Tip #21: Multiple record association in Zoho CRM

Tip #21: Multiple record association in Zoho CRM




Hey everyone! 
As part of our weekly  Tips and Tricks   series on using Zoho CRM, we are going to focus on module customization today. 

When you manage your sales data in CRM, there is often a need to link two modules. For instance, when you click on an account, you can see the contacts associated with it. As you may already know, this is achieved with the help of a Lookup field which links Accounts with Contacts. 

However, notice that this lookup field allows the association of multiple contacts to an account - but not multiple accounts to a contact. If at all you have contacts on contract who work with multiple companies, you cannot capture that association in CRM using the lookup field. 

Similarly, consider the example of an educational institution. A single student may opt for multiple courses. A single cour se may be taken by multiple students - so there i s a  two-way multiple associati on.  In systems analysis, this is referred to as many-to-many association. This many-to-many association between two modules in Zoho CRM is created with the help of the multi-select lookup field. 

Through this field, you can associate multiple students to a course, and vice versa. 


Also, as part of this multiple association, you can create something called a Linking Module , which will record the details of each association. 

For instance, a student taking 5 subjects, will have a grade for each subject. This grade cannot be recorded in the Students module or the Courses module, as it will create duplicates. So you can create something called a Linking module, which will create each association as a record, and you can enter the specific details there. The linking module can be customized. 


As you can see, the same student has different grades, for each course he/she has taken up. This information can be recorded in the linking module. This way, you can associate multiple records from two modules with each other. 

We hope this was useful. To read up further on how to create multiple record association , check out this Help document . Share your questions/suggestions as comments below. 

Regards
Vaagdevi Ravishankar









    Access your files securely from anywhere









                          Zoho Developer Community




                                                • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                • Digest


                                                • Functions


                                                • Meetups


                                                • Kbase


                                                • Resources


                                                • Glossary


                                                • Desk Marketplace


                                                • MVP Corner


                                                • Word of the Day


                                                • Ask the Experts



                                                          • Sticky Posts

                                                          • How to reach the official Zoho Support channels and avoid fake ones.

                                                            Dear Customers, Thanks a lot for choosing Zoho! Our applications are built to help achieve your day-to-day business goals. We are committed to engaging with you, to understand and develop solutions that enhance your productivity.  We are happy and ready to help you use our services effectively. Understanding and avoiding fake support Just like using popular bank names and financial applications for phishing purposes, using Zoho and claiming to be providing Zoho Support or services with false numbers
                                                          • Function #35: Close all tasks associated with a lead and create a new task.

                                                            Welcome back everyone! Last week, we learnt how to close all tasks of a deal depending upon the deal stage. This week, let's look at a custom function that lets you close all of the tasks associated with a lead while simultaneously creating a new task, like when you need to halt all progress towards a lead while the lead is not available at the moment but create a reminder task. Business scenario: The success of a company, in one way or another, is determined by the leads it gets. Each lead is just
                                                          • Zoho CRM Webinar - Redesigning Daily User Experiences with Canvas

                                                            <br> Your users across roles use the CRM for day-to-day tasks that are necessary. Whether they perform their tasks on time, the right way, or at all depends on a lot of factors, including User Experience. Many businesses struggle with rigid layouts,
                                                          • Join us at the Canada ZUG Meetup: What’s New in Zoho CRM

                                                            Hello Zoho Community! Start your year with fresh insights into Zoho CRM’s latest updates and tools. Whether you're a CRM beginner or a experienced user, this meetup is crafted to help you optimise your processes and leverage new features. Explore practical
                                                          • CRM Hack #2: Automate sending of birthday greetings to your customers.

                                                              Hello everyone! What sets you apart as a sales person is your ability to add that personal touch to your business relationship with your customers. Sending a gift on a special day, or leaving a note wishing them on their birthdays, are small, yet significant actions that show your customers that you care. And these are actions done without any expectations :) You must be engaging with a lot of customers and it is highly unlikely that they all are your friends on Facebook or some social channel,


                                                          Manage your brands on social media



                                                                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

                                                                                    • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                      CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                    • Kaizen

                                                                                      Kaizen

                                                                                    • Functions

                                                                                      Functions

                                                                                    • Meetups

                                                                                      Meetups

                                                                                    • Kbase

                                                                                      Kbase

                                                                                    • Resources

                                                                                      Resources

                                                                                    • Digest

                                                                                      Digest

                                                                                    • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      CRM Marketplace

                                                                                    • MVP Corner

                                                                                      MVP Corner







                                                                                        Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                        Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                        Get Started Now


                                                                                          Zoho Show Resources


                                                                                            Zoho Writer Writer

                                                                                            Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                                                                                Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                    ご検討中の方




                                                                                                          • Recent Topics

                                                                                                          • Base Currency Adjustment Reversal

                                                                                                            Two questions surrounding the base currency adjustments (BCA). I recently ported over from QB so I need to enter the base currency adjustments. In QB, it will calculate the BCA for you at the end of the year and then reverse it at the top of the following year. Makes sense. Does Zohobooks not do this as well? I created a BCA for Dec 31, 2016 but no reversing entry was made Jan 1, 2017. Am I supposed to manually do a reversal? I'm not even allowed to post journals directly to the 'exchange gain loss'
                                                                                                          • Please implement UAE Central Bank FX rates

                                                                                                            Hello, as I understand from your knowledge base, any UAE business account created from September 15, 2018 does not have foreign exchange rates fetched automatically. This is a serious inconvenience and I am not sure why ZOHO has not looked into the ways
                                                                                                          • Search Records returning different values than actually present

                                                                                                            Hey! I have this following line in my deluge script: accountSearch = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:" + rsid + ")",1,200,{"cvid":864868001088693817}); info "Account search size: " + accountSearch.size(); listOfAccounts = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Accounts","(RS_Enroll_ID:equals:"
                                                                                                          • Super Admin Access to All Courses and Spaces in Zoho Learn

                                                                                                            Dear Zoho Learn Team, We hope this message finds you well. We are using Zoho Learn extensively for internal and agent training. While managing our courses and spaces, we encountered a significant limitation regarding admin access and course management.
                                                                                                          • Print checks for owner's draw

                                                                                                            Hi.  Can I use Zoho check printing for draws to Owner's Equity?  This may be a specific case of the missing Pay expenses via Check feature.  If it's not available, are there plans to add this feature?
                                                                                                          • [New Release 2024] Create and embed custom capabilities across CRM with Kiosk Studio, our latest no-code tool

                                                                                                            [Update | New series] We've started publishing a series of posts on Kiosk Studio. It's called Kiosk Studio Sessions and you can check out the first one here! [Update | 15 Oct} Session #2 is live! This one will look at how to create a kiosk for your call
                                                                                                          • Revenue Management: #10 Common Mistakes while Recognizing Revenue

                                                                                                            We are at the end of the series on Revenue Management, covering how different businesses recognise revenue. Even with clear standards like ASC 606 and IFRS 15 in practice, businesses often struggle with the nuances of revenue recognition. Especially growing
                                                                                                          • Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options

                                                                                                            Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menus
                                                                                                          • integarting attachments from crm to creator

                                                                                                            when i tried to integrate pdf attachments from crm to creator via deluge i am getting this error {"code":2945,"description":"UPLOAD_RULE_NOT_CONFIGURED"} the code i used is attachments = zoho.crm.getRelatedRecords("Attachments","Sales_Orders",203489100020279XXX8);
                                                                                                          • Search Option

                                                                                                            🚫 Current Limitation: As of now (September 2025), Zoho FSM lacks a global search functionality, which makes it difficult to quickly: Find specific Work Orders by number or keyword Search for customer records or contact info Locate assets, jobs, or service
                                                                                                          • Mobile Chat Window - Full Screen

                                                                                                            Hello, The mobile chat window takes up the full screen, which is highly confusing for most customers! Using a desktop machine, I see the same happens when reducing the browser width to 800px or below. This suggests that it responsive web design, causing the switch to full screen. Can we fix this very annoying behaviour ourselves using a custom css file? If so, can you please let me know how? Thanks
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to customize ZC Themes?

                                                                                                            I understand you can choose a layout and customize Brand Color, App Header, Menu, and Sub-Menu components, but can you override some of the default theme settings with CSS or a config file? For example, - Table highlight color - Listview auto filter highlight
                                                                                                          • Is it possible to create Custom function-based Lookup field in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                            Is it possible to create a custom function-based lookup field in Zoho CRM? If so, how? Use case: Need to fetch users from Zoho Projects into a dropdown field in Zoho CRM.
                                                                                                          • @mention in comments no notification

                                                                                                            Hi, hope someone can help. When we @mention someone in the comments in Zoho Creator, how is that user notifed as we don't get anything on email or in the app notifications. 
                                                                                                          • Zoho unified inbox

                                                                                                            The new changes have definitely improved things for switching between accounts.  But zoho still desperately needs a unified inbox.  It sucks to have to enter filters and folders for each and every inbox.  This seems like such a simple thing, i wonder why Zoho hasn't done it?
                                                                                                          • Add "Running Balance" column to Account Transaction Reports

                                                                                                            Hello, Currently Zoho Account Transaction Reports give you the opening balance, then lists the transactions, then provides the closing balance.  It would be great if you could add a column on the far right that shows the "Running Balance" on the account after each transaction.  There are many times when analyzing or tie-ing out transactions that this would be very helpful.  I currently have to frequently run a tape on my adding machine to get balance totals after a specific transaction on the list.
                                                                                                          • Unified customer portal login

                                                                                                            As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that
                                                                                                          • WhatsApp Channels in Zoho Campaigns

                                                                                                            Now that Meta has opened WhatsApp Channels globally, will you add it to Zoho Campaigns? It's another top channel for marketing communications as email and SMS. Thanks.
                                                                                                          • error : Object code : 6500

                                                                                                            b3 = map(); b3.put("name", "Test Project Name"); updateprojects2 = invokeurl [ url :"https://projectsapi.zoho.eu/restapi/portal/era0130/projects/169495000000928007/" type :PUT parameters: b3 connection:"in2" ]; info b3 ; info updateprojects2; ------------
                                                                                                          • How to book GST paid in zoho books

                                                                                                            hi, i am a new user to Zoho books and not able to book GST paid in books, kindly suggest how i can book it in books. thanks, siddharth
                                                                                                          • I got unknown charge from Zoho

                                                                                                            Good day, I need help disputing a charge I don't know from, zoho. I have ZohoMail and ZeptoMail. I purchase credits for ZeptoMail, and for ZohoMail I am not subcribed.
                                                                                                          • Function 56: Automatically enable the option for customers to pay via bank account

                                                                                                            Hello everyone and welcome back to our series! One of the key features of Zoho Books is its integration with multiple payment gateways, allowing you to receive online payments for your invoices. This ensures faster payments, automates payment tracking
                                                                                                          • Attach Files to Your Notecards and share them on the go!

                                                                                                            Hey everyone! We’re excited to share a feature many of you have been asking for — you can now attach files directly to your text notecards and share with ease! 🙌 This update was built with your feedback in mind, especially for those who wanted a simple
                                                                                                          • How to add a % Growth column for year-over-year comparison (2024 vs 2025)

                                                                                                            Hello, I am trying to build a monthly revenue comparison between 2024 and 2025 in Zoho CRM Analytics. My current setup is: Module: Deals (Affaires) Filter: Stage = Closed Won Date field: Closing Date Grouping: By Month Metrics: Sum of Amount for 2024,
                                                                                                          • How to searchByCriteria records that are under approval?

                                                                                                            I need to search for both approved and pending approval records Is that possible with this method? Or I need to a different method? var priceReqID = $Page.record_id; log(priceReqID); var records = ZDK.Apps.CRM.Price_List_Item.searchByCriteria("Price_Request:equals:"
                                                                                                          • How to add Simple Analytics to Zoho Pages?

                                                                                                            I have a website with Zoho Pages, how do I add Simple Analytics on it? They seem to have code they need to be embedded https://docs.simpleanalytics.com/script
                                                                                                          • Cant seem to delete an email account

                                                                                                            Hello, I have researching for 4 days how to delete an email account and I am absolutely without a clue. The email account I am trying to delete is support<AT>fyshoes<dot>com. It's the first email account I made and it (is???) was associated with the super user (me). I have since changed it to adming<AT>fychoes<dot>com and I see the support email in my list but I just cant seem to get rid of it. Ultimately I want to associate that email account with another user that I want to add. This is really
                                                                                                          • Import data into Multi-Select lookup field from CSV/Excel

                                                                                                            How to import data into a multi-select lookup field from the CSV/Excel Sheet? Let's say I have an Accounts multi-select lookup field in the Deals module and I want to import the Deals with Accounts field. Steps:- 1. Create/edit a multi-select lookup field
                                                                                                          • Script that deletes a record?

                                                                                                            We're using WP Plugin "Integration for WooCommerce and Zoho Pro", and have created a couple of Feeds to send data to Zoho. We are trying to create Contact records, but only based upon condition. Tried to make it with small Deluge function and Workflow,
                                                                                                          • A formula that capitalises the first letter of each word

                                                                                                            Hi all, is there a zoho formula that can capitalise the first letter of each word in a string? INITCAP only capitalises the first letter of the first word.
                                                                                                          • Quotes in Commerce?

                                                                                                            In Zoho Ecommerce, I need to be able to generate quotes, negotiate with customers, and then generate invoices. Currently, I plan to integrate Zoho CRM to generate quotes. After negotiation and confirmation, I will push the details to Zoho Ecommerce to
                                                                                                          • Zoho Commerce - Mobile Application

                                                                                                            Does Zoho Commerce have a mobile application for customers to place an order?
                                                                                                          • Register user through Phone Number by Generating OTP

                                                                                                            In zoho commerce , I am developing website on online food store Inilialy the user get verification code to their email for registering there account for login. But I need to login using phone number by generating OTP automatically rather than verification
                                                                                                          • Custom Buttons for Mass Actions

                                                                                                            Hello everyone, We’ve just made Custom Buttons in Zoho Recruit even more powerful! You can now create Bulk Action Buttons that let you perform actions on multiple records at once, directly from the List View. What’s new? Until now, custom buttons were
                                                                                                          • Zoho Vault Passwords

                                                                                                            Is there a way to consume Zoho Vault Manager passwords using the API? Thanks in advance.
                                                                                                          • Is the ChatGPT Assistant integration capable of recognizing WhatsApp voice messages?

                                                                                                            I was wondering: if a visitor sends me a voice message on WhatsApp, would the assistant be able to transcribe it and reply to them?
                                                                                                          • Zoho Creator to Zoho CRM Images

                                                                                                            Right now, I am trying to setup a Notes form within Zoho Creator. This Notes will note the Note section under Accounts > Selected Account. Right now, I use Zoho Flow to push the notes and it works just fine, with text only. Images do not get sent (there
                                                                                                          • 【Zoho CRM】レポート機能のアップデート

                                                                                                            ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、レポート機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について 2. 通貨項目の表示について 3. レポートの削除の監査ログへの反映について 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について これまで、レポートをエクスポートするとファイルにレコードIDが必ず含まれていました。レコードIDが識別子として役立つ場合もありますが、実際には多くの企業で参照されることはありません。
                                                                                                          • Translation in zoho bookings

                                                                                                            We cant translate zoho booking emails. The general text we can change. But what about text like: ""Here a link to join the meeting online:"" and "Add to Zoho Calendar" and "Add to Google Calendar"? No professional business have mixed languages. Its looking
                                                                                                          • Is there any way to bill one client in different currencies on different invoices?

                                                                                                            I have some customers who have their currency set as USD and most of their billing is done in USD.   However, from time to time I have a need to bill them in my base currency GBP for some specific invoices, but there seems to be no way of doing this that I can see. The only workaround that I can see is to create two client records for the same client, one for USD billing and one for GBP billing, but this is not an ideal situation. Is it likely that the (hopefully!) soon to arrive multi-currency support
                                                                                                          • Next Page