This article explains how you can capture orders in the Onsight mobile app when you are offline, and how those orders later sync through into Xero once you are back online.
Overview of how we send orders to Xero when offline
Onsight is built for outside sales teams who need to take orders in the field, even when mobile coverage is patchy or completely unavailable.
The typical flow is:
- A sales rep creates an order in Onsight while offline.
- The order is saved on the mobile device.
- When the device has connectivity again, the order syncs to the Onsight server.
- After the order reaches the Onsight server, it is synced to Xero via the Onsight Xero connector.
This means your reps can keep taking orders without waiting for a signal, and your office team can fulfil the order and invoice from Xero as soon as the device reconnects and uploads the order.
What “offline mode” means in Onsight
When you are offline, the Onsight mobile app cannot communicate with the Onsight server, and it cannot communicate with Xero.
Instead, Onsight uses offline technology so the app can continue to function:
- Your product catalogue, pricing, customers, and stock on hand are downloaded to the device ahead of time.
- Orders and quotes created while offline are stored locally on the device.
- When you reconnect, a sync process uploads the stored order back to the server.
In other words, offline mode means the app runs from a local copy of your key data, so you can keep working even without internet access.
How to ensure reliable data for offline work
When you log in for the first time, the app needs to download your data set (products, customers, pricing, and stock). Depending on how much data your account contains, that initial sync can take a few minutes. After that, Onsight typically performs incremental syncing, which means it only pulls down recent changes and is usually completed in seconds.
Data only synchronises when you are online. If you want to be sure everything is current before heading into poor coverage, you can manually trigger a sync. If you know you are going somewhere with limited reception, we recommend syncing before you go offline. This also helps ensure any orders you capture during the day will be ready to send into Xero as soon as you reconnect.
To manually trigger a sync:
- Tap the back button until you can see the hamburger icon (3 horizontal lines).
- Tap the hamburger icon and then tap ‘Sync data’.
- Depending on how many changes need to be downloaded, the sync can take a few seconds or a few minutes.
Alternatively, you can log out and log back in again to achieve the same result.
Product and customer updates will sync automatically to your device. This includes:
- New products
- Updates to existing products
- Updated product prices
- Stock updates
- New customers
- Updates to existing customers
How to capture an order when you are offline
You can create a sales order in the Onsight app while you are offline. The steps are the same as when you are online.
- Tap Customers and select the customer you want to create the order for.
- Tap Products, browse your catalogue, and tap the + button to add items to your cart.
- Tap the cart icon to review the draft order.
- From the draft order screen, you can place the order immediately by tapping Create Order.
- Or, tap Next to add extra details such as fees, payment method, delivery address, delivery date, contact person, sales rep, and customer signature, and then tap Create Order.
If you are offline, the order is stored on your device and will sync automatically the next time you have an internet connection. After syncing, you will receive an email containing the order PDF.
How the offline orders get sent to Xero once you are back online
When your device reconnects, syncing happens in two stages.
Stage 1: Mobile device to Onsight server
As soon as the app detects you are online, it uploads any offline activity, including:
- Orders created while offline
- Quotes created while offline
- New customers created while offline
At this point, the order is safely stored on the Onsight server.
Stage 2: Onsight server to Xero
Once the order is on the Onsight server, the Onsight Xero connector sends it into Xero. Typically, Onsight orders are sent to Xero as invoices in the ‘Draft’ state, and Onsight quotes are sent to Xero as quotes. After reviewing the draft invoice in Xero, your office team can submit and approve it, then send it to the customer as normal.
This two-stage design matters because it means the mobile device does not need a direct connection to Xero while your reps are on the road. It only needs to reconnect long enough to sync with the Onsight server, and then the Onsight-to-Xero sync completes automatically.