Tips and Tricks #21: How to schedule tasks in Zoho Subscriptions using Custom Schedulers

Tips and Tricks #21: How to schedule tasks in Zoho Subscriptions using Custom Schedulers

Custom Schedulers is one of our newest features, which helps you save time by scheduling frequently performed tasks. In this week's post, we'll be taking a look at how you can set up custom schedulers to address niche use-cases for your subscription business.
Missed our previous post? Give it a read to learn how you can prevent contact duplication with existing leads from Zoho CRM.


1. Schedule crucial sales reports to stay informed about your business' health

Reports like Lost Opportunities, Churned Subscriptions and Under Risk provide actionable insights about your sales. They can help your sales team proactively follow up with customers on crucial events like errors while signing up, subscription payments that are overdue and subscriptions that have been cancelled. 

Accessing this information on time can be vital--that's where custom schedulers come in handy. With custom schedulers, you can schedule a summary of these reports to be sent directly to your email, which will allow you to make informed decisions about your business' sales.

Apart from the reports mentioned above, the custom scheduler that you're about to create will also include the number of trial subscriptions that are about to expire in the next seven days.

The script for this custom scheduler has already been written and works thanks to Zoho Subscriptions' powerful APIs. All you have to do is configure the scheduler with the script, which we've made available on Github. Here's how to set it up:
  • Go to Settings > Automation > Custom Schedulers.
  • Click + New Custom Scheduler.

  • Set the Frequency as Daily (or Weekly, based on your needs) and the Start Date as your current date.
  • Copy the script for the custom function from Github and paste it in the Deluge script editor.
  • Make sure to edit the script with your Auth Token as well as any other changes that you'd like. 
  • Click Save.
Now, the scheduler will automatically send a summary of these reports along with a link to the full report to your email address.



2. Schedule a subscription to get cancelled on a particular date

Zoho Subscriptions lets you cancel your customers' subscriptions immediately or at the end of the current cycle. However, there may be cases where you or your customers want a subscription to be cancelled on a particular date in the future. This custom function will let you handle such cases.

How It Works

To achieve this, we'll be using custom schedulers. First, you'd have to create a custom field that can store a custom cancellation date in your subscriptions. Next, a custom scheduler, which runs daily, will go through subscriptions that have custom cancellation dates. If the scheduler finds a custom cancellation date that matches the current date, it will cancel the subscription.

End result? You'll be able to cancel a subscription simply by updating it with a cancellation date and let the custom scheduler do the rest.

Setting It Up

There may be a lot of steps involved with this one, but the setup is fairly simple and shouldn't take you more than 5-10 minutes.

To start things off, create a custom field that can store a date in your subscriptions.
  • Go to Settings > Preferences > Invoice.
  • Navigate to the Custom Field tab and click + New Custom Field.

  • Enter the Label Name as "Custom Cancellation Date".
  • Select the Data Type as Date.
  • Ensure that you leave the Default Value field empty.
  • Click Save.
When you want to cancel a subscription at a future date, update the custom field. Here's how: 
  • Go to the Subscriptions module from the left sidebar and select the subscription that you want to cancel.
  • Click the More dropdown and select the Update Custom Fields option.

  • Set the subscription's cancellation date in the custom field that you created earlier. 
  • Click Save
You can also customize the columns in the default subscription list view to make it easier to view cancellation dates. In the Subscriptions module, click the Column Customization icon and mark the custom field for cancellation dates. Click Save to show the cancellation date in the default subscription list view.



Our custom scheduler will also need a Custom View, which will help it sort through subscriptions with cancellation dates. To create the custom view: 
  • Go to the Subscriptions module and click the View Filters dropdown. 
  • Click + New Custom View. 

  • Enter a Name for the custom view. 
  • Add a criterion with the Field as your cancellation date's custom field, the Comparator as is and the Value as This Month.

  • Click Save.

Now, it's time to wrap things up and finally create our custom scheduler. 
  • Go to Settings > Automation > Custom Schedulers.
  • Click + New Custom Scheduler.

  • Set the Frequency as Daily and the Start Date as your current date.
  • Copy the script for the custom function from Github and paste it in the Deluge script editor.
  • Edit the script to suit your needs and also make sure to copy and paste the previously created script's customview_id parameter. 

(You can find the customview_id parameter by going to your custom view and copying it from your browser's URL bar.) 
  • Click Save.
You're all set! Now, the scheduler will automatically cancel subscriptions whenever it finds a subscription that has a cancellation date in the custom field that you created.

Note: Zoho Subscriptions will not charge your customer for their pro-rated usage. So, if you want to charge your customer for their usage until the cancellation date, you can do it by adding an additional charge to their subscription before it gets cancelled.

We hope you try this out and let us know how it goes in the comments below. We're always open to suggestions, so let us know if you have a specific business scenario that you'd like to see us tackle in our weekly tips and tricks. Until next time!

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

    • Pincode Based Pricing

      We want to give extra discount to customers within city limits because our shipping and packing costs are less. My proposal is assign list of pincodes to price list and assign the price list to customers whenever they sign up with pincodes. Also show

    • feature question: lookup field in Projects task layout

      Hello, Below we have interface to configure a custom task layout, however, we need a lookup field to let pickup data from other apps, such as Zoho CRM Products module, is that possible or already in your roadmap? or a workaround to achieve it? Thanks in advance.

    • What's New in Zoho Analytics - October 2025

      Hello Users! We're are back with a fresh set of updates and enhancements to make data analysis faster and more insightful. Take a quick look at what’s new and see how these updates can power up your reports and dashboards. Explore What's New! Extreme

    • Zoho Analytics & SQL Server - Live connect

      Below are the steps I did Created a fresh database and table in my own virtual server Created a new data source connection with live connect I was able to select the tables and created the data source successfully I am getting the error when I try to

    • Explore the Redesigned Quotes Module in Zoho Billing

      Dear users, We’re excited to introduce a refreshed look for the Quotes details page in Zoho Billing! This update brings you a more efficient user interface experience without changing your existing workflow. We've enhanced layouts with organized tabs,

    • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | Create departments, Share PDF files

      Hello all,   You can now create departments to group team members within your organization. This will make it easier for you to organize department-level meetings and invite members. In webinars, use the Share material feature to share PDF files directly

    • Unify All Zoho Video Meeting Experiences into One Standardized Platform

      Hi Zoho Team, We would like to share an important user experience concern regarding the current state of video meeting functionality across the Zoho ecosystem. The Problem Within Zoho, there are multiple ways to initiate or schedule a video meeting: Zoho

    • Import VAT Kenya

      Hi. I am quite lost on how to account for VAT when importing. We are an import and distribution company and when importing we get a customs entry with VAT which we pay and claim for this VAT as we do our monthly sales. My question is how to record this

    • [Free Webinar] Product Updates: Quick Catch-Up Session - Part I - Creator Tech Connect

      Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar featuring deep-dive technical sessions designed for developers, administrators, and app builders.

    • Project expenses in Zoho Books

      Just the way timesheet is used to calculate labour cost for a particular project, how do i record other expenses against a project such as materials and consumables used for the project? So that under report, I can view the total amount expended on each

    • Blueprint status change

      I want to change the Blueprint status of a workflow. The status is completed automatically when I added the record through API call. But I want to make it active, I don't see any options for this. Even if I draw transition from any stage , it is not visible

    • What is going on with GMail extension.

      Suddenly, it is popping up and saying "Please wait while we work our magic... 10%" and it sits there. Yesterday I waited for an entire hour call and it never got further. Today, it's not resolved. Is there a fix I can do? I've tried all the typical

    • Marketing Tip #6: Cross-sell with related products

      Don’t let customers stop at just one product. Suggesting related or complementary items improves the shopping experience and increases order value. Try this today: Use the Item Recommendations feature in Zoho Commerce and add two to three suggested items

    • i cannot use <b></b> to bold the message in Creator C6!!!!???What?

      Dear experts and friends, Now Creator 6 blocking us from using <b></b> Anyone facing this issue? I faced it on Creator C6 Previously, it used to work. Now failed to work. Faint~ Seek guidance from everyone on how to bold the message. The super simple

    • Zoho Writer - Option to Export as .zdoc format

      I've noticed that it's not possible to export a Zoho Writer Document in the .zdoc format. Isn't zdoc, Zoho Writer's own format? My use case is that I sometimes need to create quite complex documents with floating elements, which sometimes need to become

    • [Announcement] Enhanced Merge APIs of Zoho Writer for automating document generation using Zoho Apps data

      Hi users, With the record_id parameter in Zoho Writer's Merge APIs, fields related to the given record id is automatically fetched from the Zoho app. You don't have to spend time manually mapping the records and fields in the Deluge code. Here is a sample

    • Pin multiple columns and adjust column widths in CRM subforms

      Hello all, Subforms act as secondary forms or tables in which you can associate multiple line items to a primary record and thereby ensure more structured and comprehensive data organization. We've made some recent enhancements to subforms. Here's what's

    • [Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer

      Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall sales

    • Automate insurance document workflows with Zoho Writer

      Insurance companies have to deal with creating and managing complex documents and forms, such as policy applications, explanation of benefits documents, brochures, renewals, and claim forms. Handling all of this manually is hugely time and effort intensive,

    • Latest updates in Zoho Meeting | New End of session notification to remind everyone about the session end time

      Hello everyone, We’re excited to share a new feature for Zoho Meeting ; End of session notification. With this new setting, you can choose to remind all participants or only the host about the scheduled end time of a meeting. You can also choose when

    • [Webinar] Zoho Writer for SCM and logistics

      Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the SCM and logistics industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on Jul 10, 2025 for a Zoho Writer webinar designed

    • [Webinar] Zoho Writer for the manufacturing industry

      Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the manufacturing services industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on May 8, 2025, for a Zoho Writer webinar

    • Add Comprehensive Accessibility Features to Zoho Writer

      Hello Zoho Writer Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Writer with a full set of accessibility tools, similar to the accessibility options already available in the Zoho Desk agent interface. 🚧 Current

    • [Webinar] Simplifying document workflows in financial services with Zoho Writer

      Creating, sharing, and distributing complex documents are constant challenges in the financial services industry. That's why our next webinar is focused on how to simplify these document workflows. Join us on April 10, 2025, for a Zoho Writer webinar

    • [Zoho Writer Webinar] Learn how to simplify your HR operations: Part 2

      Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce the Zoho Writer webinar for July 2024: Learn how Zoho Writer can simplify your HR operations: Part 2. This webinar will focus on how Zoho Writer can help HR teams streamline and automate their entire hiring

    • [Zoho Writer Webinar] Learn how to simplify your day-to-day HR operations

      Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce the Zoho Writer webinar for June 2024: Learn how Zoho Writer can simplify your day-to-day HR operations. This webinar will focus on how to automate your entire hiring process and generate various types of

    • Branding of native system emails

      Make system emails adjustable in terms of branding. We want our system to be completely white label, because it is not a CRM anymore, it's way more than that. We are following the strategy of "CRM for everyone" to use the CRM in all departments, not only

    • Support “Never End” Option for Recurring Meetings in Zoho Meeting

      Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request support for creating recurring meetings with no end date in Zoho Meeting. Currently, when scheduling a recurring meeting, Zoho Meeting requires us to select a specific end date.

    • [Important announcement] Removal of Zoho Writer's DocuFiller Add-on

      Hi users, Effective 21st Feb. 2025, we will be removing the DocuFiller add-on for Zoho Writer's Fillable Templates. From that point on, the add-on's functionalities, such as sharing or publishing fillable forms for data collection and receiving submissions

    • Weekly Tips: Manage External Images in Zoho Mail

      When you receive emails every day, whether from clients, newsletters, or services, many of them contain external images that automatically load when you open the message. While this can make emails look more engaging, it can also impact your privacy and

    • Implementing a Self-Invoicing/Vendor Portal in Zoho Creator

      Hello Zoho Community / Creator Experts, We would like to build a Self-Invoicing Portal (Vendor Portal) in Zoho Creator for our external contractors. Our goal is to allow approved contractors to log in, submit their invoice details (hours worked, project

    • Function #32: Schedule low stock notifications on a timely basis to specific users of the organization

      Hello everyone and welcome back to our series! For a business that heavily relies on inventory, monitoring the stock levels and getting timely notifications of low stock items will ensure a smooth sail. Zoho Books allows you to always keep a check on

    • SINCH HUB MESSAGEMEDIA with ZOHO DESK

      1) what I need from MessageMedia, 2) what I want to confirm on the Zoho Desk Dev Forum. MessageMedia – needs and requirements Goal: Send SMS from a Zoho Desk widget for EU users. Auth: HTTP Basic (API Key + Secret). Keys must not live in the browser.

    • Function #46: Auto-Calculate Sales Margin on a Quote

      Welcome back everyone! Last week's function was about displaying the discount amount in words. This week, it's going to be about automatically calculating the sales margin for a particular quote, sales order or an invoice. Business scenario Where there is sales, there's also evaluation and competition between sales reps. A healthy rivalry helps to better motivate your employees to do smart work and close deals faster and more efficiently. But how does a sales rep get evaluated? 90% of the time, it's

    • Invalid URL error when embedded sending url into iframe for my website when using in another region

      Hi team, My site is currently working on integrating your signature feature as part of the system functionality, it's working great but recently there's been a problem like this: After successfully creating the document, i will embed a sending url into

    • New features released: Data from Picture for Web, Pattern Fill, and Translation in Zoho Sheet!

      Hello Sheet users, In 2024, the Zoho Sheet team focused on research and development to bring new features that add to functionalities like productivity, data management, collaboration, and more. This year, we're all set to roll them out incrementally

    • Kaizen #59 - Creating alerts and custom messages using Client Script

      Hello everyone! We are happy to resume our Zoho CRM Developer Community series - The Kaizen series! Welcome back to the new start of Kaizen! This post is about Client Script and its simple use cases involving ZDK Client functions. What is Client Script?

    • Universal search

      Hi, it would be useful if the search bar was universal-so if you entered a term, it would bring up results from contacts, candidates, clients etc all at the same time (but broken down under the relevant headings)

    • Attachment reminder?

      My team and I often need to attach files to our messages, e.g. an explanatory screenshot or a shipping label. More often that I want to admit I mention the attachment but forget to actually attach it. Some email clients have a check-for-missing-attachments

    • ZIA in Zoho Cliq

      Is It possible to use the ZIA feature from Zoho Analytics in the Zoho Cliq?

    • Next Page