How Tracking Categories Are Applied to Invoices
Socket supports up to two tracking categories per invoice line, which matches Xero's two-slot limit. Each slot works differently.
Tracking Category 1 (Primary Slot)
This is set at the client level, via the Tracking Category field in the client's invoicing settings. It applies to every invoice line for that client, regardless of the service. If nothing is set here, this slot will be empty.
Tracking Category 2 (Secondary Slot)
This uses a fallback system with two possible sources:
Service-level tracking category - if the service template has a tracking category assigned, this takes priority
Client owner's tracking category - if the service has no tracking category assigned, Socket falls back to the tracking category set on the client's owner (team member)
The service-level setting always takes priority over the client owner setting.
Practical example: practices with multiple partners
Say your practice has a main partner per client, but bookkeeping is handled centrally:
Tracking Category 1 is set on the client's invoicing settings to the client partner (e.g. "Partner A") and appears on every line
For bookkeeping lines: if the Bookkeeping service template has a tracking category assigned (e.g. "Central Bookkeeping Team"), that will be used for Tracking Category 2
For other services (e.g. Tax, Accounts): if no service-level tracking category is set, Socket falls back to the client owner's tracking category (e.g. "Partner A")
This means you can track bookkeeping work to the central team while everything else stays attributed to the client partner, with no manual configuration needed per client.
Things worth knowing
Tracking Category 1 and 2 must come from different Xero tracking category groups (e.g. TC1 from "Partner" and TC2 from "Department")
If invoice lines are consolidated into a single line, only Tracking Category 1 from the first line is preserved
Alignment fee lines always use the client owner's tracking category for the secondary slot - service-level tracking categories do not apply to alignment fees
Tracking categories are currently supported for Xero only
How It Displays in Xero
The tracking category information will be visible on the invoice in your Xero account, allowing you to easily filter and run detailed reports.
On the Invoice: When you view an invoice in Xero that was sent from Socket, you will see the tracking category and its assigned option next to each line item.
In Reporting: In Xero, you can use the tracking category as a filter for your reports.
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