Data flow: Capture and your accounting platform
This page gives a high-level picture of the data that moves between Otto Capture and your accounting platform, and sets out what Capture does and doesn’t change. The exact data read and written, and the names each platform uses, differ by platform, so for the precise lists see the Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks Online pages.
Data flow diagram
Section titled “Data flow diagram”Synced both ways
Contacts
↔
Contacts
Reference data read from your platform
Accounts / categories
←
Accounts / categories
Tax rates
←
Tax rates
Currencies
←
Currencies
Organisation details
←
Organisation details
Data published to your platform
Processed documents
→
Bills, invoices, credit notes
The diagram shows the shape that’s common to every platform. The detail varies: Xero’s chart of accounts is FreeAgent’s categories, Xero’s tracking categories are classes on QuickBooks Online and don’t exist on FreeAgent, attachment support differs, and on QuickBooks Online Otto publishes bills and purchase credit notes only. Capture can add a currency during review on Xero and QuickBooks Online only, so the diagram doesn’t show it. See the Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks Online pages for the exact lists.
What Capture reads
Section titled “What Capture reads”To process and publish documents, Capture reads reference data from your client’s accounting platform: contacts, the accounts or categories you code line items to, tax rates, currencies, and basic organisation details such as base currency and tax registration. Xero clients also sync tracking categories, and QuickBooks Online clients sync classes where the company tracks them on each line. FreeAgent has neither. This data is used only to suggest and validate values during extraction and review. For the exact fields and the names each platform uses, see what syncs on the Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks Online pages.
Opening the currency converter also fetches a published reference exchange rate from an external rates service, which draws on rates published by central banks and other official sources, to show the rate that applied on the document’s issue date. Only the two currency codes and the date are sent. No client, document, or organisation data is included.
For Xero clients using Missing receipts, bank transactions reach Capture only in a file you export from Xero and upload yourself. Capture doesn’t read them through the connection. It refreshes the client’s bank accounts from Xero to check the file belongs to that client.
For FreeAgent clients using Missing receipts, Capture reads the client’s bank accounts and their unexplained transactions through the connection, only when you click Fetch transactions, and only for the date range you choose. See Importing from FreeAgent.
Sync timing
Section titled “Sync timing”- On connection: A full sync runs immediately when you connect a client
- Manual refresh: You can trigger a sync from the client configuration page at any time
What Capture publishes
Section titled “What Capture publishes”When you publish a document, Capture creates a bill, sales invoice, or credit note on your platform, carrying the line items, tax, currency, due date, and the matched contact. If you added a new contact during review, that contact is created first. The original document is attached where the platform supports it. Publish states and attachment limits differ by platform: see publishing to Xero, FreeAgent, and QuickBooks Online.
What Capture does NOT modify
Section titled “What Capture does NOT modify”Capture has a limited scope within your accounting platform. It does not:
- Modify or delete existing bills, invoices, or contacts
- Access payroll or employee data
- Modify your chart of accounts or categories, tax rates, or any settings, other than adding a currency when you choose to add one (see below)
- Access reports or financial statements
- Delete any data
Capture only reads reference data (contacts, accounts, tax rates) and creates new bills, invoices, credit notes, contacts, and attachments. On Xero and QuickBooks Online, it can also add a currency to the client’s organisation or company where the client can use more than one currency, but only when you choose to add one while reviewing a document.