Important Note
Before you begin, make sure you've already connected Retention Track to Xero — the Fergus integration builds on top of that connection. If you haven't done this yet, see [Connecting to Xero] before continuing.
Step 1: Adding Your Retention Accounts to Fergus
Fergus needs to know which Xero account to allocate retention to when you create an invoice. To set this up:
1. In Fergus, go to the Integration Centre and open the Xero configuration page.
2. Create a new sales account code — name it "Retention Debtors" (or similar, to match what you've set up in Xero).
3. Link it to the corresponding Retention Debtors account in Xero.
This ensures that every time you record retention on a Fergus invoice, it flows through to the right place in Xero automatically.
Step 2: Create a "Retention Withheld" price book entry
Rather than manually entering retention amounts on each invoice, you can set up a custom price book entry that makes it a one-tap addition. To do this:
1. In Fergus, go to Settings and open your Price Book.
2. Create a new entry with the following details:
Item name: Retention Withheld
Cost price: $0.00
Retail price: -$1.00
Sales account: Retention Debtors (the account you linked in Step 1)
Setting the retail price to -$1.00 means it acts as a template — you'll adjust the amount on each invoice to match the actual retention being withheld.
You're all set. When creating invoices in Fergus, simply type "Retention Withheld" to add the line item, enter the correct retention amount, and issue the invoice. It will push through to Xero with the retention correctly separated — ready to be added to a contract in Retention Track.