotal kitchen: £680.00".

The catch: you calculate it by hand on every invoice, and Xero does not check it. Change one quantity and the typed subtotal is silently wrong.

3. Edit the PDF outside Xero

Export the invoice, rebuild it in a spreadsheet or PDF editor with subtotals, and email that instead.

The catch: the document your client has no longer matches the invoice in Xero, which causes trouble with queries, credit notes and audits. It also takes the longest.

4. Customise a DOCX invoice template

Xero lets you upload your own invoice layout as a Word (DOCX) template, and some people build grouped layouts with Word fields and careful line entry.

The catch: the templates are fragile and hard to test; they break when someone edits them, and the totals per group are still not calculated for you.

5. Tracking categories

Tag lines with a tracking category (for example, by site) and report on it in Xero.

The catch: great for your own reports, but tracking categories do not appear as subtotals on the invoice your client receives.

Sections and subtotals with SectionTotal

SectionTotal adds the missing piece without changing how you work in Xero:

Write the invoice as usual. Start each part with a line that has only a description, such as Room 104: kitchen; that becomes the section heading. End the part with a line whose description is Subtotal.
Approve it with the SectionTotal branding theme. You create that theme once in Xero. Invoices with other themes are left alone.
Your client gets the breakdown. Usually within a few minutes we prepare a PDF with each section and its subtotal, email it to your client, attach it to the invoice in Xero and mark the invoice sent.

Lines, totals and VAT stay exactly as Xero calculated them. If the sections don't add up to Xero's totals, the invoice is held and nothing is sent.

Try it free for 30 days Read the set-up guide

Which option should you use?

A one-off invoice with two parts: a typed description line is fine.
Regular invoices covering several jobs, rooms or sites: separate invoices or an app.
Accountants and bookkeepers billing many clients: an app that works from Xero's own figures, so nothing is typed twice.