Building extensions #3: Fundamental features of a Zoho Books extension
In our earlier posts, we covered how to create, test, and publish an extension for Zoho Finance suite applications. Moving forward, we'll look specifically at instances relating to one of the products from the Zoho Finance suite: Zoho Books.
In this post, we'll explore the key features listed below that are available in the Zoho Books extension developer portal.
- Automation and customization
- Seamless integration
- Widgets
- Event-based data transfer and notifications
- Extension configuration
Automation and customization
These are defined sets of rules that automatically execute operations and customize standards for tailoring modules and fields.
Achieving it in Zoho Books
The Zoho Books extension developer portal provides a variety of automation features, including workflows (rules, actions, and triggers), custom actions, and schedules. There are also customization features, like creating custom modules and fields, adding buttons, and including related lists for both standard and custom modules.
Example use case
Automate emails to customers in various organizations based on their accounts receivable (A/R), so that different emails are sent indicating different actions that will be taken against them based on the total value of credit payments they owe.
By using an extension, you can easily add a new custom field for accounts receivable and specify workflow rules to send an email based on the value.
Widgets
A widget is a user interface that displays data to the end-user in order to facilitate their understanding or collects input data from them in order to perform additional operations.
Achieving it in Zoho Books
The developer portal's widget feature helps create a user interface or run a client-side script. You can easily design and develop user interfaces with any web development framework; these widgets could gather user input, if required, and, based on those inputs, perform logical operations.
Example use case
Issue a mortgage lien release (certificate of release) to a borrower who has paid off their mortgage completely. This certificate indicates that the lien on the borrower's property has been released and they have regained title ownership. In this situation, a customized widget can be developed to collect personalized inputs, such as the issuing bank's (lender's) information and a customized message to be sent to the borrower, before sending the certificate out.
Seamless integration
A seamless integration or tightly coupled integration to establishes a connection between applications for data transfer and synchronization.
Achieving it in Zoho Books
The Connections feature in the Zoho Books extension developer portal can be used to achieve seamless integrations.
You can establish connections between Zoho Books and other apps by:
➤ Using the default, ready-to-use connections offered in the Zoho Books extension developer portal➤ Creating customized connections for the applications you want to integrate with Zoho Books
Example use case
You can sync data between Zoho Books and Shopify, running your business more efficiently by completing activities from a single app and reducing manual data entry.
This data sync can be achieved by establishing a connection between these apps using the Connections feature. This enables seamless collaboration between sales and finance operations; sales contacts can be added as Zoho Books customers, and invoices issued in Zoho Books can be instantly logged and synced in Shopify.
Event-based data transfer and notifications
These are real-time notifications or actions that are triggered and executed in response to the occurrence of a real-time event.
Achieving it in Zoho Books
Webhooks and signals on the developer portal facilitate real-time data updates and notifications in Zoho Books.
The webhooks feature enhances the connection between two applications. It allows you to capture the occurrence of an event and collect and post the real-time data as an update to another application.
The Zoho Books extension developer portal provides support for both incoming and outgoing webhooks, allowing real-time data updates to Zoho Books from another application and vice versa.
The signals feature allows you to receive real-time notifications.
Example use case
A finance meeting is planned and organized using an event management app, and future potential clients are gathered from the meeting. If the follow-up is successful and a client would like an event organized, it's scheduled for them.
In this case, webhooks capture the occurrence of the event being created, collect the event-related data, update it in Zoho Books, and generate an invoice for the event. Signals can be used to display real-time notifications when new customers are added to Zoho Books.
Extension configuration
Manage extension configuration by allowing users to provide their preferences or user-specific data and perform actions when extensions are installed or uninstalled.
Achieving it in Zoho Books
Global fields and installation actions help achieve extension setup and execute installation-related scripts.
- You can either create global fields to collect input from users or design widgets (with global fields, if necessary), allowing users to provide inputs and choices to configure and use the extension.
- Perform custom actions during the extension's installation and uninstallation.
Example use case
You can sync and manage Zoho Books projects with Trello, a project management platform, to create customized task views and visually manage tasks.
This is easy to accomplish with global fields and installation actions. Since Trello requires an API key to establish a safe connection with another app, we can add a global field for it in Zoho Books. After installing the extension, users can provide their user-specific API key to establish a secure connection between the apps. Then, an install action script can be created to transfer records.
In this post, we've covered an overview of the features available while developing a Zoho Books extension and how they might be useful. We'll explore each of these features in detail in upcoming posts. We hope you found this information helpful. Keep following us for more posts!
SEE MORE
Access your files securely from anywhere
Centralize Knowledge. Transform Learning.
All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.
New to Zoho Recruit?
Zoho Developer Community
New to Zoho LandingPage?
Zoho LandingPage Resources
New to Zoho Survey?
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho CRM Plus?
Deliver unforgettable customer experiences
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Zoho Marketing Plus?
Everything you need to run your marketing
New to Bigin?
Topic Participants
Nanditha Somasundaram Somasundaram
Sticky Posts
Building extensions #5: Creating custom connections for extensions
In our previous post, we discussed the significance of connections, identified their types, developed a predefined connection, and demonstrated how it can be integrated with Zoho Books using an example. In this post, we'll walk through the process ofBuilding extensions #4: Integrating Zoho Books with applications using connections
In our last post, we looked at an overview of the key features available for creating a Zoho Books extension, including connections. In this post, we'll go over connections in depth, including their types and applications. What are connections? "Connections"Building extensions #3: Fundamental features of a Zoho Books extension
In our earlier posts, we covered how to create, test, and publish an extension for Zoho Finance suite applications. Moving forward, we'll look specifically at instances relating to one of the products from the Zoho Finance suite: Zoho Books. In this post,Building extensions #2: Publishing an extension
Hello developers, Welcome to our next post about building extensions for Zoho Finance Suite applications. In our previous post, we looked at extensions, their purpose, and how to create and test them. To recap, extensions are installable plugins or add-onsBuilding extensions #1: Creating and testing extensions for Zoho Finance Suite applications
Hello developers! We're excited to announce a new series called "Building extensions" to assist developers in creating efficient extensions for Zoho Finance Suite products. We'll support and guide you through the process of creating an extension and using
New to Zoho TeamInbox?
Zoho TeamInbox Resources
Zoho CRM Plus Resources
Zoho Books Resources
Zoho Subscriptions Resources
Zoho Projects Resources
Zoho Sprints Resources
Qntrl Resources
Zoho Creator Resources
Zoho CRM Resources
Design. Discuss. Deliver.
Zoho Show Resources
Get Started. Write Away!
Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.
Zoho CRM コンテンツ
-
オンラインヘルプ
-
Webセミナー
-
機能活用動画
-
よくある質問
-
Ebook
-
-
Zoho Campaigns
- Zoho サービスのWebセミナー
その他のサービス コンテンツ
Nederlandse Hulpbronnen
ご検討中の方
Recent Topics
Rich Text Type Format for Notes Field
Has it been discussed or is there a way to insert a table in the notes field? We sometimes receive information in a table format, and it would be beneficial to have it in the same format as a note on a record. Moderation Update (12-May-26): We are workingsales IQ issue on website
i integrated the zoho sales IQ code on the website but it is comming in distroted form i am sharing the screenshot below the website is bulit in wix platformContract to payment flow
Hi everyone, I’m trying to set up a contract-to-payment flow and want to avoid duplicating invoices or customers in Zoho Books. The flow should be: contract generated from CRM, sent via Zoho Sign, client signs, deposit is paid, and the invoice shouldLinking Contacts to Other Modules
In creator, I've got a Contacts page with a lookup that searches Suppliers. Is there a way to have the contacts attached to the Suppliers modular as a list automatically, similar to the CRM version? It goes the other way. If I entered an Employee in theMultiple Pipelines
Is it possible to create multiple candidate pipelines?Automation #7 - Auto-update Email Content to a Ticket
This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Email is one of the most commonlyIntroducing Custom Columns in Forecasts in Zoho CRM
Release Plan: Enabling in Phased Manner, Enabled for JP DC Hello all, Forecasts in Zoho CRM help sales representatives, managers, and business stakeholders evaluate performance and plan future sales activities. While standard metrics such as Target, AchievedHow would you handle Warranty replacement parts or items in zoho inventory
Hi everyone, I'm working on setting up zoho inventory for our distribution business. We handle the service for our customers and will replace items that malfunction under a warranty basis. Does anyone else do this and how do you set it up in inventory? Do you have to create a sales order and if you want to the original item back, do you use a RMA? If so, how is it done so there isn't a credit memo associated with it? Thanks, TimAtlassian Jira integration live in Zoho Apptics
Tracking crashes and fixing them often happen with different tools. You might use Zoho Apptics to track crashes and understand what went wrong and Jira to resolve those issues. If you use both, you're probably familiar with the manual effort involvedWhat's New in Zoho Billing | January 2026
Excited about the latest enhancements in Zoho Billing? Our January updates bring an intelligent AI assistant, smarter subscription management, and improved tax compliance, saving you time and reducing manual work. Dive into the details below to see howCustomising Outcome drop down
Is it possible to customize the drop down list for appointment outcomes?Auto-sync field of lookup value
This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.Printing preview is empty
- head-line - I'm a happy user of Zoho Writer almost a year now, but I got some seriues probelm on my Printing Preview. I wrote some long doc, and once in a while I did a printing preview, and everything were fine. Suddnly the Printing Preview is empty and the Page View dosn't deviding the doucmunebt into pages. thank you, and love your service - Eli.DYK 4 - Reactions
Did You Know that you can react to comments in Zoho Projects? In a collaborative workspace, comments come in throughout the day. Some need a detailed reply, others just need to be acknowledged, and the more the replies, the harder it is to follow thesince the new interface of ZOHO writer can't turn of automatic reminder option for merge documents
Since the new interface of ZOHO writer I have this problem. I have a large set of templates that I use to send documents to ZOHO Sign. But now in all those templates the box for Sending reminders is ticked, which i don't want. But even if I untick theIntroducing Interactive WhatsApp Templates and Quick Replies in the Bigin iOS App
Hello everyone! We are happy to introduce interactive WhatsApp templates and Quick replies in Business Messaging in the Bigin iOS app. Scenario: John Bailey owns a small-scale digital marketing company. He gets an enquiry on chat while he is busy, soNew UI for Writer - Disappointed
I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think thisQualified electronic signatures (QES) via SIGN8 in Zoho Sign
Zoho Sign now integrates with SIGN8, a qualified trust service provider (QTSP) under the eIDAS regulation, so you can collect qualified electronic signatures (QES) that are legally recognized across the EU. With QES via SIGN8, you can: Allow recipientsSalesIQ Live Chat Widget Upgrade For Zoho Desk Customers
The older version of the SalesIQ live chat widget will be deprecated on May 15, 2026. SalesIQ powers the chat experience across Zoho Desk, Help Center, and ASAP widgets. To ensure continued support, Zoho Desk will begin rolling out the new SalesIQ widgetSet Custom Icon for Custom Modules in new Zoho CRM UI
Support Custom Background in Zoho Cliq Video Calls and Meetings
Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the video background capabilities in Zoho Cliq, specifically the ability to upload and use custom backgrounds. Current Limitation At present, Zoho Cliq allowsLooking for Guidance on Building a Zoho Website
I'm exploring the possibility of building a custom website with specific features using Zoho as an alternative platform. My goal is to create something similar to https://gtasandresapk.com , with the same kind of functionality and user experience. I'dWhat's New in Zoho POS - April 2026
Hello everyone, Welcome to Zoho POS’s monthly update, where we share our latest feature updates, enhancements, events, and more. Let’s take a look at how April went. Access and manage other web applications in Zoho POS with Web Tabs You can now accessPlug Sample #9 - Get Notified on Cliq When Your Premium Customers Interact with SalesIQ's Zobot
Hi everyone! We're here with another simple yet effective plug for your chatbot to integrate with Zoho Cliq to make your job easier. Just imagine whenever a potential lead or your premium customers are on your website, and they engage with your chatbot,Zoho IP address blocked by Microsoft
Today I tried to send emails to Outlook email addresses and all of them failed. The log displays like this: Reporting-MTA: dns; mx.zohomail.jp Arrival-Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2025 12:52:30 +0800 Original-Recipient: rfc822; ######@outlook.com Final-Recipient:Integrate QuickBooks with Bigin and streamline your sales and accounting!
If your business relies on Bigin for customer management and QuickBooks for accounting and invoicing, this new integration is here to make your operations more efficient. By connecting these two platforms, you can now manage your CRM and financial processesUpgraded sentiment analysis model for more accurate detection
Hello everyone! Sentiment Analysis in Zia is being upgraded to a newer model to improve how customer sentiment is detected and interpreted. This transition is aimed at getting better contextual understanding across all supported channels. As part of thisAdding contact to account automatically in helpdesk?
Hello, We're using Zoho desk to managed our helpdesk tickets. Is there a way to add contacts (email senders) automatically to an account based on their emails domain name? For example: when UserA@companyx.com send an email to our support mailbox, a trigger or a workflow would automatically add the userA to Companyx account if it does exists Please advise Thank youGLM 5 not available
Hello, I am trying to setup a Zia Agent using agents.zoho.com. The settings says that GLM5 is among the list of free zoho hosted models available. However, when I try to setup an agent and pick a model from the list only GLM 4.7 Flash is available. HowNative QuickBooks integration for Zoho CRM: Connecting sales and finance
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce Zoho CRM's integration with QuickBooks Web, which is designed to synchronize your CRM data with your QuickBooks accounting records and bridge the gap between sales and finance. ThisKnowledge base articles is now available in the Zoho Desk mobile app!
Hello all, As a customer service agent, every day you might have to deal with many questions and issues reported by the users. With Knowledge Base, you can reduce the issue resolution life cycle for your organization. We are delighted to announce that we have brought in support for 'Knowledge Base articles' in the Zoho Desk iOS mobile app. This feature is already available for Android users. KB articles are available to iOS users in the latest version of the app (v2.4.9). You can update theUrgent Issue – Draft Reply Fails to Save When Message Contains Code Snippets
Hello Zoho Desk Support Team, We are experiencing a critical issue in the ticket reply editor that is directly impacting our support operation. Whenever we write a reply containing code snippets, URLs, or technical content (for example, terms like “curlIntroducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]
Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-childZoho CRM Meetings Module Issues
We have a use-case that is very common in today's world, but won't work in Zoho CRM. We have an SDR (Sales Development Rep) who makes many calls per day to Leads and Contacts, and schedules meetings for our primary Sales Reps. He does this by logginginformation on a suggestion how to treat old records in the - pipeline deals, notes, activities (tasks- events-calls) and emails etc.
Hi, I would like information or a suggestion on how to treat old records in the - pipeline deals, notes, activities (tasks- events-calls) and emails etc. ? As each option (pipeline deal, notes, activities, emails etc.) counts as a record and as we advanceInventory batch details
Hi there, I'm trying to get the batch details of an item, here's what I've done so far. I've sent cUrl request to the below endpoint and I get a successful response. Within in the response I find the "warehouses" property which correctly lists all theZoho Trident Windows - Streams Not Visible
Namaste We’re having an issue with Streams not being visible in Trident (Windows), which is important for us as we share many emails internally. It appears that the feature to show Streams above the Inbox folder, as seen in the default mailbox view, isEarly Access: Check Printing in Zoho Books
Hello Everyone, Are you constantly writing checks to pay your vendors? We've got a great news to share with you! You can now pay your vendors by writing and printing a check directly from Zoho Books. The feature is ready and we'll be rolling it out to our customers in phases. It is available in the US Edition of Zoho Books and also in the Global edition, where the country is selected as USA and the currency is USD. Here’s a summary of what’s possible: 1. Write and print a check. 2. MakeTrash - Delete All
We use 6 inbox shared (via IMAP). The Trash bin contains a lot of messages. Is it possible to delete them all permanently? Is there a rule to empty trash bin after xx days? Deleted permanently message in TeamInBox are deleted permanently in the relatedInternal mails on our company domain (managed by Zoho) do not get delivered
Hi last week Thursday and Friday a colleague had sent me two emails which did not show up at all in my inbox, spam or anywhere else. What this a problem with Zoho mail in general or did this affect just us? From the forum is reads like many problems hadNext Page