Summary
- The short answer: onboard one entity first, run it in manual mode for a week, then clone that setup across the rest. A group rollout usually takes about three weeks.
- Start with one entity: the first organisation is your template. Get the workflows, wording and exclusions right once rather than troubleshooting the same problem fifteen times.
- What you need from IT: a one-click approval to let Trove send via Outlook. That’s the only technical step.
- Manual mode comes first: Trove prepares every payment reminder and tells you when it’s due to be sent, but in manual mode you still have to approve them.
- Clone the process: each new entity inherits the process but keeps its own sender address, so no client is ever chased by the wrong business.
- Switch to automatic mode: Once you are happy with the process across all entities, you can switch to automatic sending to remove the final bit of admin from your plate.
The rollout, week by week
| Week | What happens | What’s involved |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Account setup and first Xero connection | Create your Trove account and connect the Xero account for your first entity. |
| 1 | Outlook sending permission | If you use Outlook, your IT admin will approve Trove to send on your behalf. One click. |
| 2 | Onboarding call (30 minutes) | We finalise the workflows for entity #1 and set Trove to manual mode. |
| 3 | Add the remaining entities | Once you’re happy with entity #1, we clone the process to the rest on a second short call. |
| 3 | Go live | Once you have run Trove in manual mode for a few days, you’re ready to switch to automatic sending. |
Week 1: Start with one entity
The first entity is your template. You set up the reminders, statements and exclusions once, check the emails read the way you’d want a client to receive them, and confirm the right customers and invoices are being chased.
That last part matters more than it sounds. Most groups have accounts that must never be chased: clients who pay automatically, or ones who react badly to a reminder. Getting those exclusions right on one org means you’re not discovering the problem across fifteen.
It’s also worth a quick tidy of the Xero org you’re starting with. It doesn’t need to be spotless, but the cleaner the customer and invoice data going in, the less you’ll adjust later.
Week 1: Give Trove permission to send via Outlook
For chasers to send from your own address rather than a platform’s, Trove needs permission to send through Outlook. This usually needs an IT admin to approve it, and it’s a single click on their side. Here’s exactly what that approval does and how to grant it.
If your group runs on Microsoft, this is also the step that connects Trove to the rest of your stack, so reminders can land in Teams later on.
Week 2: Run the first entity in manual mode for a week
On the onboarding call we set Trove to manual mode. Trove prepares every chaser and tells you the day it’s due to go, but nothing sends until you say so.
For a week you check the emails look right, confirm the correct customers and invoices are excluded, and get a feel for the cadence. You can start sending for real straight away if you’re happy, or leave everything as drafts while you build confidence. Nothing reaches a client that you haven’t seen.
That week is the whole point of a staged rollout. It’s cheap to change anything at this stage and expensive to change it after fifteen orgs are live.
Week 3: Clone the setup across the remaining entities
Once entity one works the way you want, the rest are quick. You clone the workflow into each new org, so you’re not rebuilding reminders one, two and three every time.
Each entity stays self-contained and sends from its own address, so a client of one business never receives an email that looks like it came from another. Cloned workflows still use the relevant Xero entity’s contacts, so reminders always go to the right person. You can customise per entity wherever payment terms or policies differ.
If your group runs credit and risk checks, the CreditSafe integration is usually the final step, added once every entity is live and settled.
Week 3: Go live across the group
After the remaining entities are checked, you’re set. You can leave any org in manual mode for as long as you like, or switch it to automatic so chasers send on schedule without you clicking.
Different entities can run in different modes, so a newer business can stay manual while your established ones run on autopilot.
Onboarding a group entity by entity: in summary
Onboarding a portfolio doesn’t mean migrating everything at once. Get one entity right, watch it for a week in manual mode, then clone it across the group. Four weeks, one process, no surprises to your clients.
This is the practical version of running one consistent credit control process across multiple entities in Xero.
Trove runs a free 30-day trial and takes about five minutes to connect your first Xero organisation.
FAQ
How long does it take to onboard a group of companies?
About four weeks for a typical portfolio. Roughly a week to set up and check your first entity, a week running it in manual mode, then a week to clone the process across the remaining entities before going live.
Do we have to onboard every entity at once?
No, and we’d recommend you don’t. Start with one entity, prove the process works, then roll out the rest. There’s no limit on how long you take between steps.
Will anything go out to our clients before we’re ready?
Not unless you send it. Every entity starts in manual mode, which means Trove drafts the chasers and flags when they’re due, but you approve each one. You can stay in manual mode indefinitely.
Do we need to clean up Xero before we start?
It helps but it isn’t essential. A quick review of the first org’s customers and contacts means less adjusting later. You can also import a list of customers who should never be chased rather than excluding them one by one.
Does each entity need its own login?
No. Every entity sits under one umbrella login, as long as each one has its own Xero organisation. You switch between them in one place rather than logging in and out.
