What's New in Zoho Expense: August - October 2023

Hello users,

We're back again with our What's New post to inform you about the most exciting feature rollouts over the past three months. An all-new edition, an integration for business travel management, iOS 17 updates, and more are in store for you! Get set to delve into the full details and read everything there is to know about these new features.

New edition - Germany

We're excited to announce the launch of another regional edition—Zoho Expense: Germany. If your organization is operating in Germany, simply select the country as Germany on the sign-up page to get started. You can then enable VAT, and Zoho Expense will preconfigure the applicable tax rates for businesses in Germany. While recording business expenses, users can choose the appropriate VAT treatment and VAT rates from the options provided. You can also access Zoho Expense in Deutsch, if required. Additionally, if mileage is enabled in your organization, the government-suggested mileage rates for the car and motorcycle vehicle types will be automatically fetched to Zoho Expense.

Self-booking through GetThere

If you're an organization that lets your employees book tickets online, then this integration would be a great addition for you! With the GetThere integration, your employees can directly book tickets for their business trips from within Zoho Expense. If you don't want all your employees to self-book, simply select the users who can directly book tickets using GetThere. Additionally, you can easily set up the organization's travel policies in GetThere so employees can book tickets in compliance with the company's policies. Learn more.

Report automation for corporate card expenses

Enable report automation to automatically generate a report that will compile the expenses made using a corporate card. A report will be automatically created on the billing date you've configured and all expenses incurred using your corporate card will be attached to the report. You can set up automatic submission, if required.

To set up report automation for corporate cards: Go to Admin View > Settings > Report Automation. Hover over Corporate Card Expenses and click Configure Now. Set up your preferences and click Save.

Updates in delegate configuration

Now, you can set the start date and the end date by which a delegate should cease having access to your account. This feature will come in handy when you want to assign delegates for future dates. At the same time, you can modify the access given to your account, whenever required. Users can also view the list of previous delegates that were assigned for them in My View and the admins can view the list of all the delegates that have been assigned for a user in the Admin View. The list will have the details of each delegate's Access Type, Duration, and Added By date.

For Admins: Go to Admin View > Settings > Users. Select a user and scroll down to the Delegate Details section to configure the delegate access.

For Submitters and Approvers: Go to My View > My Settings. Scroll down to the My Delegate section to configure the delegate access.

Webhooks revamp

The following changes were made in webhooks:

• Query parameters are now supported.
• Three types of body types are now supported - Default Payload, x-www-form-urlencoded, and raw JSON.
• Secret key support has been added. It will be used to ensure that the API is triggered by Zoho Expense by comparing the hash value in the header (X-Zoho-Webhook-Signature). You need to have the same token on your server in order to compute a hash value.
• Placeholders can now be inserted in the URL field, query parameters, form URL encoded parameters, and raw JSON.

To create a webhook: Go to Admin View > Settings > Actions > Webhooks > + New Webhook.

Set up tax-inclusive expense limits

When you configure rules to set up limits for your expenses on the Policies page, you can now mark if the expense amount should be inclusive of tax. If you check the "Limit amount is inclusive of tax" checkbox in Policies, the rule will be executed only if the amount exceeds the sum of the expense amount and tax.

To set up tax inclusive expense limits: Go to Admin View > Settings > Policies. Select a policy and navigate to the Rules tab. Select a rule and check the "Limit is inclusive of tax" option. Click Save.

Force delete custom module

Earlier, if you had records under a custom module, you would not have been able to delete the custom module. However, based on popular customer requests, we're now providing an option to delete a custom module even if there are records in it.

To force delete a custom module: Go to Admin View > Settings > Modules. Click the module you want to delete. Click the Gear icon next to the module name and click Delete. In the pop-up that opens, click Delete. A force delete pop-up will open; click Force Delete.

Revert custom status

If you've created your own custom status for a module and have applied it on a record, you can now revert it back to its corresponding default status in Zoho Expense whenever required.

Help text for custom fields

Introducing help text for custom fields! Whenever you create a custom field, you can now add a note in the Help Text field to help users understand the purpose of the field. If you've added help text for a custom field, users will be able to view this text when they hover over the help icon next to the custom field.

To add a help text for custom fields: Go to Admin View > Settings > Modules. Select the module for which you want to add a custom field with help text. Navigate to the Fields tab. Click + New Field. Enter the Label Name and Data Type. The Help Text field will appear. Enter the help text and click Save.

Per diem preferences for expense types

When you create a new expense type, you can now select if you want to configure per diem for the expense type. Additionally, you can choose if you want to record the expense type as a component or a supplement and select the ways by which you can record per diem expenses for this expense type.

To configure per diem preferences for expense types: Go to Admin View > Settings > Modules > Categories. Navigate to Expense Types. Click + New Expense Type. Enter the name and select a default category. Mark the "Configure per diem for this expense type" option and click Save.

​

Preferences for chatlets

You can now enable chatlets for reports and trips from the respective Preferences page. If chatlet is enabled, all the admins and approvers can create chatlets by default. However, if you'd like to provide access to all users to create chatlets, you can select that option. This feature is only available for the Premium and Enterprise plans of Zoho Expense.

To configure chatlet preferences: Go to Admin View > Settings > Modules > Reports or Trips. Mark the "Enable Chatlets" option and click Save.

Fetch Canadian tax rates automatically

Zoho Expense can now fetch the Canadian government's tax rates and agencies automatically! If you create a new organization with Canada as the Country and enable "Taxes," all the government-suggested tax rates and agencies will be auto-fetched to allow users to apply them to their expenses. Additionally, if you have custom tax rates, you can create them as well.

Select a delivery address for purchase requests

When you create a purchase request, you can now choose the delivery address. The organization's primary address will be prefilled by default. However, admins will be able to add a new address or edit the existing address.

iOS app updates

• Zoho Expense is now iOS17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma ready! Access shortcuts from Spotlight, view real-time updates on the distance covered using GPS, the time left for your flight on your lock screen, Dynamic Island with Live Activities, and view pending tasks by Zia with the interactive widgets.
• For VAT-enabled Germany edition organizations, Zoho Expense will automatically fetch the government tax rates so users can apply them to their expenses. Similarly, the government's mileage rates will also be readily available to apply to your mileage expenses.

Android app updates

• If you've enabled VAT for your Germany edition organizations, the government tax rates will be automatically available, and users can apply them to their expenses.
• Improved accuracy of mileage tracking using GPS.
  

Explore a more efficient way to manage expenses with these new features. Try them and drop your feedback in the comments. Need assistance? Contact us at support@zohoexpense.com.

Regards, 

The Zoho Expense Team

• Topic Participants

• Vidhya G S

• Synergy PSM

• Annapoorna

• Recent Topics

• Evaluating Creator; yesterday fine; today connection times out

  Yesterday I spent hours creating a new app, and it worked fine. Today I cannot access creator.zoho.com. Is this common? I'm in the evaluation mode, but I'm thinking I'm going to keep looking. It worked from my home computer, and now I'm checking it from my work computer. My work computer always works just fine, so I shouldn't htink there would be special settings or anything. If there are, how to find out what they could be? Using Chrome on Windows XP The error I get is: The webpage at https://creator.zoho.com

• Pivot Chart seems to show "old" data - how do I make it update?

  I wonder how to make a Pivot Chart "update" its data contents. Here is the background: I need to report a subset of data that is so complicated that it is easier to make a calculation and put the result in a "reporting form", and then display the data from that form.  So, I get data from the "original form" GRANTS, make some calculations and put the result in the "reporting form" PERIOD.  Now I can watch the result in a list called LIST, which works fine. The list LIST shows that form PERIOD contains

• Upcoming Changes to LinkedIn Parsing in Resume Extractor

  Starting 31 July 2025, the Zoho Recruit Resume Extractor will no longer support direct parsing of candidate data from LinkedIn profiles. Why Is This Change Needed? In accordance with LinkedIn’s platform policies, extracting profile data through browser

• Is there a way to map complex product variants from Magento into Zoho CRM without losing SKU-level details?

  Hi everyone, I’m working on a Magento-based store that uses highly detailed product variants, and I’m struggling to map them into Zoho CRM without losing SKU-level details. The problem is that variants often collapse into single entries, which affects

• how to create view in leads module to that will show all leads + converted leads?

  is it possible to make custom view that combine all leads + converted leads? how to do that

• Deal Stage component/widget/whatever it is... event

  Deal Stages I am trying to access the event and value of this component. I can do it by changing the Stage field but users can also change a Deal Stage via this component and I need to be able to capture both values. Clicking on 'Verbal' for instance,

• Reply and react to comments

  Hi everyone! We're excited to bring to you a couple of new features that'll make your sprint process simpler. A cloud application brings with it an array of social media features that can be efficiently used in your organizational setup. As an agile scrum

• Announcing Early Access to "Zoho CRM for Everyone" — A new and exciting update to Zoho CRM

  Zoho CRM For Everyone is now officially available to all customers, and the Early Access Program has come to a close. We want to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the program. Your valuable feedback played a key role in shaping

• Avalara Sales Tax integration - AVATAX

  Just wondering if anyone else is having troubles with this integration?  Seems as though Avalara changed their billing process, unbeknownst to Zoho, and now ALL transactions are counted by Avalara, not just transactions in a taxable jurisdiction.  This caused a huge price adjustment billed to us by Avalara within a month of us signing up.  And Avalara is not cheap to begin with! Avalara has been great in waiving that increase, but there seems to be no fix.  Zoho is aware of the problem, but slow

• Invalid value passed for description

  Dear Sir, When I am entering the purchase bill , the following message showing "Invalid value passed for description" what should I do ? I am attaching screenshot. With Regards, Harish harish@cracku.in 7978841636

• Zoho Creator - 2024 Release Projection 1

  Hello everyone! As we enter 2024, we'd like to extend our warmest wishes for success and prosperity. Your fantastic response to our Product Roadmap page last year has been incredibly motivating. Continuing on this path, we're excited to share a glimpse

• Automation Assistance for Zoho Form Integration and Workflow

  Hi, We are currently using a Zoho Form to send out our Global Credit Application and would like to automate the process further. Specifically, we’d like the ABN number submitted through the form to automatically populate the GST/VAT Number field in Zoho

• COQL does not return queryable value if the result set is empty

  See linked video for running code illustration of the problem: https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/external/d49bb40033b43b288d56fdf843095b7c65b28391d3ec5d09c854f416d853003d Moderation update: We are appending the comment that was removed, to add context

• Zoho CRMでの商談の管理のしかたについて初歩的な質問です。

  先月からZoho CRMを試験的に導入して運用しています。 商談の管理（運用？）の仕方について教えてください。 商談の数が増えてくると、ダッシュボードの「ステージ別進捗状況」にどんどん過去の商談が蓄積されてくると思うのですが、 現在動きのあるものを中心に確認したくなる気がします。 そのあたりについては、どのように運用が一般的なのでしょうか？ アドバイスいただけるととてもありがたいです。 よろしくお願いします。

• Composite Items & Purchase Orders

  The Composite Item is great way to bundle different products and services into a single line and sell it as a single line item in Estimates, Sales Orders and Invoices. However, on the other side - i,e,. Purchasing - this item creates quite a bit of a

• using custom function is it possible to update the created by field in Zoho Crm custom module

  using custom function is it possible to update the created by field in Zoho Crm custom module

• Slow Sloww Slowwww Responses

  Good day, Has anyone been experiencing slow responses from support? Since Thursday I migrated my Whats app to Sales Iq and I had to synch with Social to get the otp they were sending. Apparently What's app can't be automatically added so I reached out

• You have exceeded the maximum number of attempts for this action. Please retry doing the same in 30 minutes.

  When one of Zoho Books user tries to select a vendor, recording a new bill, these message appears: You have exceeded the maximum number of attempts for this action. Please retry doing the same in 30 minutes. Other user, at the same time, but different

• Enable Conversation Context Retention for SalesIQ Answer Bots

  Hello Zoho SalesIQ Team, We hope you are doing well. We have noticed that SalesIQ bots currently fail to maintain conversation context in Hebrew. For example, when we follow up on a previous answer or ask for clarification in Hebrew, the bot either provides

• Automatic Hebrew Small Talk Setup Without Duplicate Term Errors & Manual Configuration

  Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, Greetings, We would like to request an enhancement to the Small Talk feature in Zoho SalesIQ, specifically for Hebrew language support. Current Challenge: When setting up Small Talk for Hebrew, we encounter multiple issues: Simple

• Should I Add Leads in Bigin?

  ok, first off I'm new here. I just started using Bigin. I'm debating if it's appropriate to enter leads. by leads I mean a list of contacts that I have not yet reached out to...it's a cold calling list.  if I enter them I can track them (I understand

• Zoho Books - Perform a validation check before an invoice is marked as sent or sent

  Allow the validation rules to apply to button actions. For example: an invoice could not be sent or marked as sent if it has an empty value in a custom field. (The field could remain blank while it is being worked on.)

• Flow error "given url is wrong"

  when I setup a flow to update a task status, I get an error when it runs that says "given url is wrong."

• Upgrade Zoho Desk Agent-Side Answer Bot to GenAI

  Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you're doing well. Following the recent announcements and rollout of the GenAI-based Answer Bot in Zoho SalesIQ (Nova '25), we’d like to formally request a similar upgrade for the Answer Bot used by agents inside Zoho Desk.

• Bigin Android app update: Email filters enhancement, change owner for related records.

  Hello, everyone! In the most recent Bigin Android app update, we have introduced additional email filters and an option to change the owner of related records. Email filters: We have now brought in support for 'All Emails' and 'Added from Widgets' filter

• How can I get all conversations and comments of a Zoho Desk ticket using ZOHODESK

  Hi everyone, Currently, I am developing a Zoho Desk extension, and I am following the guide available at https://www.zoho.com/desk/extensions/guide/#ticket-object. While working with Zoho Desk, I have noticed that I can only retrieve the general information

• AI & Zoho Recruit

  Hello, I guess we all are using AI in our personal and professional lives. Now, let's imagine. Recruitment is just a succession of stages and steps. For which step would you like to see AI implemented into Zoho Recruit ? I'll start : - Automatic translation

• Workdrive and ChatGPT Team Synced Connectors

  Hi, we want to be able to integrate Zoho Workdrive with OpenAI’s ChatGPT Team plan. Google Drive and OneDrive both offer this, zoho please catch up asap. We dont want to have to put our company files in google drive, we want to allow chatgpt Team edition

• widget url 404'ing

  I'm creating a widget for the first time. When I grab the url from the base url section of the widget builder and append /widget.html it 404's Just wrote a very basic test. I have a folder structure app.zip - widget.html --js/app.js /widget.html <!DOCTYPE

• Unable to Edit Pick-List Items in Custom Project Field(s)

  I can edit most fields normally, but if I try to edit - in any way - a Pick List field, I just get this error: To be perfectly clear, I'm trying to edit an existing Pick List field (adding or removing items), not adding a new instance. If I rename it,

• How to display results from zoho.crm.searchRecords in message window

  Hello, I've created a custom function which is linked to a custom button which pulls a date from our contacts module and searches a date field in our quotes module and returns all records matching the date. My issue is, how to I get this to display the

• Domain Transfer

  Hello there! I wanted to know if I can transfer my domain from Zoho to other hosting providers or use a different hosting provider instead of zoho's services.

• Select CRM Custom Module in Zoho Creator

  I have a custom module added in Zoho CRM that I would like to link in Zoho creator.  When I add the Zoho CRM field it does not show the new module.  Is this possible?  Do i need to change something in CRM to make it accesible in Creator?

• New User - Opening Stock Aging Report

  I am setting up new client and am entering Opening Stock - created items and entered quantity/price details. Now the aging report is showing all the opening stock as new. How do I enter the Purchase Dates of these items so that I get accurate Inventory

• Bulk Receive Multiple Purchase Orders

  Is there a feature or function that will allow you to bulk receive issued purchase orders? I have about 100 that need to be received from 5 years ago.

• Manual Invoice

  How to create a Manual invoice, I need to enter Amount directly instead of (qty*Rate). our company is a service sector

• Effective Inbox Organization: Folders vs Tags in Zoho Mail?

  I'm exploring the best ways to organize a busy inbox, especially when managing multiple clients or project using Zoho Mail. I’d love to know what works best for others: 1. Do you prefer **folders** (possibly with sub-folders) for each client or project?

• Merging contacts and or accounts

  Hello, In a prior CRM we were able to merge contacts and or accounts.  We have turned on the function to stop multiple contacts with the same email, so we can prevent multiple contacts from happening, however, we now have multiple contacts that have the

• Capture Reason for absence next to Campaign Member Status. Is there a reasonable workaround?

  I've reviewed the topics I could find to do with this but still couldn't find anything that satisfies our requirements: We would like to track a *reason* (picklist or text, doesn't matter which) why a Campaign Member (Lead or Contact associated with a

• Zoho Learning Management System - Certificate Upload by Employees

  We are planning to enroll employees in courses which are hosted by coursera or similar sites. I want to share the links of those courses and also want employees to upload their completion certificate once they are done. Is this function possible in

• Next Page