When you need to refresh the connection
The connection with Xero, QuickBooks, and FreeAgent expires from time to time. When that happens, exports and the chart-of-accounts sync stop working until the folder is reconnected.
You will usually see one of these signs:
The message "Your connection to Xero (or QuickBooks, or FreeAgent) has expired, please go to folder settings and reconnect."
A "Forbidden access" error on a document that fails to export.
The chart of accounts, tax codes, or tracking categories not updating after a change in your accounting software.
👉 Why does this happen?
Accounting software providers refresh their security tokens periodically (Xero, for example, typically every 30 days). Datamolino cannot bypass this - the folder needs to be reconnected so a new token can be issued.
How to refresh the connection
👉 How to do a simple refresh of connection?
To do a simple refresh of connection to sync ledger accounts, tracking categories etc., take these steps:
Open the folder that shows the connection error.
Open the Folder Menu in the top right of the folder.
Click on Refresh.
Wait a few minutes and check if the missing ledger account, tracking category, tax code, etc. appeared.
👉 How to do a hard reset of connection?
To do a hard reset of the connection, you disconnect the folder and then connect it again. Both steps are done from the folder itself.
Open the folder that shows the connection error.
Open the Folder Menu in the top right of the folder.
Click Disconnect.
Datamolino disconnects the folder and immediately shows the connect screen.
Click Connect to Xero (or the equivalent button for QuickBooks or FreeAgent) and complete the authorisation flow.
Once reconnected, any failed exports can be retried. If a document still shows an old error message, click Dismiss on the error and export the document again.
Folders sharing the same connection
👉 Do I need to refresh every folder separately?
If you are on a business account with multiple folders connected to the same Xero organisation, reconnecting one folder also reapplies the connection to its sibling folders that share the same setup. On accounting practice accounts, each folder is reconnected on its own.
If the error keeps coming back
If exports still fail with "Forbidden access" or a similar error after a successful refresh, the cause is usually on the accounting software side rather than the connection itself - typically the user account used to reconnect does not have the rights to create or approve documents in Xero or QuickBooks.
👉 What should I check?
Your user role in the accounting software. You need permission to create and edit invoices, bills, or bank transactions in Xero, QuickBooks, or FreeAgent. Ask your accounting software administrator to confirm your role.
The export status you are using. If you export documents as "Awaiting Approval" or "Awaiting Payment" to Xero, you also need rights to move documents into that status in Xero. As a quick test, change the Approval Status of one document to Draft and export it - if that works, the issue is your Xero user permissions, not the Datamolino connection.
For details on this specific scenario, see Xero export errors and how to fix them.