Tips and Tricks #23: How to avoid errors while importing data in bulk or migrating from other systems to Zoho Subscriptions

Tips and Tricks #23: How to avoid errors while importing data in bulk or migrating from other systems to Zoho Subscriptions

To import your data successfully, you will need to ensure that the rows and columns in your import files match with our sample import files, which can be downloaded from any import screen in Zoho Subscriptions

However, even after doing this, you could still run into validation errors, which prevent your data from being imported. This could happen if Zoho Subscriptions has not been configured for the data in your import file.

Here are a few examples of validation errors:
  • You try to import transactions with the transaction mode as "Check" but you haven't added "Check" as a mode of payment in Zoho Subscriptions.
  • Your import file contains subscription details and plan codes for importing subscriptions but you haven't created a plan with that particular plan code in Zoho Subscriptions yet.
When it comes to importing data in bulk, especially from other systems, checking or validating each and every record in a huge import file can be time-consuming and tiresome.

This week's tip can help you breeze through the validation process with the click of a button.

This is article is part of a series of tips and tricks. Missed our previous post? Read up on localizing your product prices in Zoho Subscriptions.

How It Works

Simply import your data into Google Sheets and run our Google Apps Script (linked below). The script will communicate with Zoho Subscriptions via an API and check if the selected data in your import file exists in Zoho Subscriptions.

After making the necessary changes in Zoho Subscriptions, run the script again to double-check your import file. If you find that nothing has to be changed, go ahead and import the file into Zoho Subscriptions.

Setting It Up
  • Import the data that you want to validate into Google Sheets.
  • Click the Plus icon in the bottom left corner to create a second sheet.
              

We'll be using this second sheet to run our script on the data that needs to be validated, which is the payment mode, in our example. To do this, you'll need two columns on the new sheet, one with the data that needs to be validated (payment mode) and one with our script's response. Here's how to do it:

  • Enter a column name for the data that needs to be validated in the cell A1 and a column name where our script will display it's response in the cell A2. We've named our columns "Payment Mode" for A1 and "Exists in Zoho Subscriptions?" for A2.
          

  • Enter the following formula in the cell A2 to list out all the unique payment modes from our first sheet:
          =UNIQUE(Sheet1!D2:D)

         

          Note: This formula contains D2:D, since the values for the payment mode start on the cell D2 in                          our first sheet, so modify this if necessary.
  • Go to Tools > Script Editor and paste our script, which is available on GitHub. Enter your Auth Token and Organization ID in this script, since it uses Zoho Subscriptions' APIs.
Now, all that's left to do is create a button which can run this script.
  • Create a button by going to Insert > Drawing from the toolbar.
          
  • Right click on the button and click the 3-dot menu.
           
  • Select Assign a script.
  • Enter the function name of our script, which is syncPaymentModes and click OK.
           

You're all set! Go ahead and click the button to validate your data.



Let us know if this helped your business! Also, feel free to write to us at support@zohosubscriptions.com or leave a comment below, if you have any questions regarding this tip.

Cheers,
Varun Steven
The Zoho Subscriptions Team

    • Sticky Posts

    • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers

    • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's

    • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can

    • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

      Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,

    • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

      Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information

    • Recent Topics

    • Dealing With One-Time Customers on Zoho Books

      Hello there! I am trying to figure out a way to handle One-Time customers without having to create multiple accounts for every single one on Zoho Books. I understand that I can create a placeholder account called "Walk-In Customer", for example, but I

    • Feature Request: Render Markdown (.md) files in Zoho Cliq

      Hi, We regularly share Markdown (.md) files in Zoho Cliq. However, when we open these files in Cliq, the content does not render as Markdown—it displays as plain text. This forces us to copy/paste the content into an external Markdown viewer to read it

    • CRM Percent custom fields: When will it show the % symbol and behave like %?

      1. Actually Percent custom fields fail to show the % symbol. 2. When in formulas Percent fields work like number: 100 x 5% = 5 ideal world 100 x 5% = 500 what happens actually 3. When importing Percent fields the % symbol has to be removed and the data

    • Subforms and automation

      If a user updates a field how do we create an automation etc. We have a field for returned parts and i want to get an email when that field is ticked. How please as Zoho tells me no automation on subforms. The Reason- Why having waited for ever for FSM

    • Xero Billing Data (22 instances) - Zoho (CRM) - Single Source of Truth For Client Data & Notes

      Hi - I’m trying to build out a CRM for a Single Source of Truth Currently I have 22 Instances of Xero (for legal entity purposes - can’t consolidate to one) How would I be best placed to do this? Is it possible to have all the Xero instances (22) → Consolidated

    • Zoho CRM Quotes – Subform and PDF/Writer Limitations

      Hello, I am encountering the following limitations in Zoho CRM Quotes: Custom product images cannot be uploaded in the subform – the image upload field cannot be added; only the file upload field is available. File upload placeholders cannot be used in

    • Strange behavior in CRM Number Field – Characters allowed but not "e"?

      Hi everyone, Has anyone faced this strange issue in Zoho CRM? In a Number field, it is possible to type some characters, but the character "e" cannot be entered. This was really surprising to me. Normally, a number field should restrict all characters

    • No background for video recordings, no playback speed, can't even playback longer recordings - have to download…

      Hi. We utilize heavily video messages on Slack, but wanted to migrate to Cliq with Zoho One, however very basic yet very frequently used feature is missing: backgrounds for video recordings and playback speed. We were not happy with Slack's 5 minute limits

    • Support inefficiency

      We have been asking for support for a minor adjustment for 12 days now and we haven't got a single viable resolution from support team despite there are 19 emails going between our HR team and various support emails from Zoho. 1. they do not understand

    • About Certification Exam

      I recently written Zoho Creator Ceritification Exam But i failed in first attempt of exam. how to reset my account for second attempt of exam . 

    • Zia capabilities now available in the Professional edition announcement

      Hello all! The Professional edition now supports a broader set of Zia capabilities, enabling teams to bring AI into more of their everyday CRM work. From writing assistance and summaries to setup support, predictions, and recommendations, Zia can now

    • Where Do I set 24h time format in Cliq?

      Where Do I set 24h time format? Thanks

    • How to I generate Proforma Invoices?

      When customers need to pay by bank transfer I need to send them a Proforma Invoice with our bank details. I am unable to work out how this can be done.  It needs to be done at the Sales Order stage before a formal Invoice is generated. John Legg Owner:

    • Can I Integrate ADP Payroll with Zoho Books?

      Hi, I am hoping that I can integrate ADP Payroll with Zoho Books so that I do not need to manually input the payroll journal entries. Is this possible? If so, how do I do that?

    • This will be long, Please bear with me - Next Gen Layout - Search

      In general, I think that Zoho are going in the right direction with the Next Gen UI. The latest update brings some nice improvements and all-in-all from a user's perspective I think the improvements are generally very good. However, there are some areas

    • Selecting all notes in a notebook

      In Windows11, I select a notebook and I get a list of notes, but only 30 notes. If I scroll down to the end, I get an additional 30 notes (and at the top it now shows 60 notes). I can keep doing this to eventually see all my notes but this is a real pain.

    • Filter Records in CRM API

      Hi Team, I’m currently working on a task to retrieve expired deals from the CRM. By “expired deals,” I mean deals where the closing date has already passed and the stage is not “Closed Won” or “Closed Lost” (i.e., all other stages). I tried using both

    • User Name in Zoho Cliq Not Updating Across Apps?

      We updated the name of a user in Zoho. (From Sue to Taylor) Her name has not been updated in Cliq on all apps. When in Zoho One, if I go to Cliq directly, it is correct, but if I am in another app, and the Cliq bar pops up on the bottom, it will be the

    • Why I can't map Account Name from lead module to Account module?

      When I qualify a lead in the bluerprint, I use automated conversion in Blueprint to automatically create Contact, Account and Deal. the Deal record and contact record has been successfully created automatically as I expect, but I can't see any account

    • Pause(1);

      I'm using scheduler to invoke an interaction via http post with an external service. The schedule code uses a for-each loop that runs so fast my external application's log files get messed-up (they are named by date-time stamp). What I'm suggesting is

    • Release Notes | February 2026

      We have rolled out another set of enhancements in Vertical Studio during February 2026, bringing improvements to Canvas customization, reporting capabilities, and data access controls. Here is a summary of what was released during February 2026: Canvas

    • Agentic Engineering with Zoho: The Next Evolution of Intelligent Systems

      The concept of Agentic Engineering is reshaping how modern systems are designed. It introduces a new layer to the way we think about artificial intelligence and system architecture. For years, most software systems have operated in a reactive way — responding

    • Engenharia Agêntica e as soluções da Zoho

      O conceito de engenharia agêntica impacta diretamente como os sistemas são projetos. Este tema inseri mais uma camada a nossa idéia de inteligência artificial. Antes o desenvolvimento de sistemas operavam de forma reativa e dependente de comandos diretos,

    • Effective project and task customization with CodeX

      Dear users, Beyond Task Lists is a series of articles aimed at showcasing the various customization capabilities of Zoho Projects. We'll discuss real life project management scenarios, use cases, and requirements that needs combining multiple features.

    • Set expiration date on document and send reminder

      We have many company documents( for example business registration), work VISA documents. It will be nice if we can set a expiry date and set reminders ( for example 90 days, 60 days, 30 days etc.,) Does Zoho workdrive provide that option?

    • Debit opening balances of vendors

      Dear colleagues: I am looking at the trial balance as on 31st March 2024, and punching opening balances (1st April 2024) in Zoho Books. Vendors have credit balances, by its nature, but some of our vendors have debit balances as well (e.g., we have paid

    • Zoho Books emails suddenly going to Spam since 11 Nov 2025 (Gmail + now Outlook) — anyone else?

      Hi everyone, We migrated to Zoho Books in July 2025 and everything worked fine until 11 Nov 2025. Since then, Zoho Books system emails are landing in customers’ Spam (first Gmail, and now we’re seeing Outlook/Office 365 also starting to spam them). Impacted

    • Client Portal ZOHO ONE

      Dear Zoho one is fantastic option for companies but it seems to me that it is still an aggregation of aps let me explain I have zoho books with client portal so client access their invoice then I have zoho project with client portal so they can access their project but not their invoice without another URL another LOGIN Are you planning in creating a beautiful UI portal for client so we can control access to client in one location to multiple aps at least unify project and invoice aps that would

    • The Social Wall: February 2026

      Hello everyone, This month, we’re bringing you a mix of exciting toolkit enhancements and a few improvements across the web and iOS app, all designed to make your social media management simpler and smoother. File converter Images come in different formats,

    • Zoho Mail and SalesInbox doesn't link to CRM record using Reply-To

      Hi, I've just set up SalesInbox, with the intention of using it for sales enquiries (instead of Desk, which I have been using until now). I've noticed that, unlike Desk, SalesInbox only uses the 'From' email address to attempt to link to a CRM contact

    • Poor Search Results on Zoho CRM

      The search on Zoho CRM is quite poor. Salesforce has now published a new search, when will get this on Zoho? https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=data.c360_a_hybridsearch_index.htm&type=5

    • How to use filters on all products page? Or even a category page?

      Hello, I am trying to create some filters so users can use filters to find products they are looking for. So what i am trying is to create a filter according to price lets say. So if i define it this way i am expecting to see this filter option on category

    • Capture Last check-in date & days since

      I have two custom fields on my Account form, these are "Date of Last Check-In" and "Days Since Last Contact" Using a custom function how can I pull the date from the last check-in and display it in the field "Date of Last Check-In"? and then also display the number of days since last check-in in the "Days SInce Last Contact" field? I tried following a couple of examples but got myself into a bit of a muddle!

    • Archiving Contacts

      How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?

    • 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

    • Conversion Rate – Won Deals over Assigned Prospects

      Hello, I would like assistance configuring a KPI in Zoho Analytics titled: Objective of the calculation: Number of Won Deals divided by Total number of assigned prospects (not only converted prospects). Important clarification: The denominator must include

    • Feature Request – Conditional Visitor Information Request in Zoho SalesIQ

      We would like to request the ability to conditionally ask for visitor details based on the communication channel used in Zoho SalesIQ. Specifically: When a visitor initiates a conversation through the live chat widget on the website, we want to continue

    • Apple Messages for Business in Omnichannel communications?

      Hello, Apple launched "Apple Messages for Business" but Zoho CRM or Zoho Desk don't appear in the list of possible integrators. Zoho already promotes https://www.zoho.com/crm/omnichannel.html Omni Channel integration, but Apple Messages does not yet appear.

    • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

      Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?

    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

    • Next Page