How Xero Temporary Contacts Are Processed

Source: temporary_xero_contacts_controller.rb

• When processing temporary contacts, type "V" creates a Vendor record and type "C" creates a Customer record; contacts left unassigned are skipped
• Opening balance is pulled from accounts payable (for vendors) or accounts receivable (for customers); if neither has a balance, the cash_or_account setting defaults to the company-level default
• The created_by field on new customer/vendor records is tagged with a "XERO_" prefix so staff can identify system-created records
• After a temporary contact is successfully processed into a customer or vendor, the TemporaryXeroContact record is destroyed — it does not remain as a historical record

Support scenarios

• "I processed a temporary contact but now I can't find it" → Once processed, the temporary record is destroyed. The new customer or vendor record will have "XERO_" in the created_by field — search the customer/vendor list instead.
• "Some temporary contacts aren't appearing for processing" → Contacts that already matched by ContactNumber or ContactID during sync would have been linked directly, skipping the temporary stage. Only unmatched contacts with no customer/vendor flag land here.