Hello users,
We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From plan-based trials to the option to mark PDF templates as inactive, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience.
Introducing Plan Based Trials in Zoho Books
We have introduced plan based trials, which allow you to explore five trial plans: Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite, and Ultimate. By default, the Premium trial plan is assigned when you create an organization.
To switch the trial plan, click the organization's logo at the top right of the screen > select Change Trial Plan > Choose Plan > click Save.
Introducing a New Flow to Track Discounts on Bills under Inventory Asset
We're introducing a new flow for how discounts are managed at the line-item level in bills. Once you switch to the new flow, any discount applied to line items in a bill will be tracked under the stock account by default.default. The actual cost will be reflected in both the journal entry for the transaction and the Inventory Valuation Summary report, giving you a more accurate view of your inventory value.
Record Income TDS Without Linking It to an Invoice [India & Global Editions]
You can now record income TDS payments separately, without linking them to any specific invoice.
To record a TDS payment without linking it to an invoice, go to Sales > Invoices. Select an invoice, click the Record Payment dropdown, and choose Record Payment. Enter 0 in the Amount Received field, select Yes, TDS (Income Tax) in the Tax Deducted? field, fill in the other mandatory details, and click Record Payment. 
To record a TDS payment without linking it to an invoice from the Payments Received module, go to Sales > Payments Received. Click + New, select a Customer Name, enter 0 in the Amount Received field, fill in the other mandatory fields, and click Save.
Mark PDF Templates as Active/Inactive
You can now mark a PDF template as inactive instead of deleting it. Inactive templates cannot be associated with any modules. You can also mark the template as active later.
To mark PDF templates as inactive, go to Settings > Customization > PDF Templates. Select a module under the Templates pane, hover over the desired template, click the Settings icon, and select Mark as Inactive from the dropdown.
Configure Workflows Rules Based on Organization or Customer Time Zone
You can now configure workflow rules to execute based on either the organization’s or the customer’s time zone. For example, if your company is based in New York and has customers worldwide, you can choose to send reminders based on the customer’s local time zone. 
Note: This feature is currently supported only for the Invoices and Sales Orders modules.
WhatsApp Notification Support for Packages and Shipments
You can now configure templates to send package, shipment, and delivery details to your customers via WhatsApp. You can also check the message status from the Comments & History section.
To enable WhatsApp notifications for packages and shipments, go to Settings > Integrations & Marketplace > WhatsApp. Slide the toggle next to Package, Shipment, and Shipment Delivered. You can then create WhatsApp templates and get them approved by Meta to start sending notifications to your customers.  
To send a WhatsApp notification for a package that is not yet shipped, go to Sales > Packages. Select the package and click Send WhatsApp Message on the details page.
 
To send WhatsApp notifications in bulk for packages that are not yet shipped, go to Sales > Packages. Click the Filter icon, select the Not Shipped filter, choose the packages, and click the WhatsApp icon at the top of the page.
 
To send a WhatsApp notification for a shipment that has been shipped or delivered, go to Sales > Shipments. Select the shipment, click Send, and choose WhatsApp Message from the dropdown.
To send WhatsApp notifications in bulk for shipments that have been shipped or delivered, go to Sales > Shipments. Click the Filter icon, select the Shipped/Delivered filter, choose the shipments, and click the WhatsApp icon at the top of the page.
To provide roles with access to send WhatsApp notifications for packages and shipments, go to Settings > Users & Roles > Roles. Select a role, click More Permissions next to Package/Shipment Order, and enable the Communication option.
Introducing Sales Summary Report
We have introduced the Sales Summary Report, which provides a clear overview of your daily sales activity. The report displays the total number of invoices and sales receipts created each day. If credit notes are issued for an invoice, it also includes the number of credit notes, their amounts, and the outstanding balance. The credit note amounts are subtracted from the invoice sales and reflected in the Total Sales and Total Sales with Tax columns.
 
Sort and Limit Data Points in Report Panels
You can now sort and define the maximum number of data points to be displayed on the report panel. Sorting can be applied to X-axis and Y-axis data points. These options are available while 
creating or 
editing report panels in custom dashboards.
Set Applied On Date for Customer Payments and Credit Notes
You can now Set Applied on Date when applying Customer Advances, Excess Customer Payments, and Credit Notes to Invoices. This allows users to record the credits applied on these transactions on a future date later than the original posting dates. 
Associate Active Locations with GSTINs to Enable GST [India Edition]
Going forward, it is mandatory to associate a GSTIN with every active location to enable GST. Each active location must be either linked to a GSTIN or marked inactive before enabling tax. 
Enhancements to Record Locking
We’ve enhanced record locking and added a dedicated tab for it under Settings. You can now specify which actions and field updates are allowed or restricted after records are locked, and define who can perform these actions.
Note: This feature is supported only in Invoices, Quotes, Credit Notes, and Custom Modules.
Zoho Inventory Add-On Updates
Barcode Scanning in Picklist
Barcode scanning is now supported in Picklist. You can scan items instead of entering them manually.
Set Preferred Bin for Picklist Creation
We've introduced the Preferred Bin feature in the Picklist module. Admins can now select a specific bin for each bin-tracked item during picklist creation.
Introducing the Transfer Order Summary and Transfer Order Details Report
We’ve added two new reports to help you track transfer orders more efficiently. The Transfer Order Summary Report gives an overview of all transfer orders within a selected date range, while the Transfer Order Details Report provides item-level details for those orders.
Other Enhancements
- We have added support for viewing sync history in the Bigin integration, making it easier to troubleshoot sync issues.
 - You can now manually enter payment numbers while importing vendor payments.
 - You can now directly send payment links via WhatsApp. 
 - You can bulk update the Revenue Recognition fields of an invoice like Revenue Recognition Type, Rule Name, Start Date, End Date, Allocation Method, Deferred Revenue Account.
 
 
We hope you like the new features and enhancements in Zoho Books! Take some time to explore the latest updates. We’ll be back next month with even more updates, as we continually strive to elevate your accounting experience.
 
Best regards,
The Zoho Books Team
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