---
title: "How to find every software subscription in Xero"
description: "Use Xero's expenses-by-contact reporting to total spend by supplier, export it, and rank your software lines. No connection; nothing leaves your browser."
canonical: "https://lopifi.com/savings/how-to/find-software-in-xero"
---

# How to find every software subscription in Xero

> Use Xero's expenses-by-contact reporting to total spend by supplier, export it, and rank your software lines. No connection; nothing leaves your browser.

Source: https://lopifi.com/savings/how-to/find-software-in-xero
Part of: Lopifi — US GAAP books on autopilot, checked by a CPA (https://lopifi.com)

---

Series: Find the spend. Reviewed 2026-10-25.

Xero totals spend by contact, which for software means by supplier. Run it for twelve months, export it, and you have the list of what the company pays for before opening a single vendor account.

## Run the contact report

Xero Central documents an Expenses by Contact report. Open Reports, search for it by name, set the date range and the basis you keep your books on, run it, and export it. Xero's report export menu is where the spreadsheet formats live; labels vary by region and plan, so check the page linked below.

1. **Find the report.** Open Reports and search for “Expenses by Contact”.
2. **Set the period.** Set twelve months so annual plans show up. Choose the accounting basis your books use.
3. **Export.** Run it, then export the result to a spreadsheet format.

## Catch what the report hides

A report is only as complete as the contacts behind it. If half your tools are paid by card with no contact, start from the card account instead.

- Charges coded straight from a bank feed carry whatever contact was set on the statement line. Search the bank and card accounts for the tool's name.
- Annual plans show once. Compare against last year's report for plans that went up.
- The same tool under two contact names (a trading name and a legal name) is two lines.

## Rank it

Open the [free audit](https://lopifi.com/savings/audit) and choose the exported file or paste the contact and total columns. It matches lines to the apps we cover and ranks them, in your browser, with nothing sent anywhere.

## Common questions

### What if my Xero does not show that report?

Search the Reports menu for the report by name. Xero's help center documents an Expenses by Contact report; if your plan or region shows a different name, a report that totals spend by supplier or contact is the one you want.

### Can we find tools that are paid by card without a bill?

Yes. Look at the bank account and card account transactions for the tool's name, or its statement descriptor, and add them to the list by hand in the audit.

### What period should I use?

Choose a twelve-month period. A short period misses annual plans, which are the largest single lines and the easiest to cancel on time.

## Sources

- [Xero Central: Expenses by Contact report](https://central.xero.com/0/article/Expenses-by-Contact-report) (read 2026-10-25)

## Keep going

- [Find it in QuickBooks Online](https://lopifi.com/md/savings/how-to/find-software-in-quickbooks): Run the vendor-totals report in QuickBooks Online, export it, and see every software line ranked by cost, in minutes and without connecting anything.
- [The audit checklist](https://lopifi.com/md/savings/how-to/software-spend-audit-checklist): Pull twelve months of vendor spend, rank it, and find annual charges, duplicates, seat creep and owners. A checklist you can finish in an afternoon.
- [How connecting will work](https://lopifi.com/md/savings/how-to/connect-quickbooks-xero): What the planned QuickBooks Online and Xero connection reads, what it never changes, how you revoke it, and the no-connection route that works today.
- [How we get paid](https://lopifi.com/md/savings/how-to/how-we-get-paid): How a saving is counted: a free audit, then a share of the license saving we verify against your own bills, net of what the replacement costs to run.
- [Run the free audit](https://lopifi.com/savings/audit)
- [All how-to guides](https://lopifi.com/md/savings/how-to)

*General information, not tax, legal or accounting advice.*