Extensions 101: Build Extensions for Zoho Finance suite

Extensions 101: Build Extensions for Zoho Finance suite



Hello Developers!

We are thrilled to announce our 5-day webinar series on building extensions for Zoho Finance Suite products.

Our first session was a resounding success, introducing Extensions, Zoho Developer, Zoho Marketplace, and the Zoho Books Developer platform. The session was not only informative, but also highly interactive. We look forward to continuing this momentum in our upcoming sessions.

If you missed the first session, you can find the recording below. To participate in our upcoming sessions of this series, you can register here.



As part of our commitment to your learning, we have carefully curated the questions received during the session and provided answers. We understand your questions are crucial to your understanding, and we are here to support you.
  1. Could you help us with more information related to Zoho Platform in general, Zoho Flow, and Zoho Creator.
    You can find the details about the different platform capabilities in the following link. https://www.zoho.com/developer/apps.html. You can also refer to this video, which explains the Zoho Developer platform and the different sections available in it.

  2. How do we make connections work in the test environment?
    The base URL for testing APIs in the developer portal sandbox is     https://extension-books.sandbox.zoho.com.
    The respective team is working on a fix to resolve this, so that "api_root_endpoint" from the Organization map can be used without any issues to test the APIs in the sandbox. We will keep you updated here in this post once the fix is rolled out live.

    [Updated on 02/Jul/2024]
    As mentioned earlier, the issue has been fixed and rolled out. Now, you can use the "api_root_endpoint" from the Organization map, which will automatically fetch the current environment's base URL. You can refer to the code snippet below for fetching Books information with your connection details:

    organizationID = organization.get("organization_id");
    apiEndpoint = organization.get("api_root_endpoint");
    respcontacts = invokeurl [
         url :apiEndpoint + "/contacts?organization_id=" + organizationID
         type :GET
         connection:"xxxxxxxxxx"
         ];

  3. What are the criteria to be considered while choosing to utilize a Private Extension or performing the customizations on a Zoho Books instance?
    A private extension would be helpful when you need to share a customized feature with multiple Zoho Books instances (orgs or users). Otherwise, you can go with product customization.

  4. Are global variables created in an extension accessible in other extensions/widgets?
    No, global fields can be accessible within the extension in which they were created. If necessary, visibility can be controlled within the extension.
    https://www.zoho.com/books/developer/extensions/configuration.html#global-fields

  5. Is it possible to connect WhatsApp business account with Zoho books along with its features?
    No. You cannot directly connect an application with Zoho Books. For any integration with Zoho Books, a secure and valid connection with the respective product must be established. Following that, you need to build the integration based on the use cases you plan to achieve. This implementation will depend upon the platform as well as the products' supported features.

  6. How do I construct data for items, materials, and prices without manually editing items as it consumes more time?
    With widgets and APIs, you can use your own user interface to create the respective module's records.

  7. Can we use global variables to store sensitive information needed for use by the extension/widget? What is the alternative to global variables?
    While reviewing the extension, we don't encourage storing users' sensitive information as per privacy policies. Other than that, if you need some data to be stored securely and used within an extension, global variables would be the best option. Otherwise, you can store it through a widget.

  8. Is the sandbox data retained between tests?
    Yes. The data will be retained.

  9. How do widget and extension share data?
    Similar to how you add various components to your extension, widgets are also added as a component. Unlike the other components, widgets must be embedded into Zoho Books at a specific, customizable location. Consequently, data or values defined within an extension will be accessible from a widget. The visibility and accessibility of the data can be controlled depending on how it is defined.

  10. Can I access the Zoho Developer from my Zoho Books?
    No. Zoho Developer is a free cloud platform that allows users to build different types of apps for Zoho products. You can only develop extensions for Zoho Books using this platform.

  11. Use case: When a contact is linked to a product in Zoho CRM, a new ticket needs to be created in Zoho Desk. To implement this, how can I connect to Zoho Desk to create a ticket?
    To implement your use case, you must create an extension for Zoho CRM with a connector for Zoho Desk. You can invoke the Desk API to create a ticket using that connector.

  12. Is approval from the Zoho Books team required for a private extension?
    Yes. A review of private extensions will be done for the initial phase. Since finance suite extensions involve financial data, the review is mandatory.

  13. Which Zoho Books plan is offered in the developer platform? Also, which plan of Zoho Books is required to test and install an extension?
    The Ultimate plan of the Indian edition is applied by default in the Zoho Books developer platform to build extensions. All the features available as part of the Ultimate plan will be available during your extension development on the developer platform.

    With regard to the plan required to test an extension, a 14-day trial plan should suffice. However, if you already have a paid org, it's recommended to have a Premium or above plan to test and install the extension. If you're using other paid plans, the suitability depends on the component's limits. Please refer to this link for more details: https://www.zoho.com/in/books/pricing/pricing-comparison.html?highlight=professional#:~:text=Customization%20and%20automation

  14. Should we post in the developer forum or write directly to the support email for suggestions and help.
    If your query is a support question related to a Zoho product, you can email the respective Zoho product's support email address. However, the developer forum is ideal if you want to validate your thoughts from other Zoho users. There are 100+ million users in the forum. The challenge you face could have already been shared and discussed by other users. Hence, the Zoho Cliq developer forum is an efficient mode of quick exchange of thoughts.

  15. When will the comments in threads be accessible to Cliq channel users in EU data center?
    We love for all customers across the world to come together, exchange knowledge, and grow together. Our Cliq team is working to address some bottlenecks, like checking the thread, regardless of your DC. We will be the first to update you once the feature is ready.

  16. How can I use the request method within a widget?
    We have SDKs for widgets to communicate with Zoho Books. The ZFAPPS.request() method will help you to make a network request. You can learn more here.

  17. Will there be support for SDK methods for package module in future?
    We have currently supported SDK methods for limited modules. We will add the missing modules in future updates.

  18. Does the get method work only when we are on a particular module?
    The get method helps you to get records' data only on specific locations. For example, consider that you are on the sales order page; you can get the 'salesorder' data only. If you require other details, you have to use the request method to initiate an API call.

  19. What is the difference between Integration and extension?
    The terms integration and extension are almost similar. Integrations include both API-built apps as well as platform-built apps.

    Extensions: We use this term to the apps that are built using the Sigma platform, wherein you can make enhancements to extend the existing functionality of a Zoho product by customising the product or connecting with other applications.

    API-built apps: These apps could be built in any development environment of your choice, and you would consume the respective Zoho product REST APIs to implement your use case. In these types of apps, you would be operating more on the data of the respective apps.

  20. What's an example of a web tab?
    Say you've created a Zoho Creator application to manage the manufacturing process, POS, or a specific aspect of your business. You can copy the embed URL and create a web tab for it. Now, you’ll be able to access this Zoho Creator application within Zoho Books instead of opening it in a separate browser tab.

  21. Can we have a Zoho Books web tab directly inside Zoho CRM? Finance is available, but it is limited in its functionality.
    No, the entire Zoho Books product cannot be constructed as a web tab inside Zoho CRM. In general, a web tab is used to embed a page inside the product. However, Zoho finance inside the Zoho CRM is an integration with additional functionalities.

  22. What happens if an extension is not approved after review? Can it not be published on the Marketplace, or can I not use it as well?
    An approved extension can only be deployed in the Zoho marketplace. If it is not approved, you can make the necessary changes and send it again for review. Until then, you can use the extension locally and share it privately with your customers.

  23. What is the size limit for data storage in the Zoho Books widget?
    Up to 10000 characters can be stored.

  24. For third-party integrations, can you host the API pull request on Sigma?
    Yes. To invoke third-party APIs, you can use the request SDK method. These topics will be covered in our upcoming sessions. Stay tuned :)

  25. Is there any charge for building and listing extensions?
    No, the Zoho Developer platform is free, and hence, there is no charge for building extensions or listing them in the Zoho Marketplace.

  26. Can we create extensions using trial account also? I am unable to create extensions for CRM in my trial account.
    In general, trial accounts can be used to test product functionalities. Since Zoho Developer is a free cloud platform, you can sign up for a Zoho Developer account and directly start with extension development. Also, the extensions for Zoho CRM can be developed using a Zoho Developer account in the U.S. DC only.

  27. In the Zoho Books widget, is there any method to retrieve records from another module without using the request method, perhaps through any SDK methods?
    Sorry, this is not possible right now.

  28. As an individual developer and not a company, is it possible for me to create extensions?
    Yes, you can go ahead and create extensions if you have a Zoho Developer account.

    • Recent Topics

    • Introducing Product Catalog in Bigin

      Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. For many small businesses, sharing products and collecting customer interest often involves multiple tools, manual follow-ups, or even building a full ecommerce website. To address this challenge, we're excited

    • Products in Email Template

      I’m a little confused as to how to add the listed products, from within a specific deal, to an email template. I want to generate said email template when a deal reaches a specific stage and include the products that have been selected for the deal in

    • Option for - CSV Export from Pipeline Deals by Stage (Including Products, Companies, and Contacts)

      I would like to know when we will be able to export a simple CSV file from pipeline deals, with the option to select a specific stage within the pipeline. This export should include data for products, companies, and contacts, all in a single view. For

    • Zoho Billing Partial Proration...

      Hi, In Zoho billing, we offer upgrades, downgrades, suspends, and resumes. We use online payment for most subscriptions, but have only a few that are offline, but we treat them the same either way.. We prorate only parts of these changes.. Right now zoho

    • What is the maximum length/size of a presentation on Apple TV?

      Hello, I have a presentation here that I regularly show on Apple TV. It’s always the same presentation, which keeps getting longer and more extensive over time. Almost every slide contains a graphic or photo that takes up the entire slide. That means:

    • CRM Notes

      Hello, We want to add a Note to the Contact record when a Note is added to a Case or Deal. I wasn't able to do this using a workflow, so I tried using Zoho Flow, but that didn't work either. Does anyone have a suggestion on how we can accomplish thi

    • Zoho Books | Product updates | April 2026

      Hello users, Welcome to our April 2026 product updates roundup! Highlights include profit margin for sales transactions, insights in reports, recording deposits from undeposited funds in banking, and faster production workflows with improved assembly

    • Schedule Timeout 5 minutes vs. stated 15 minutes

      I am running into a function run timeout error after 5 minutes for my schedules. The Functions - Limits documents states it should be 15 minutes: Functions - Limits | Online Help - Zoho CRM. What should it actually be? Due to the 5 minute timeout, I'm

    • Sorter View No Longer Works Properly

      Today I realized that sorter view no longer works properly. I believe just yesterday, I was able to drag a slide or a group of slides and move it/them to the place I want to move it/them to. While I was dragging, I got a visual feedback of where I could

    • Ignroe_filtrers and drill through

      I have two charts, where one is connected to the other using drill-through. The issue is with the second chart (the drill-through target). It contains an aggregation formula that uses the ignore_filters function. Under normal conditions, the formula works

    • zoho creator panel add formula

      Hello. I'm using zoho panels which works good for me but i need to add an extra calculation the predefined sum function provided by zoho. not sure if this is possible? The code zoho is generating for the sum is as follows; <text margin='0px' padding='0px'

    • Kaizen #238: Fetching Employee Data from Microsoft SQL Server into Zoho CRM Using Queries

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to the Kaizen series! Many organizations manage workforce data such as employee designations, contact details, salary bands, and joining dates in an HRMS backed by Microsoft SQL Server, while their sales teams work in Zoho

    • 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

    • Du prompt à la production : comprendre le fonctionnement du MCP

      Le Model Context Protocol (MCP) est un protocole ouvert qui standardise la manière dont les applications se connectent aux modèles de langage (LLM). En termes simples, le MCP est le « USB-C des agents IA » : une interface universelle qui relie l’intelligence

    • Add Flexible Recurrence Options for Meeting Scheduling in Zoho Cliq (e.g., Every 2 Weeks)

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. Currently, when scheduling a meeting inside Zoho Cliq, the recurrence options are limited to Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. There is no ability to set a meeting to occur every X weeks — for example,

    • filter on sheets mobile (iOS, iPadOS) does not work

      re-posting this as a question because reporting as a problem netted zero responses... I have this issue on every spreadsheet, whether imported or created natively in Zoho Sheets. I can use on desktop without issue: but on iOS the filter dropdowns are

    • Inactive License for free account.

      I recently upgraded my Cliq subscription not my team (on the free version), are unable to login to their accounts. The error message received is Inactive License Looks like you have not been covered under the current free plan of users. Please contact

    • Zoho Books recurring invoicing link to a Zoho CRM Deal?

      With the Zoho CRM Finance Integration setup, normally when creating an invoice via Zoho CRM Finance Integration on a Deal, it creates the invoice in Zoho Books with the CRM Deal *Potential link for that invoice. Alternatively, if you create the invoice

    • Data Import

      Hello Latha, Is there any option to enable data import option in Equipment module? Best regards, Chethiya.

    • 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

    • Introducing PDF conversion in Deluge

      Hello everyone, We're pleased to introduce built-in PDF conversion capabilities in Deluge with the launch of the convertToPDF task. As PDF is one of the most widely used formats in professional environments, this task helps streamline document generation

    • Changing naming convention for Estimates

      Hi there, How do I customise the naming of the filenames for estimates when sending them? Currently they are named literally just ES11.PDF or whatever the number of the estimate is. There is no Company name, description of the work, customer name, date

    • Email templates for estimates

      Hi there, When I send an estimate the option to choose a template appears. However it is common to need to make some minor personalizations and modifications to the email before sending ie. adding a second person to the greeting, or adding a small note

    • How to transfer uploaded files from Zoho Survey to external systems?

      Hi everyone, I'm currently integrating Zoho Survey with an external system and have run into a limitation I haven't been able to solve yet. I'm using webhooks to send submitted survey data (JSON) to my external API, which works perfectly for all standard

    • On Duty Requests - Zoho People Data

      Hello Team, We are currently using the On Duty Form to record Work From Home (WFH) requests in our organization. However, we are facing an issue where pending On Duty requests are not appearing in the Attendance Module. For example, if I submit On Duty

    • Editing Estimates

      Hi team, How do I delete line items in an estimate when editing it? I can't see any option to do this - no X, no trashcan, no drop down... And how do I revert to the original estimate after cloning? I cloned to see if the option to edit were disabled

    • Reading emails sent from Zoho

      Hi there, How do I view an email sent from Zoho, for example an email which contains an estimate? I can see there is a tab in the screen for that estimate which is labelled 'Emails' and I can see a summary of the email sent listed there, but I cannot

    • Feature Request: Mass update selected Contacts to Accounts

      I can't believe this isn't an ability already. It's a quick fix that would save hours of manual entry time. This looks like it had been requested 3-4 years ago with no answers from staff! Please add all contact fields into the "mass update" menu. You

    • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

      Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels

    • How To Implement an Auto-Check-out Feature for Attendance?

      If an employee forgets to check out, the system should automatically check out the employee at 6:30 PM

    • Automate the file import step

      Hello everyone, I have a Sales - 'Account' category, and currently import the file to update it as follows: Import Accounts - From File - Update existing Accounts only - select and match the field the CRM. Since we have been using Microsoft 365 SharePoint.

    • Set Default Status of Assembly to "Assembled" When Entered in UI

      I've just discovered the new "confirmed" status of Assemblies within Inventory. While I understand the intent of this (allowing for manufacturing planning and raw material stock allocation), it was initially confusing to me when manually entering some

    • Sender Email Configuration Error.

      Hello Team, Hope you are all doing well. We are in the process of creating the Zoho FSM environment in the UAE. When we try to add the sender email address “techsupportuae@stryker.com”, we receive the error message: “Error occurred while sending mail

    • Share saved filters between others

      Hi, I am in charge to setup all zoho system in our company. I am preparing saved filters for everybody, but the only one can see its me. How can others see it? Thanks

    • Webinar Alert: Learn how to decode your landing page performance with analytics

      Every click, scroll, and drop-off tells a story. Are you listening? Join our Landing Page Analytics webinar to understand how data can reveal what’s working and what’s costing you conversions. In this session, you'll discover The most important metrics

    • Campaign Status Field in CRM

      I'm wanting to create a custom view in CRM that shows all those who have recently hard bounced in past campaigns so we can clean up the database. An old Zoho article said it was possible, but I don't see the option to push campaign status field to CRM,

    • Zoho Forms for Vertical Studio Subscriber Organizations

      We’re excited to introduce the Zoho Forms integration with Vertical Studio. This allows you to capture data using forms and send it directly to your Vertical Studio modules. With this integration, form submissions can be used to create or update records,

    • Zoho Flow not handling Boolean properly

      Hi, I have a checkbox in one system that I'm trying to sync with a checkbox in Zoho CRM. The value from the source system comes in as blank (unticked) or 1 (ticked). I've written the following custom function to convert the output to either boolean false

    • Printing invoice from creator using writer

      Hello. I have created my invoices using Zoho Writer and i'm sending data to them from Zoho Creator by selecting a row in a report and then clicking a button which has workflow connected to it to send the date to the invoice in writer. This is working

    • How to Initiate WhatsApp Message on SalesIQ?

      I've just activated a Business WhatsApp phone number through SalesIQ because of its touted omnichannel chat approach. Sounds exciting. I understand that when a customer sends me a WA message, I can reply to it on SalesIQ and keep the chat going, perfect.

    • Next Page