Finance and accounting
What happens to your Xero data when you stop paying
Only the subscriber can cancel a paid Xero subscription. There is a one-month notice period. You are still billed, and everyone can still open the organization during that month. Xero recommends that you export during the notice period. After the month, Xero archives the data. The retention period varies by region, and the data is permanently deleted when that period ends.
| Rule | What changes |
|---|---|
| When you stop paying | Only the subscriber can cancel a paid Xero subscription. |
| Deletion events | 3 events. See the timeline below. |
| Export | 4 steps. See the steps below. |
| Who can export | The person who can open Contacts and run the smart list can export it. |
| What the export requires | This file is the smart-list contact export, saved as CSV. |
| Recovery after deletion | The US FAQ says that after you cancel, the data in that subscription is archived and held in Xero. |
What Xero does when you stop paying
Only the subscriber can cancel a paid Xero subscription. There is a one-month notice period. You are still billed, and everyone can still open the organization during that month. Xero recommends exporting during the notice period. After the month, Xero archives the data for record-keeping. You can reactivate during the retention period, and that period varies by region, so there is no single deletion day. If the subscription is still canceled when the period ends, the data is permanently deleted. You can ask Xero support to delete it sooner. The US FAQ says a US subscription can be opened again for up to seven years by reactivating, unless you have asked for deletion. Xero explains what happens when you stop paying in Cancel your Xero subscription. For the other tools you still pay for, read what happens to company data when you cancel software. Closing this subscription while the company closes is part of how to wind down a company.
Deletion timeline for Xero
| Event | After | What the vendor says |
|---|---|---|
| Notice period | When the vendor deletes it | A paid cancellation has a one-month notice period. You are still billed, and all users can still open the organization. Xero recommends exporting during this month. |
| Archive | When the vendor deletes it | After the notice period Xero archives the organization's data for record-keeping. You can reactivate within the retention period. That period varies by region. |
| End of retention | When the vendor deletes it | If the subscription is still canceled at the end of the retention period, the data is permanently deleted. You can ask Xero support to delete the data permanently sooner. |
See Xero in the deletion-window dataset beside the other systems.
Export your Xero data before you cancel
The export confirmed here is the smart-list contact CSV, not a single file of the ledger. From the Contacts menu, select All contacts. Open the Smart lists tab and run the search. Select all customers, or the individual checkboxes. Click Export, then CSV. You can send the same list to Constant Contact instead. The file is those contacts. Save it during the notice month, while everyone can still open the organization. After the archive starts, nobody can open the data until you reactivate.
The cross-vendor checklist is what to do before canceling software when closing a business.
From the Contacts menu, select All contacts.
From the Contacts menu, select All contacts.Open the Smart lists tab and run the search whose contacts you need.
Open the Smart lists tab and run the search whose contacts you need.Select all customers, or the individual checkboxes.
Select all customers, or the individual checkboxes.Click Export, then select CSV.
Click Export, then select CSV.
Who can run the export
Only the subscriber can cancel. That person may be an accountant or a bookkeeper. The person who can open Contacts and run the smart list can export the CSV. Those can be different people. Ask the subscriber before the notice month ends, and have someone who can open Contacts run the export while the organization is still open. Reactivation later is how the US FAQ says you reach archived data again, for up to seven years, unless you asked for deletion.
What to keep from Xero
Xero holds the company's books. The smart-list CSV is the contacts from one search. A licensed copy can keep that CSV. Names, emails, phone numbers, customer and staff details, passwords, and legal files are removed before any copy is shared. Invoices, bills, and reports are not inside that contact file. Keep any other download you already made beside the CSV, and save both outside Xero before the notice month ends. Once the data is archived, the US FAQ says nobody can open it until you reactivate.
- Contacts exported from a smart list as CSV
Removed before sharing:
- Names, emails and phone numbers
- Customer and staff details
- Passwords and legal files
Read what data is shared when licensing company data before you decide which of the items below can stay.
Plan-specific caveats
The retention period varies by region. The US FAQ's seven years is the US figure for getting the data back by reactivating, not a deletion day to copy onto every country. A request to delete the data ends that access. The one-month notice is still billed, and canceling one subscription does not cancel the others on the same login. A trial cancellation is a different set of steps on the same article. Export the contacts, and anything else you still need, before the archive.
What a licensing program can use from finance and accounting
A licensing program can keep ledger entries as the record of invoices, bills, and the accounts they posted to.
A contact CSV is a different file from a QuickBooks report zip. Read what happens to your QuickBooks Online data when you cancel, what happens to your HubSpot data when you cancel, and what happens to your Salesforce data when you cancel.
Xero is named on accounting firm data for AI research.
Related
- What's shared
Which records can be licensed, which details never leave, and what you approve.
- How it works
The six steps from a short enquiry to payment, and how to stop.
Questions about Xero cancellation
Can deleted Xero data be recovered?
The US FAQ says that after you cancel, the data in that subscription is archived and held in Xero. While it is archived, nobody can open it. You can get access again for up to seven years by reactivating the subscription, unless you have asked for the data to be deleted. You can also ask for the archived data to be deleted.
Do we need a paid Xero plan to export everything?
This file is the smart-list contact export, saved as CSV. It contains the customers you selected in that search. Open Contacts, then All contacts, then the Smart lists tab, and run the search before you export. You can send the same list to Constant Contact instead of downloading the CSV.
How long can a US Xero subscription be reactivated after you cancel?
The US FAQ says the data is archived after you cancel, and nobody can open it while it stays archived. You can get access again for up to seven years by reactivating the subscription, unless you have asked for the data to be deleted. The cancel article says the retention period varies by region, so a subscription outside the US can follow a different period. There is no single deletion day on the row.
What does a Xero smart-list export contain?
The smart-list export is a CSV of the customers you selected in that search. From Contacts, open All contacts, then the Smart lists tab, run the search, and click Export, then CSV. You can send the same list to Constant Contact instead. The file is those contacts. It is the export the smart-list article describes, and you should run it during the one-month notice while the organization still opens.
Sources
- Xero Central. Cancel your Xero subscription. Checked 2026-11-04
- Xero Central. Work with smart lists. Checked 2026-11-04
- Xero. Frequently asked questions. Checked 2026-11-04