An enhanced new flow for Zoho Finance Suite Integration available in new user portals.

Existing users can reach out to support@zohoprojects.com for migration to the new finance flow.

Feature Availability: Premium, Enterprise, & Ultimate plans of Zoho Projects and at least Professional edition of Zoho Books.

Click to learn more about access privileges for integration with other Zoho Apps.

Use Case

Zyllium Event Organization uses Zoho Projects to manage their events. A customer Ted International wants Zylium Event Organization to plan the annual event for the company. Zyllium Event Organization starts the event planning on Zoho Projects. 

The project manager drafts and submits for approval a Quote on the Finance tab of the project and sends it to Ted International for approval. 

Ted International approves the quote which starts the event planning and execution. The project manager then creates Purchase Orders for equipment and materials required and sends it to vendors. The Vendors receive them and deliver items with Bills. The manager uploads the Bills and cross verifies them with the Purchase Orders for approval and payment.

When on-site work commences, the event organizing team submits Expenses to the project finance tab for approval. Expenses like transport and logistics to be reimbursed as per the organization's daily limit.

Mid project, the client requests additional items to be added in the event which are not included in the initial quote.

During the invoice tally, these items make up for the extra amount, found in the vendors bills. The manager creates Sales Orders to be sent for client approval. Ted International checks for the sales order items and approves it, enabling a physical record of the additional amount that was not included in the quote and avoids discrepancies or disputes at the time of final invoicing. After approval, the Sales Order is converted to Invoices within the project and included in the final invoices for payment.

At the time of final invoicing the manager tallies all finance records from within Zoho Projects being sure of every financial transaction made when organising the annual event for Ted International.

Benefits

1. Manage all finance records (quotes, invoices, bills, expenses, purchase orders, and sales orders) within Zoho Projects.
   
2. Update finance records status from within their details page.
   
3. Convert record type and avoid manual creation of record every time.
   
4. Create invoice for hours logged for your projects in Zoho Projects.
   
5. Choose module based billing method for your projects.
   
6. Eliminate manual syncing with automated project, users, and finance records syncing between Zoho Projects and Zoho Books.
   

Integrate Zoho Finance Suite

1. Click   in the upper-right corner of the top navigation band.
   
2. Choose Zoho Apps in Marketplace. Now, select Activate Zoho Finance Suite.    
   If you do not have a user account in Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice, you will need to create an account in Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice. After you have created and set up your organization, you will be directed to Zoho Invoice or Zoho Books. You can now come back to Zoho Projects and continue the integration.
3. Select the Integration Preference.
   Under Configuration tab set the following:
   Select a date from when the time logs are to be invoiced. Time logs before this date will be marked as invoiced.
   Select the profiles that are to be given the Finance Permission. 
   Enable Manage Expenses (Expense in Zoho Books) if you want to include Expenses in the Finance tab in Zoho Projects. 
   Enable Invoice Milestones & Tasks option to create fixed cost invoicing for milestones and tasks.
4. Enable Expense Claims & Expense Reports (Powered by Zoho Expense) to integrate with Zoho Expense. You need to create a portal in Zoho Expense to enable Expense integration with Zoho Projects.
   
5. Set the Sync Preferences.
   Customer Duplication Preference:
   Overwrite: Customers in Zoho Books/Invoice will be overwritten if their name is same in Zoho Projects. Zoho Projects Customer will be linked with the existing customer in Zoho Books/Invoice.
   Clone: Customers in Zoho Books/Invoice will not be overwritten if their name is same in Zoho Projects. We will create a new customer with the customer in Zoho Projects.
6. Click the Sync button in the upper-right corner to start syncing fields from Projects to Books.
   Customers: These need to be manually imported from Books to Projects. Once imported, the fields can be synced two ways between Books and Projects.
   Projects: These are synced from Projects to Books. Hover over and click on View Mapped Fields to view existing mapping of default fields and edit the mapping of project custom fields.
   Task: Tasks are synced from Projects to Books. Click on View Mapped Fields to view existing mapping of fields.
   Issues: Issues are synced as tasks in Zoho Books. Click on View Mapped Fields to view existing mapping of fields.
   Timesheet: Approved and Billable time logs are synced from Zoho Projects to Zoho Books. Click on View Mapped Fields to view existing mapping of fields.
7. Click Save. 
   
8. Click Permissions to authorize permissions for users who can view and manage finance records.
   
9. Click on Error Summary to view sync exception and the possible reason.
   
10. Click on User Sync Error Summary to view user sync errors.
    
    

Billing Methods in Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects supports the following billing methods. Billing method allows users to track budget and invoice customers based on different criteria. 

• Based on Staff Hours - Users are assigned different rates, and project billing is based on the user rates of the members working on the project. You can set user rates when adding or editing users. 
  
• Based on Project Hours - The billing is based on a fixed project rate. The total hours logged are multiplied with this rate to get the project cost.
  
• Fixed Price for Project - Clients are invoiced based on a fixed cost. 
  
• Based on Task/Issue Hours - In task or issue based billing method clients are invoiced based on the Rate Per Hour set in task or issue. This billing method is used when your organization provides services which are independent of each other and hence each task/issue requires a different rate based on their purpose.

The Default Rate Per Hour specified while creating the project cannot be edited for issues. This can only be done for tasks. Planned cost for a recurring task will be multiplied by the number of occurrences. This will be added to the task list, milestone and project planned cost. 

Manage Invoice

Create an Invoice for a Project   

1. Navigate to your project and go to Finance tab. 
   
2. Click Create Invoice to create the invoice for your project. 
   
3. Choose the sorting criteria for the invoice. 
   
4. Select the fields to be shown as item name and description. 
   
5. Click Save to proceed.
   
6. Fill the details and enter the recipients in the Email To field. 
   
7. Click Save to send the invoice to customers.
   

1. The Bill up to field is mandatory in order to generate the invoice. So, select a date if you haven't selected one yet. You can create invoice only for billable timesheet logs based on the selected date range. Only approved time logs will be invoiced, if the "Submit with Approval" option in your Portal Configuration is selected. (To enable this: Click  and navigate to Portal Configuration  > Task & Timesheet  > Timesheet Settings. Enable Submit with Approval in Timesheet Approval Process section.) 
   
2. If you have not selected the approval option, all the time logs will be invoiced.
   
3. Select the option Include all the unbilled expense of the selected customer option to invoice all the expenses.
   

A sample invoice is shown here for your reference:

Edit an Invoice    

All the invoices created are saved in the Finance tab. 

1. Select the required invoice to edit. 
   
2. Click  and select edit or click Edit on the invoice details page.
   
3. Make changes and click Save to update the changes. 
   
4.  Delete an Invoice.
   
5. Select the required invoice to delete. 
   
6. Click  to delete the invoice.
   
7. Confirm your action.
   

Create an Invoice for a Milestone   

1. Navigate to Projects module and select the project for which you would like to invoice milestones from the left navigation panel.
   
2. Click Milestones in the top navigation panel.
   
3. Select a milestone which you would like to invoice.
   
4. Navigate to the Invoices tab and click Create Invoice.
   
5. Choose the Bill up to date range for the invoice.
   
6. Select the fields to be shown as item name, description and Invoice line item amount.
   Users can select any numeric custom field under 'Invoice line item amount' to invoice their milestones.
7. Select the checkbox to mark the logs hours associated with this entity as invoiced.
   
8. Click Save to proceed.
   
9. Fill in the details in the iframe and click Save as draft, or Save and send, Save and Share or Save and send later.
   

Create an Invoice for a Task   

1. Navigate to the left navigation panel and click Projects.
   
2. Select the project for which you would like to invoice tasks.
   
3. Click the Tasks tab in the top navigation panel.
   
4. Select a task which you would like to invoice.
   
5. Navigate to the Invoices tab and click Create Invoice.
   
6. Choose the Bill up to date range for the invoice.
   
7. Select the fields to be Shown as item name, description and Invoice line item amount.
   Users can select any numeric custom field under 'Invoice line item amount' to invoice their tasks. If required, select the checkbox to mark the logs hours associated with this entity as invoiced.
8. Click Save to proceed.
   
9. Enter the invoice details and click Save as draft, or Save and send, Save and Share or Save and send later as per your choice.
   

Create an Invoice for Multiple Tasks

1. Navigate to the left navigation panel and click Projects.
   
2. Select the project for which you would like to invoice tasks.
   
3. Click the Tasks tab in the top navigation panel.
   
4. In the list view, click the checkbox beside the tasks which you want to invoice.
   
5. Click Create Invoice and choose the Bill up to date range for the invoice.
   
6. Select the fields to be Shown as item name, description and Invoice line item amount.
   Users can select any numeric custom field under 'Invoice line item amount' to invoice their tasks.
7. If required, select the checkbox to mark the timesheets associated with task as invoiced.
   
8. Click Save to proceed.
   
9. Enter the invoice details and click Save.
   

1. A maximum of 100 tasks can be invoiced at once.
   
2. The Invoice tab will be displayed only if the project has a Primary Customer and is synced with Zoho Books/Zoho Invoice.
   

Convert an invoice 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab in your project and select invoice from the Finance module drop-down
   

2. Access the invoice you want to convert and click .

3. Select Convert to Quote or Convert to Sales order or Convert to draft.

The invoice will be immediately converted and show up in the respective tab or status.

Attach Files to Invoice

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Invoices.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific invoice and click .
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking .

Add/ view Comments  to Invoice

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Invoices.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific invoice and click .
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking . 

More Actions for Invoices

1. Approve/ Reject Invoice  for invoices pending approval. 
   Navigate to the details page of the invoice and click on the Approve or Reject. The invoice status will be updated as approved or rejected.
2. Clone invoice from th  e invoice details page. 
   Click  and select Clone.
3. Lock an invoice to disable further editing of the invoice. 
   Click  and select Lock, enter a reason for locking and click Lock.
4. Unlock an invoice to re-enable editing.
   Click  and select Unlock, enter a reason for unlocking and click Unlock.
5. Void invoices which are cancelled before being closed with payment. 
   Navigate to the invoice details page, click  and select Void.
6. Update an invoice as Mark as Sent from the invoice details page. 
   Click  and select Mark as Sent.
7. To Share an Invoice, click Share button below the invoice Id.
   
8. Click Send to forward an invoice via Email or SMS.
   
9. Click PDF/ Print to download an invoice or print it.
   

Manage Quote

Create a Quote    

1. Navigate to your project and select Finance.  
   
2. Choose the Quotes tab and click Create Quote.
   
   
3. Fill the details and enter the recipients in the Email To field.
   
4. Click Save to send the quote to customers. 
   

Edit a Quote 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project and select Quote from the drop-down.
   
2. Hover over the Quote you want to edit and click .
   
3. Select Edit from the options. 
   
4. Make necessary changes and click Save.
   Alternatively, open the quote you want to edit and select Edit option below the Quote ID to make changes in the quote.

Delete a Quote 

1. Hover over the Quote you want to delete and click .
   
2. Select Delete.
   
3. Confirm your action and click Delete.
   

Alternatively, click  on the quote details page and select Delete.

Convert a quote 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab in your project and select Quotes from the Finance module drop-down.
   
2. Access the quote details page and click on Convert drop-down.
   
3. Select Convert to Invoice or Convert to Sales Order. 

Attach Files  to Quote

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Quotes.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific quote and click .
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking .

Add/ view Comments  to Quote

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Quotes.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific quote and click .
   
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking .

More Actions for Quotes 

1. Clone a quote from th  e quote details page. 
   Click  and select Clone.
2. Update a drafted quote status to Sent by clicking Mark as Sent from the quote details page. 
   Click   and select Mark as Sent.
3. Lock a quote to disable further editing of the quote. 
   Click   and select Lock, enter a reason for locking and click Lock.
4. Unlock a quote to re-enable editing.
   Click   and select Unlock, enter a reason for unlocking and click Unlock.
5. To Share a quote, click Share button below the quote Id.
   
6. Click Email to forward a quote via Email.
   
7. Click PDF/ Print to download a quote or print it.  
   

Manage Sales Order 

Create Sales Order 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Sales Orders.
   
3. Click Create Sales Order button.
   
4. Enter details and click Save as Draft to draft the sales order, or Save and Send to send the sales order to a recipient.
   

Edit Sales order 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Sales Orders.
   
3. Hover over the sales order you want to edit, click   and select Edit.
   
4. Make required changes and click Save.
   

Alternatively, access the sales order details page and click Edit below the sales order Id.

Convert  Sales Order

1. A drafted sales order can be converted to an invoice or a purchase order.
   
2. Navigate to the Finance tab in your project and select Sales Order from the Finance module drop-down.
   
3. Access the sales order details page and click  .
   
4. Select Convert to Invoice or Convert to Purchase Order.
   

Delete Sales Order 

1. Hover over the Sales Order you want to delete and click  .
   
2. Select Delete.
   
3. Confirm your action and click Delete.
   

Alternatively, click   on the Sales order details page and select Delete.

Attach Files  to Sales Order

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Sales Orders.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific sales order and click .
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking  .

Add/ view Comments  to Sales Order

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Sales Orders.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific sales order and click .
   
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking .

More Actions for Sales Order 

1. Clone a sales order from th  e sales order details page. 
   Click   and select Clone.
2. Update a sales order as Mark Shipment as fulfilled from the sales order details page. 
   Click   and select Mark Shipment as fulfilled.
3. For drafted sales order, click Mark as Confirmed to update the sales order status to Open.
   
4. Lock a sales order to disable further editing of the quote. 
   Click   and select Lock, enter a reason for locking and click Lock.
5. Unlock a sales order to re-enable editing.
   Click   and select Unlock, enter a reason for unlocking and click Unlock.
6. Click Send Email to forward a sales order via Email.
   
7. Click PDF/ Print to download a quote or print it.
   
8. Select Cancel items to cancel sales order items from the details page.
   Click   and select Cancel Items. Select the items and quantity and click Cancel.
9. Create Instant invoice from within Sales Order details page. Sales orders with open status can be converted to an invoice with modifications. or you can create instant invoice with same details, skipping the invoice creation step.
   

Manage Purchase Order 

Create Purchase Order 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Purchase Orders.
   
3. Click Create Purchase Order button.
   
4. Enter details and click Save as Draft to draft the sales order, or Save and Send to send the sales order to a recipient.
   

Edit Purchase Order 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Purchase Orders.
   
3. Hover over the purchase order you want to edit, click   and select Edit.
   
4. Make required changes and click Save.
   

Delete Purchase Order 

1. Hover over the Purchase Order you want to delete and click  .
   
2. Select Delete.
   
3. Confirm your action and click Delete.
   

Alternatively, click   on the Purchase order details page and select Delete.

Attach Files  to Purchase Order

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Purchase Orders.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific purchase order and click .
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking .

Add/ view Comments  to Purchase Order

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Purchase Orders.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific purchase order and click .
   
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking .

More Actions for Purchase Order 

1. Set an Expected Delivery Date for a purchase order.
   Click   on the details page and select Expected Delivery Date.
2. Clone a purchase order from th  e purchase order details page. 
   Click   and select Clone.
3. Update a purchase order as Mark as Received, Mark as Unreceived, or Mark as Canceled from the purchase order details page. 
   Click   and select Mark as Received, Mark as Unreceived, or Mark as Canceled.
   Once a purchase order is marked canceled, it cannot be used to create any transactions. To create any transaction, you need to reopen it.
4. For drafted purchase order, click Mark as Issued to update its status to Open.
   
5. Click Send Email to forward a purchase order via Email.
   
6. Click PDF/ Print to download a quote or print it.
   
7. Select Cancel items to cancel purchase order items from the details page.
   Click   and select Cancel Items. Select the items and quantity and click Cancel. 

Manage Bills 

Create Bills 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Bills.
   
3. Click Create Bill button.
   
4. Enter details and click Save as Draft to draft the bill, or Save and Send to send the bill to a recipient.
   

The bill will show up on the Bills list view.

Edit Bills 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Bills.
   
3. Hover over the bill you want to edit, click   and select Edit.
   
4. Make required changes and click Save.
   

Alternatively, access the bill details page and click Edit below the bill Id.  

Delete Bills 

1. Hover over the bill you want to delete and click  .
   
2. Select Delete.
   
3. Confirm your action and click Delete.
   

Alternatively, click   on the bill details page and select Delete.

Attach Files to Bills

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Bills.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific bill and click 
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking .

Add/ view Comments  in Bills

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Bills.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific bill and click .
   
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking .

More Actions for  Bills

1. Set an Expected Payment Date for an overdue bill.
   Click   on the details page and select Expected Payment Date. It can be viewed in the comments.
2. Clone a bill from th  e details page. 
   Click   and select Clone.
3. Update Bills status to Open.
   Navigate to the drafted bills details page, click Convert to Open.
4. View Journal to track the progress of the bills since it was saved and sent. Journal entries will not be available for Bills in the Draft state.
5. Update the bills which are cancelled before being closed with payment as Void. 
   Navigate to the bills details page, click   and select Void.
6. Click PDF/ Print to download a quote or print it.
   

Manage Expenses

Add Expense 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Expenses.
   
3. Click Create Expense button.
   
4. Enter details and click Save as Draft to draft the expense, or Save and Send to send the sales order to a recipient.
   
5. The Expense will show up on the Expense list view.
   

Edit Expenses 

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Expenses.
   
3. Hover over the expense you want to edit, click   and select Edit.
   
4. Make required changes and click Save.
   

Alternatively, access the expense details page and click Edit below the expense Id.  

Delete Expenses 

1. Hover over the expense you want to delete and click  .
   
2. Select Delete.
   
3. Confirm your action and click Delete.
   

Alternatively, click   on the expense details page and select Delete.

Attach Files  to Expense

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Expenses.
   
3. Open the details page of the specific expense and click .
   
4. Select files to upload.
   The uploaded files can be viewed by clicking .

Add/ view Comments  to expense

1. Navigate to the Finance tab of your project.
   
2. Click on the Finance Modules drop-down and select Expenses.
   
3. Open the details page of the expense bill and click .
   
4. Enter comment and click Add comment.
   All comments can be viewed by clicking .

More Actions for  Expenses

1. Set an Expected Delivery Date for a Expense.
   Click   on the details page and select Expected Delivery Date.
2. Clone an expense from th  e expense details page. 
   Click   and select Clone.
3. For drafted expenses, click Mark as Issued to update its status to Open.
   
4. Click Send Email to forward a purchase order via Email.
   
5. Click PDF/ Print to download a quote or print it.
   
6. Select Cancel items to cancel purchase order items from the details page.
   Click   and select Cancel Items. Select the items and quantity and click Cancel.