What's New in Zoho Books - September 2023

What's New in Zoho Books - September 2023

Hello users!
 
With the onset of a new month, we're delighted to bring you new feature updates and enhancements which will elevate your accounting experience. Read on to learn more about what's new in Zoho Books this September. 

Tax Automation Using Tax Rules [Canada Edition]

We've upgraded the tax settings in the Canada edition of Zoho Books to our in-house tax engine. This brings you tax automation using tax rules along with other enhancements. Here are the newly-introduced features:

Note: This feature is available only for Zoho Books organizations created after 23 August 2023 in the Canada edition. Organizations created before this date will be able to upgrade to tax automation soon.

Tax Rules: Tax rules are a specified set of criteria that determine how tax rates will be applied to transactions in your organization.The pre-configured tax rules help you automate the process of applying taxes.

According to your Tax Returns Settings, the default sales and purchase tax rules for your organization will be configured. In line with the configured tax rules, Zoho Books will automatically apply the appropriate tax rates to transactions based on the shipping or billing address fields. This saves you the hassle of manually selecting a tax rate each time you create a transaction. 

Automated Tax Rates: If you wish to expand your business to other provinces in Canada, you won't need to create tax rates for that province from scratch. Simply configure the Tax Returns Settings for that province, and the tax rates will be created automatically.

This update also brings some much-awaited enhancements to tax settings in Zoho Books:

Tax Association to Vendors and Items: Similar to customers, you will now be able to associate a tax rule to your vendors and items as well. This is helpful in cases when your vendors or items require unique tax handling. 
For example, if an item falls under the zero-rate category, you can simply associate the zero-rate tax rule to that item, and the tax rate will be applied to all future transactions. 



Comprehensive Tax Tracking: The taxes from your transactions will be tracked under Output Tax (Liability Type) and Input Tax (Asset Type) accounts for Sales and Purchases transactions respectively. Once a tax return is marked as filed, the difference of these accounts will be shown in the Tax Payable account.

Introducing Signals

You can now use the Signals feature to receive in-app notifications from other apps that you use in your day-to-day business. You can create a signal to receive notifications either through a custom function or an API request when the app performs the specified task. You can choose if this notification is sent to all users, or only selected users in your organization. The users in your organization can enable or disable this notification by themselves based on the preference that you set while creating the signal.

Check out this help document to learn how you can set up and use Signals in your organization.

To configure Signals, go to Settings > Developer > Signals. Click + New Signal.



Receive Recurring Payments Through Stripe [India Edition]

Zoho Books now supports recurring payments through Stripe in India. You can receive recurring payments from your customers with either Visa or Mastercard issued in India. You can set up recurring payments for recurring invoices. Your customers' card information will be saved only if they choose to save their cards while making payments.

To do this, your customers must mark the "I authorize Organization Name to charge this credit card automatically for future transactions" option (as shown in the image below) while making their payment on the payment page.


Override VAT in Purchases Transactions [UK Edition]
You can now edit the system-generated tax amount in Purchases transactions. This can help you correct differences, if any, between the system-generated tax amount and the preferred tax amount. You can also enter the tax amount as 0 to remove it altogether. In Expenses, this option is available only when the selected VAT treatment is United Kingdom.



Disassociate Sales Orders from Void Invoices

You can now disassociate sales orders from void invoices. This helps you accurately track items' stock and prevent any discrepancies. If required, you can also disassociate sales orders from invoices in bulk. You can do this for up to 50 invoices in one go.
To disassociate sales orders from invoices, check the Disassociate sales order from invoice box while marking an invoice as Void, or click the Disassociate Sales Order option in the top pane of the void invoices.


Introducing the Snail Mail Extension
You don't have to purchase snail mail credits anymore. Henceforth, you can install the Snail Mail extension for Zoho Books directly from Zoho Marketplace to send snail mails to your customers.

Updates for organizations with the Zoho Inventory Add-On

Purchases by Category Report
We've introduced the Purchases By Category report where you can find a rundown of your organization's purchases by the items' categories. This report will only be available if the Category custom field is marked as Active.
To do this, go to Settings > Preferences > Items. In the Field Customization tab, hover over Category and click Mark as Active.


Allow Duplicate Batch Numbers
You can now choose to allow duplicate batch numbers while adding items in transactions. This helps you associate the same batch number for shipments from multiple vendors.

To enable this, go to Settings > Preferences > Items. Mark the Allow duplicate batch numbers checkbox.




That brings this month's updates to a close! We hope you found them helpful. Let us know what you think in the comments below. You can also visit the What's New timeline for byte-sized information on the latest updates and enhancements.
 
If you require any assistance or need clarifications, feel free to write to us at support@zohobooks.com, we'd be happy to help!

Regards,
The Zoho Books Team

    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





                                                            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

                                                                                              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

                                                                                                              • How to Integrate Zoho Books with Xero (No Native Connection Available)

                                                                                                                Hi everyone, I’m currently facing an issue with integrating Zoho Books invoices with Xero, as I’ve noticed Zoho does not provide a native integration with Xero at this time. I would like to ask: What are the common or recommended solutions for syncing
                                                                                                              • How to install Widget in inventory module

                                                                                                                Hi, I am trying to install a app into Sales Order Module related list, however there is no button allow me to do that. May I ask how to install widget to inventory module related list?
                                                                                                              • Add specific field value to URL

                                                                                                                Hi Everyone. I have the following code which is set to run from a subform when the user selects a value from a lookup field "Plant_Key" the URL opens a report but i want the report to be filtered on the matching field/value. so in the report there is
                                                                                                              • error while listing mails

                                                                                                                I can't access email in any of my folders: Oops, an error occurred - retry produces the second error response: error while listing mails (cannot parse null string). I've signed in and out of Zoho, restarted my iMac.
                                                                                                              • Unlocking New Levels: Zoho Payroll's Journey in 2025

                                                                                                                Every year brings its own set of challenges and opportunities to rethink how payroll works across regulations and teams. In 2025, Zoho Payroll continued to evolve with one clear focus: giving businesses more flexibility, clarity, and control as they grow.
                                                                                                              • Introducing Connected Records to bring business context to every aspect of your work in Zoho CRM for Everyone

                                                                                                                Hello Everyone, We are excited to unveil phase one of a powerful enhancement to CRM for Everyone - Connected Records, available only in CRM's Nextgen UI. With CRM for Everyone, businesses can onboard all customer-facing teams onto the CRM platform to
                                                                                                              • Send Supervisor Rule Emails Within Ticket Context in Zoho Desk

                                                                                                                Dear Zoho Desk Team, I hope this message finds you well. Currently, emails sent via Supervisor Rules in Zoho Desk are sent outside of the ticket context. As a result, if a client replies to such emails, their response creates a new ticket instead of appending
                                                                                                              • form data load issue when saving as duplicate record is made

                                                                                                                Hello. I have a form with a lookup when a value is selected the data from the corresponding record is filled into all of the fields in the form. But the form is loaded in such a state that if any value is changed it will take all of the values pre loaded
                                                                                                              • CRM project association via deluge

                                                                                                                I have created a workflow in my Zoho CRM for closing a deal. Part of this workflow leverages a deluge script to create a project for our delivery team. Creating the project works great however, after or during the project creation, I would like to associate
                                                                                                              • Zoho Browser??

                                                                                                                hai guys, this sounds awkward but can v get a ZOHO BROWSER same as zoho writer, etc. where i can browse websites @ home and continue browsing the same websites @ my office, as v have the option in Firefox, once i save and close the browser and again when i open it i will be getting the same sites. If u people r not clear with my explanation, plz let me know. Thanks, Sandeep  
                                                                                                              • Where can we specify custom CSS in Zoho Forms custom theme ?

                                                                                                                I'm using a form with a dark theme. The OTP popup window is unreadable, because for some reason, the OTP popup background fixes color to white, but still takes the font color specified in the custom theme. This ends up as white on white for me, rendering
                                                                                                              • MCP no longer works with Claude

                                                                                                                Anyone else notice Zoho MCP no longer works with Claude? I'm unable to turn this on in the claude chat. When I try to toggle it on, it just does nothing at all. I've tried in incognito, new browsers, etc. - nothing seems to work.
                                                                                                              • Enable History Tracking for Picklist Values Not Available

                                                                                                                When I create a custom picklist field in Deals, the "Enable History Tracking for Picklist Values" option is not available in the Edit Properties area of the picklist. When I create a picklist in any other Module, that option is available. Is there a specific reason why this isn't available for fields in the Deals Module?
                                                                                                              • The reason I switched away from Zoho Notebook

                                                                                                                My main reason for switching to Zoho was driven by three core principles: moving away from US-based products, keeping my data within India as much as possible, and supporting Indian companies. With that intent, I’ve been actively de-Googling my digital
                                                                                                              • Add RTL and Hebrew Support for Candidate Portal (and Other Zoho Recruit Portals)

                                                                                                                Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to set the Candidate Portal to be Right-to-Left (RTL) and in Hebrew, similar to the existing functionality for the Career Site. Currently, when we set the Career Site
                                                                                                              • Ability to Edit YouTube Video Title, Description & Thumbnail After Publishing

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request an enhancement to Zoho Social that enables users to edit YouTube video details after the video has already been published. Your team confirmed that while Zoho Social currently allows editing the
                                                                                                              • Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics

                                                                                                                Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. Learn
                                                                                                              • Critical Issue: Tickets Opened for Zoho Support via the Zoho Help Portal Were Not Processed

                                                                                                                Hi everyone, We want to bring to your attention a serious issue we’ve experienced with the Zoho support Help Portal. For more than a week, tickets submitted directly via the Help Portal were not being handled at all. At the same time no alert was posted
                                                                                                              • Hide/Show Subform Fields On User Input

                                                                                                                Hello, Are there any future updates in Hide/Show Subform Fields "On User Input"?
                                                                                                              • Cloning Item With Images Or The Option With Images

                                                                                                                Hello, when I clone an item, I expect the images to carry over to the cloned item, however this is not the case in Inventory. Please make it possible for the images to get cloned or at least can we get a pop up asking if we want to clone the images as
                                                                                                              • Archiving Contacts

                                                                                                                How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?
                                                                                                              • WorkDrive and CRM not in sync

                                                                                                                1/ There is a CRM file upload field with WorkDrive file set as the source: 2/ Then the file is renamed in WorkDrive (outside CRM): 3/ The File in CRM is not synced after the change in WorkDrive; the file name (reference) in CRM record is not updated (here
                                                                                                              • Custom validation in CRM schema

                                                                                                                Validation rules in CRM layouts work nicely, good docs by @Kiran Karthik P https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/validation-rules/articles/create-validation-rules I'd prefer validating data input 'closer to the schema'
                                                                                                              • Adding Default Module Image into mail merge field

                                                                                                                As with most people finding their way to these forums i have a specific requirement that doesn't seem to be supported by Zoho I have created 2 custom modules to suit my purpose 1 is an inventory type module that lists aluminium extrusions, and all relevant
                                                                                                              • Sync Data from MA to CRM

                                                                                                                Currently, it's a one-way sync of data from the CRM to MA. I believe we should have the ability to select fields to sync from MA to the CRM. The lead score is a perfect example of this. In an ideal world we would be able to impact the lead score of a
                                                                                                              • Is it possible to roll up all Contact emails to the Account view?

                                                                                                                Is there a way to track all emails associated with an Account in one single view? Currently, email history is visible when opening an individual Contact record. However, since multiple Contacts are often associated with a single Account, it would be beneficial
                                                                                                              • Update CRM record action

                                                                                                                Currently, MA only offers a "Push Data" action to push data to a CRM module. This action is built to cover the need to both create a new record and update an existing record. Because it has been implemented this way all required fields on the CRM module
                                                                                                              • Notes badge as a quick action in the list view

                                                                                                                Hello all, We are introducing the Notes badge in the list view of all modules as a quick action you can perform for each record, in addition to the existing Activity badge. With this enhancement, users will have quick visibility into the notes associated
                                                                                                              • What's new in Zoho One 2025

                                                                                                                Greetings! We hope you have all had a chance by now to get hands-on with the new features and updates released as part of ZO25. Yes, we understand that you may have questions and feedback. To ensure you gain a comprehensive understanding of these updates,
                                                                                                              • Good news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift

                                                                                                                Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activities
                                                                                                              • Add deluge function to shorten URLs

                                                                                                                Zoho Social contains a nice feature to shorten URLs using zurl.co. It would be really helpful to have similar functionality in a Deluge call please, either as an inbuilt function or a standard integration. My Creator app sends an email with a personalised
                                                                                                              • Edit default "We are here to help you" text in chat SalesIQ widget

                                                                                                                Does anyone know how this text can be edited? I can't find it anywhere in settings. Thanks!
                                                                                                              • Quick way to add a field in Chat Window

                                                                                                                I want to add Company Field in chat window to lessen the irrelevant users in sending chat and set them in mind that we are dealing with companies. I request that it will be as easy as possible like just ticking it then typing the label then connecting
                                                                                                              • How to create a two way Sync with CRM Contacts Module?

                                                                                                                Newbie creator here (but not to Zoho CRM). I want to create an app that operates on a sub-set of CRM Contacts - only those with a specific tag. I want the app records to mirror the tagged contacts in CRM. I would like it to update when the Creator app
                                                                                                              • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

                                                                                                                Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?
                                                                                                              • Allow Manual Popup Canvas Size Control

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the PageSense popup editor regarding popup sizing. Current Limitation: Currently, the size (width and height) of a popup is strictly controlled by the selected
                                                                                                              • Where is the settings option in zoho writer?

                                                                                                                hi, my zoho writer on windows has menu fonts too large. where do i find the settings to change this option? my screen resolution is correct and other apps/softwares in windows have no issues. regards
                                                                                                              • How to set page defaults in zoho writer?

                                                                                                                hi, everytime i open the zoho writer i have to change the default page settings to - A4 from letter, margins to narrow and header and footer to 0. I cannot set this as default as that option is grayed out! so I am unable to click it. I saved the document
                                                                                                              • Develop and publish a Zoho Recruit extension on the marketplace

                                                                                                                Hi, I'd like to develop a new extension for Zoho Recruit. I've started to use Zoho Developers creating a Zoho CRM extension. But when I try to create a new extension here https://sigma.zoho.com/workspace/testtesttestest/apps/new I d'ont see the option of Zoho Recruit (only CRM, Desk, Projects...). I do see extensions for Zoho Recruit in the marketplace. How would I go about to create one if the option is not available in sigma ? Cheers, Rémi.
                                                                                                              • How to import data from PDF into Zoho Sheet

                                                                                                                I am looking to import Consolidated Account Statement (https://www.camsonline.com/Investors/Statements/Consolidated-Account-Statement) into zoho sheet. Any help is appreciated. The pdf is received as attachment in the email, this document is password
                                                                                                              • Next Page