Document data extraction and import into CRM.

Document data extraction and import into CRM.

I've been trying to solve this for a while and I can't come up with a workable solution:

In our business, we utilize many subcontractors around the world (without Zoho user accounts) to produce reports and client sites which they then submit back to us for review, we then issue certification accordingly.

Currently reports are created using a word template and data is manually extracted for the review process, analysis and recording within both CRM and external MS spreadsheets.

How can we streamline this for data collection / extraction?

Key limitations:
Subcontractors do not have Zoho users.
Reports are generated offline and browsers can't be used.
We do not want to duplicate any processes (i.e have the subcontractor input data twice).

The ideal function would be an upload portal, link or form that the subcontractor uses to upload a word document; this is then processed by Zoho to extract requisite data and updating fields within CRM and triggering next actions.

Any input welcome.

Thank you,

Daniel


    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho CRM Functions 53: Automatically name your Deals during lead conversion.

      Welcome back everyone! Last week's function was about automatically updating the recent Event date in the Accounts module. This week, it's going to be about automatically giving a custom Deal name whenever a lead is converted. Business scenario Deals are the most important records in CRM. After successful prospecting, the sales cycle is followed by deal creation, follow-up, and its subsequent closure. Being a critical function of your sales cycle, it's good to follow certain best practices. One such
    • User Tips: Auto-Create Opportunity/Deal upon Quote Save (PART 1)

      Problem: We use quotes which convert to sales orders but Users / Sales Reps do not create opportunities / deals and go straight to creating a quote. This leads to poor reporting. Implementing this solution improves reporting and makes it easier for users.
    • Custom Function : Automatically send the Quote to the related contact

      Scenario: Automatically send the Quote to the related contact.  We create Quotes for customers regularly and when we want to send the quote to the customer, we have to send it manually. We can automate this, using Custom Functions. Based on a criteria, you can trigger a workflow rule and the custom function associated to the rule and automatically send the quote to customer through an email. Please note that the quote will be sent as an inline email content and not as a PDF attachment. Please follow
    • Function #50: Schedule Calls to records

      Welcome back everyone! Last week's function was about changing ownership of multiple records concurrently. This week, it's going to be about scheduling calls for records in various modules. Business scenario Calls are an integral part of most sales routines.. Sales, Management, Support, all the branches of the business structure would work in cohesion only through calls. You could say they are akin to engine oil, which is required by the engine to make all of it's components function perfectly. CRM
    • Function #37: Create a Purchase Order from a Quote

      Welcome back everyone! Last week, we learnt how to calculate the total number of activities for a lead and further take note of the activity count for particular dates. For instance, from the period of Demo to Negotiation. This week, let's look at a function that lets you create a Purchase Order instantly from a Quote. Business scenario: In any form of business, one of the most important things to do is to document the transactions. Naturally, negotiation, signing an agreement, placing an order,
    • Recent Topics

    • Messages not displayed from personal LinkedIn profile

      Hello. I connected both our company profile and my personal profile to Zoho social. I do see all messages from our company page but none from my private page. not even the profile is being added on top to to switch between company or private profile,
    • lead convert between modules

      Hello, The workflow we set up to automatically transfer leads registered via Zapier into the Patients module to the Leads module started to malfunction unexpectedly on September 25, 2025, at 11:00 AM. Under normal circumstances, all fields filled in the
    • Flow Task Limits - How to Monitor, Understand Consumption?

      So, I got an email last night saying that I've exhausted 70% of my tasks for this month, and encouraging me to buy more tasks. I started to dig into this, and I cannot for the life of me figure out where to find any useful information for understanding,
    • Cross References Do Not Update Correctly

      I am using cross references to reference Figures and current am just using the label and number, i.e. Figure #. As seen here: When I need to update the field, I use the update field button. But it will change the cross reference to no longer only including
    • Manage control over Microsoft Office 365 integrations with profile-based sync permissions

      Greetings all, Previously, all users in Zoho CRM had access to enable Microsoft integrations (Calendar, Contacts, and Tasks) in their accounts, regardless of their profile type. Users with administrator profiles can now manage profile-based permissions
    • How to Track and Manage Schedule Changes in Zoho Projects

      Keeping projects on track requires meticulous planning. However, unforeseen circumstances can cause changes to schedules, leading to delays. It becomes important to capture the reason for such changes to avoid them in the future. Zoho Projects acknowledges
    • Is there a notification API when a new note is addeding

      Trying to push to Cliq, or email notification when there's a new note added in module. How to implement this?
    • Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

      Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.
    • Collaborate Feature doesn't work

      Hello Team. It seems that the collaborate section is broken? I can post something but it all appears in "Discussions". In there is no way how I would mark something as Draft, Approval, post or any of the other filter categories? Also if I draft a post
    • Edit Permission during and after approval?

      When a record is sent for approval Can a user request for edit permission from the approver? We don't want to give edit permissions for all the records under approval Only on a case-by-case basis How can we achieve this?
    • Zoho web and mobile application not workingn

      Both zoho forms web and mobile application aren't working. I have checked my network connections and they are fine.
    • Introducing the revamped What's New page

      Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that Zoho Campaigns' What's New page has undergone a complete revamp. We've bid the old page adieu after a long time and have introduced a new, sleeker-looking page. Without further ado, let's dive into the main
    • Prevent stripping of custom CSS when creating an email template?

      Anyone have a workaround for this? Zoho really needs to hire new designers - templates are terrible. A custom template has been created, but every time we try to use it, it strips out all the CSS from the head.  IE, we'll define the styles right in the <head> (simple example below) and everything gets stripped (initially, it saves fine, but when you browse away and come back to the template, all the custom css is removed). <style type="text/css"> .footerContent a{display:block !important;} </style>
    • Bulk Moving Images into Folders in the Library

      I can't seem to select multiple images to move into a folder in order to clean up my image library and organize it. Instead, I have to move each individual image into the folder and sometimes it takes MULTIPLE tries to get it to go in there. Am I missing
    • Zoho Campaigns - Why do contacts have owners?

      When searching for contacts in Zoho Campaigns I am sometimes caught out when I don't select the filter option "Inactive users". So it appears that I have some contacts missing, until I realise that I need to select that option. Campaigns Support have
    • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Breakout rooms and End to end encryption

      Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a few updates for Zoho Meeting. Here's what we've been working on lately: Introducing Breakout Rooms for enhanced collaboration in your online meetings and End-to-end encryption to ensure that the data is encrypted
    • Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

      Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due
    • Accidentally deleted a meeting recording -- can it be recovered?

      Hi, I accidentally deleted the recording for a meeting I had today. Is there a way I can recover it?
    • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

      Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is
    • How to access email templates using Desk API?

      Trying to send an email to the customer associated to the ticket for an after hours notification and can't find the API endpoint to grab the email template. Found an example stating it should be: "https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/emailtemplates/" + templateID;
    • How to render either thumbnail_url or preview_url or preview_data_url

      I get 401 Unauthorised when using these urls in the <img> tag src attribute. Guide me on how to use them!
    • Update Portal User Name using Deluge?

      Hey everyone. I have a basic intake form that gathers some general information. Our team then has a consultation with the person. If the person wants to move forward, the team pushes a CRM button that adds the user to a creator portal. That process is
    • Zoho Bookings No Sync with Outlook

      Zoho Bookings appointments are showing on my Outlook Calendar but Outlook events are not showing on Zoho Bookings. How do I fix this?
    • Unable to retrieve Contact_Name field contents using Web API in javascript function

      Hello, I've added a field in the Purchase Order form to select and associate a Sales Order (Orden_de_venta, lookup field). I've also created a client script to complete some fields from the Sales Order (and the Quote), when the user specifies the related
    • Updating Woocommerce Variation Products Prices Via Zoho CRM

      I can update product prices with this flow: But I can't update variant products. I got a code from Zoho for this, but I couldn't get it to work. It needs to find the product in the CRM from the SKU field and update the variation with the price there.
    • Emails Disappearing From Inbox

      I am experiencing the unnerving problem of having some of the messages in my inbox just disappear.  It seems to happen to messages that have been in there for longer than a certain amount of time (not sure how long exactly). They are usually messages that I have flagged and know I need to act on, but have not gotten around to doing so yet.  I leave them in my inbox so I will see them and be reminded that I still need to do something about them, but at least twice now I have opened my inbox and found
    • Power of Automation :: Automatic removal of project users once the project status is changed.

      A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate complex tasks and
    • Customizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms

      Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. For
    • Automatic category assignment

      Hi, I’d like to ask if there is a way to automatically assign an expense category based on the recognized Merchant. What would be the simplest way to set up automatic category assignment? Alternatively, is there an option to first choose the category
    • Zoho Books - France

      L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité
    • Every time an event is updated, all participants receive an update email. How can I deactivate this?

      Every time an event is updated in Zoho CRM (e.g. change description, link to Lead) every participant of this meeting gets an update email. Another customer noticed this problem years ago in the Japanese community: https://help.zoho.com/portal/ja/community/topic/any-time-an-event-is-updated-on-zohocrm-calendar-it-sends-multiple-invites-to-the-participants-how-do-i-stop-that-from-happening
    • Having Trouble Opening The Candidate Portal

      Recently am having trouble opening the Candidate Portal. It keeps loading but cannot display any widgets. Tried Safari, Chrome and Edge. Non of them work. Please solve the problem ASAP.
    • Forms - Notification When Response Submitted

      How do I set it up to generate an email notification when a response (class request) is submitted?
    • how to use validation rules in subform

      Is it possible to use validation rules for subforms? I tried the following code: entityMap = crmAPIRequest.toMap().get("record"); sum = 0; direct_billing = entityMap.get("direct_billing_details"); response = Map(); for each i in direct_billing { if(i.get("type")
    • Notes Issues

      Been having issues with Notes in the CRM. Yesterday it wasn't showing the notes, but it got resolved after a few minutes., Now I have been having a hard time saving notes the whole day. Notes can't be saved by the save button. it's grayed out or not grayed
    • How to disable user entry on Answer Bot in Zobot

      Hi, I have an Answer Bot in my Zobot, here is the configuration: I only want the user to choose 1 of the 4 the options I have provided: When no answer found, user chooses 'I'll rephrase the question' or 'Ask a different question When answer is found,
    • More admin control over user profiles

      It's important for our company, and I'm sure many others, to keep our users inline with our branding and professional appearance. It would be useful for administrators to have more control over profile aspects such as: Profile image User names Email signatures
    • Please Make Zoho CRM Cadences Flexible: Allow Inserting and Reordering Follow-Up Steps

      Sales processes are not static. We test, learn, and adapt as customers respond differently than expected. Right now, Zoho Cadences do not support inserting a new step between existing follow-ups or changing the type of an existing primary step. If I realize
    • Changing the Default Search Criteria for Finding Duplicates

      Hey everyone, is it possible to adjust the default search criteria for finding and merging duplicate records? Right now, CRM uses some (in my opinion nonsensical) fields as search criteria for duplicate records which do nothing except dilute the results.
    • Clear Tag & Linking Between Quotes and Sales Orders

      Hi Zoho Team, In Zoho Books, when a quote is converted into a sales order, it would be extremely useful to have: A clear tag/indicator on the quote showing that it has been converted into a sales order. A direct link in the sales order back to the originating
    • Next Page