ReportPilot

Never generate Xero reports manually again. ReportPilot pulls the data, formats it, and sends it to your inbox on schedule - so you never have to lift a finger.

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Inspiration

I got sick of pulling the same reports from Xero every week. This is absolutely a 'scratch your own itch project'. The process was always the same: log in, click around, download, rename, attach, send. It takes ages in Xero to get what you want 'report-wise', it's a job too small to outsource but too annoying to keep doing manually.

So I built something that does it automatically - using Bolt!

What It Does

ReportPilot connects to Xero and automatically sends key financial reports, like P&L, Balance Sheet, and Aged Receivables, to any inbox, on a schedule you define. You choose the report and timing, and it handles the rest. No dashboards, no fiddling, just the report when you need it.

How I Built It

The whole project was built inside Bolt.new.

  • Netlify now hosts the frontend
  • Supabase handles authentication, secure storage (with RLS), and runs the backend via Edge Functions
  • Supabase also does the corn scheduling
  • Xero OAuth provides secure access to financial reports
  • SendGrid delivers reports via email (CSV or HTML format) (and the HTML can be downloaded as pdf)

Challenges We Ran Into

  • Xero’s OAuth wasn’t designed with serverless flows in mind — token refresh was tricky.
  • Scheduling jobs was something I had to figure out. Started with Github, then openCron, eventually realised I can run it natively in Supabase!
  • Formatting readable financial reports from raw API responses took longer than expected
  • Email formatting for HTML reports is always a time sink

Accomplishments That I'm Proud Of

  • Pulled off secure, scheduled reporting with zero backend server
  • UI is clean, fast, and easy - no fluff, no unnecessary steps
  • Hit the goal of “connect once, then forget about it”
  • Did it all inside the Bolt platform, using recommended integrations (Supabase & Netlify)

What I Learned

  • It's possible to code EVERYTHING in Bolt, without touching a line of code myself AT ALL
  • Supabase RLS is rock solid for isolating user data and super easy to implement
  • OAuth + Edge Functions is totally doable
  • Bolt is more capable than expected, especially for lightweight SaaS ideas
  • Cron workflows are still underrated

What's Next for ReportPilot

  • Add PDF generation for styled reports
  • Support more Xero report types
  • Add multi-recipient options and templated emails
  • Build a “shareable link” feature for teams
  • Look into supporting QuickBooks or MYOB down the line
  • Create graphs and different ways to represent business financial health for different users

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