What's New in Zoho Books - September 2019

We've kickstarted September with a fresh set of feature roll-outs and enhancements. Let's take a look at all the new updates that Zoho Books has to offer for this month.

Filter Transactions and Update Accounts

If you had associated multiple transactions with a wrong account or if you need to update multiple transactions with a new account, updating each and every transaction can be quite tiresome. You can now use the bulk update feature in Zoho Books to update multiple transactions at once and submit their accounts in time for the audit.

Filter multiple transactions such as credit notes, purchase orders, expenses, bills and vendor credits and update the accounts they are associated with a new account.

To do this: Go to Accountant > Bulk Update > Filter and Bulk Update. Learn More.

Multi-Level Approval for Sales Transactions

If you want your Sales transactions to be approved by the decision of two or more approvers, you can set up the multi-level approval process. You can now set up multi-level approval for Invoices, Sales Orders, Estimates and Credit Notes.

To do this: Go to Settings > Preferences > Approvals > Sales Approval > Enable Sales Approval.

Reject Transactions

Do you receive transactions for approval that should not be processed because of incorrect data? We've got just the right solution for you. Admins and approvers can provide a reason and reject a transaction that has been submitted to them.

The submitter will be able to view the reason for rejection in the Comments & History section.

To do this: Go to Purchases > Bills > Click the dropdown next to the approve button and click Reject.

Similarly, you will be able to view your pending approvals for vendor credits and purchase orders as well.

Save and Execute Option For Webhooks

Webhooks facilitate communication with third-party applications by sending instant notifications every time an event occurs in Zoho Books. You can now run a preliminary test of how the webhook works by executing it as soon as you create or edit them.

To do this: Go to Settings > Automation > Webhooks > + New Webhook > Save and Execute.

Enhancements for Templates

We've made a slew of much requested enhancements for the templates that are available in Zoho Books. You can now:

Edit the shipping charge label for the pre-defined templates in Sales Orders as well.
Show/hide the Invoice Number and Invoice Date fields in credit notes templates(Available for the India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman editions of Zoho Books).
Change the font size for your email templates.
Insert an image placeholder for your custom templates. Once you set this up, users will be able to insert images on the item table.

Make and Record GST Payments (Indian Edition)

You can now make GST payments using the ICICI Bank integration after you generate the challan in the GST portal.

To do this: Go to Zoho Books > GST Filing > Monthly Returns > GSTR-3B > GST Payment tab and click Pay via ICICI Bank. Learn More.

If you choose to pay via the GST portal, you will be able to record their GST payments in Zoho Books.

To do this: Go to GST Filing > Monthly Returns > GSTR-3B > GST Payment tab > Record Payment.

Zia Search

We are excited to introduce you to Zia - your very own AI-powered assistant to search for info across Zoho Books and other Zoho applications. You can fetch your customer details, explore help pages, search for transactions and do a lot more using the Zia Search.

To kickstart Zia:

cmd + / on mac
cntrl + / on windows

Record VAT Payments & Claims (UAE, KSA & BH editions)

You can now record tax payments and claims to track your VAT payments and maintain accurate records. In Zoho Books, you can only record the VAT claims you've made via bank transfer.

However, you will be able to record VAT Payments based on your country and the tax payment method. For UAE, you can record VAT Payments if you've paid tax via bank transfer, cash or Visa/Master Card. For Bahrain and KSA, you will be only able to record VAT if you've paid your tax through bank transfers and cash.