Tip #5 : Setup Approval Workflow for your Subscription Business

Tip #5 : Setup Approval Workflow for your Subscription Business

Hello everyone,

We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Refer and Earn Workflow system. This week, we will be looking at how you can set up an Approval Workflow for Subscription Business.

Business Scenario:

One of our customers had a special requirement for his Subscription Box Business. He runs a Pet Food subscription box business where the food items are shipped to customers periodically.

Customers subscribe to a box of their choice online. Once they subscribe, he has a set of prerequisites that his customers must meet. For example, he cross-checks with customers for their preferred food ingredients, validates their delivery address, checks his inventory to see if the stock is available, etc. This usually takes a day or two. After he completes the cross-checking, he approves that subscription. Next, he bills his customer periodically from the approved date instead of the date on which his customer subscribed.

To understand this scenario better, let's consider that a customer subscribed to a box on January 1. After the merchant cross-checks, the subscription is approved on January 4. Rather than billing the customer on the 1st of every month, the customer will be billed on the 4th, say February 4, March 4 and so on.

Although the subscription will be in live status in Zoho Subscriptions (with the payment collected upfront from the customers), he needs an Approval Workflow to address the mentioned business scenario. Now, let's look into how we can implement in Zoho Subscriptions.

Addressing His Scenario

We have summarized the customer's requirements and the solutions we suggested to address them below.
  1. Requirement:
    Introduce a new approval status for each subscription.

    Solution:
    We created a custom field with its type as Dropdown and name as  Approval Status. We added two values: Awaiting Approval and Approved. By default, when a subscription is created, the custom field will hold the value as Awaiting Approval and it will change once the subscription is approved.
  2. Requirement:
    Differentiate and view the subscriptions based on their approval status.

    Solution:
    We created two custom views for the Subscriptions module and configured them to display the subscriptions based on the Approval Status custom field. Learn more about configuring custom views.
  3. Requirement:
    Approve the subscription and change the subscription renewal date automatically.

    Solution:
    We created a custom button to address this requirement. Custom Buttons can be configured to run a piece of code when you click them and you can configure them for any module. In this case, the custom button has two actions:
     
    I.    First, it needs to change the value of the Approval Status custom field to Approved.

    II.   Second, it needs to change the subscription renewal date to be after a month from present date, so that the customer gets billed periodically from the approved date rather than the date on which he subscribed.
We addressed these requirements by writing a code for the custom button. You can view the code in GitHub. By configuring this, he was able to change the Approval Status and also the renewal date in a single click.

To configure the custom field:

      1.  Go to Settings > Preferences > Invoices.
      2. Create a custom field with the name as Approval Status and type as Dropdown.
      3. Type the options as Awaiting Approval and Approved and select the Default Value as Awaiting Approval.
      4. Click Save.

To setup the custom button:
      1. Go to Settings > Preferences > Subscriptions.
      2. Create a new custom button.
      3. Enter a suitable name.
      4. Copy and paste the code from GitHub. Modify it as per your requirements.
      5. Click Save and you are good to go.

Now, you'll find the custom button in the subscriptions details page.

Found this useful? Try it out for your subscription business and let us know how it works. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below! We are here to answer them.


Cheers,
Sasidaran K,
Zoho Subscriptions.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers

    • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's

    • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can

    • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

      Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,

    • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

      Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information

      • Recent Topics

      • Disputed Purchase Invoices

        We have recently moved to Zoho Books from Sage. In Sage we were able to post a purchase/vendor invoice but mark it as on dispute. This would usually be a pricing query or if something was damaged. It would show in their ledger, so we could agree their

      • No TDS Deduction

        In some of our case, where we are reselling items at the same rate we purchased. In this scenario, Indian IT Law has a provision to request customer not to deduct TDS if the transaction value is same. TDS is paid by us (intermediary reseller) before we

      • CBSA - GST CHARGES on imports

        Hi there, We have a questions about landed cost categorization. We received a shipment from overseas. CBSA invoiced us for the GST on the items. Now we entered the CBSA-GST as a separate bill and attached it as landed cost to the main invoice based on

      • Zoho Books

        How do I manually insert opening balance?

      • Sales order & purchase order item links for item details

        This is fantastic for checking lots of things, I use it a lot. It would be great to see it extended to invoices & bills On another note, may as well throw in my favourite whinge ..... Wish you guys would get the PO receive differences sorted urgently,

      • Bank charges are applied. Please select a bank account.

        Hello, I'm trying to add bank charges to a customer payment, but I get the error message "Bank charges are applied. Please select a bank account." I found this old thread, where it says that I need to "select a Bank account for the 'Deposit To' dropdown

      • How to add receipts

        How to add receipts

      • Support for auto-upgrade in TrueSync (for Windows)

        WorkDrive TrueSync app now supports auto-upgrading to the latest version for Windows OS. You must manually download and install the TrueSync app version 3.4.0 to avail this feature. Download the latest TrueSync app for Windows (version 3.4.0) Supported

      • WorkDrive API Documentation

        WorkDrive provides users and developers an extensive set of APIs to help integrate functionalities of Zoho WorkDrive with other Zoho applications and third-party tools. We have published the official WorkDrive API Documentation page for all external users.

      • March 15, 2023: Zoho Docs is discontinued

        As of today (March 15, 2023) Zoho Docs is discontinued for all users. We would like to thank our customers for trusting us for so many years! Going forward, we're confident you'll enjoy using Zoho WorkDrive for all your advanced file management and collaboration

      • Introducing WorkDrive 4.0: Enhanced productivity. Advanced data administration. (Phase 1)

        Hello All, We're excited to share the release of WorkDrive 4.0, which includes important new features and enhancements focused primarily on productivity, secure collaboration, data administration, integrations, and user experience. Read the official announcement

      • External download link limit

        Can You please help us to understand this For Zoho WorkDrive external users, the download limit is a maximum of 5 GB total download size and a maximum of 50 first-level files and folders What is the meaning of first level? We are using these files in

      • Dynamically catching new file creations

        I have a team folder with many subfolders, and in those folders we add new documents all the time. I'd like to have a workflow or script to notify me (and then take other actions) when a file is added anywhere in that structure that ends in "summary.txt".

      • Rotate an Image in Workdrive Image Editor

        I don't know if I'm just missing something, but my team needs a way to rotate images in Workdrive and save them at that new orientation. For example one of our ground crew members will take photos of job sites vertically (9:16) on his phone and upload

      • Workflow workdrive rollout

        Hi! When will workflow be rolled out to all users? Thanks.

      • Creating and managing a Team Folder using WorkDrive TrueSync

        Hello everyone, Are you tired of constantly switching between your Desktop TrueSync app and the WorkDrive web app to create and manage Team Folders? We’ve made things easier for you. You can now create and manage Team Folders directly within the TrueSync

      • Edit images seamlessly with WorkDrive's built-in Image Editor

        Are you tired of switching between multiple tools just to make simple edits to your images? We understand the hassle, which is why Zoho WorkDrive now comes with a built-in image editing tool, powered by Zoho Annotator. This tool allows you to edit images

      • Supercharge your email workflow with WorkDrive's add-in for Microsoft Outlook

        Consider this: You’re handling a critical project, and your inbox is packed with important attachments, email threads, and client communications. The back-and-forth routine of downloading files to your computer, uploading them to WorkDrive, and manually

      • Secure and promote your content with Custom Watermarking

        Imagine this: You’re a professional photographer who regularly shares your work online with potential clients and collaborators. Recently, you notice that some of your images have been reposted without any credit or permission. This not only impacts your

      • Join us in Singapore for the Zoho WorkDrive User Group meetup!

        Hello, everyone! Exciting news! We'll be hosting an upcoming Zoho WorkDrive user group meetup in the beautiful city of Singapore this November. At this Zoho User Group meetup, we'll guide you through ways to use WorkDrive as a platform and build custom

      • WorkDrive TrueSync now supports ARM64-based Windows devices!

        We’re excited to announce that the Zoho WorkDrive TrueSync app now fully supports Windows devices with ARM64 architecture! Whether you're working on an ARM-based device or an x64 processor, you can now enjoy the same seamless file synchronization experience

      • Option to Disable Download for Documents Shared via Permalink

        Dear Zoho Writer Team, Currently, when sharing a Writer document using the regular permalink (Collaborators with external users), there is no option to restrict the ability to download the document. While the external share link allows such restrictions,

      • How to Download a File from Zoho WorkDrive Using a Public Link

        How to Download a File from Zoho WorkDrive Using a Public Link If you're working with Zoho WorkDrive and want to download a file using a public link, here's a simple method to do so using API or a basic script. This approach helps developers or teams

      • domain not verified error

        Hi when i try to upload a video from zoho creator widget to zoho work drive iam getting domain not verified error.I don't know what to do .In zoho api console this is my home page url https://creatorapp.zoho.com/ and this is my redirect url:www.google.com.Iam

      • Live Webinar: Getting Started with Zoho WorkDrive - A Complete Overview

        Hello everyone, We’re excited to invite you to our upcoming live webinar! Discover how to set up your team, bring in your data, and make the most of WorkDrive’s collaboration, organization, AI, and security capabilities. This session is perfect for anyone

      • Calendly One-way sync- Beta Access

        Hello Community, Many of our Zoho Calendar users have expressed their interests in Zoho Calendar and Calendly integration. We've been tightly working on with Calendly team to provide a two-way sync between Calendly and Zoho Calendar. However, there have

      • The year that was at Zoho Calendar 2023- Part 2

        In continuation with our previous post on all the exciting updates and improvements that have shaped Zoho Calendar over the past 12 months, Lets delve into more: Bring your calendars together- Introducing Zoho Calendar and Outlook calendar synchronisation

      • Tip of the week #18: Change the event organizer in Zoho Calendar.

        We cannot always be available to conduct an event when we organise one. In these circumstances, you can use Zoho Calendar to change the event organizer at any moment before the event begins. This way, you can avoid cancelling the event while still taking

      • Tip of the week #20: Create and manage multiple personal calendars.

        Zoho Calendar provides users with the facility to create and manage as many calendars as required. All these calendars can be managed and edited as per user requirements. You can alter the calendar view, make changes to the calendar theme, share the calendar

      • Tip of the week #24: Subscribe to the calendars of a Zoho Calendar user.

        Calendars that are created by Zoho Calendar users can also be added to your Zoho calendar. All public calendars listed by the users will be available when you enter the email address. You can choose the calendar you need to subscribe to. Once the email

      • Tip of the week #26: Import/ Export calendars in Zoho Calendar.

        Any calendar on the web or calendars that you create in any other calendar application can be imported in to Zoho Calendar. This will help you to add the events from the calendars that you import to your Zoho Calendar. You also have the option to export

      • Removing calendar for zoho email group

        How do I make it so that an email group created in Zoho Mail does NOT have a calendar? I have a couple groups for our phone systems voicemails - one for each department. Voicemail recordings are sent to this groups email address so they have access to

      • Tip of the week #27: Edit personal calendars in Zoho Calendar.

        In Zoho Calendar, the personal calendars you create can be edited to make changes you need to make. Edit a Personal Calendar The following changes can be made to the personal calendar by editing it: Calendar title Calendar color Reminders and Description

      • Tip of the week #28: Show/ hide, enable/ disable and empty/ delete your calendars in Zoho Calendar.

        The popularity of online calendars has soared in recent years. It's used both for personal and professional reasons. Calendars have evolved into an effective productivity tool in our lives, from creating events for birthdays and anniversaries to scheduling

      • Tip of the week #30: Share calendars publicly in Zoho Calendar.

        In Zoho Calendar, calendars that are created under My Calendars can be shared publicly. Making your calendar public allows others to view it. When you need to share your calendar with a larger group, public sharing can help. You can restrict others from

      • Tip of the week #31: Share your personal calendars within organization.

        Keep your Organization members aware of what's happening. In Zoho Calendar, you can share your personal calendar with all the members in your organization using the Share with org option.When you enable org sharing for a particular personal calendar,

      • Tip of the Week #33: Appointment scheduler in Zoho Calendar.

        In Zoho Calendar, you can use the Schedule Appointment option to share your appointment request form with the public, allowing people to fill out the form to request an appointment with you. This form can be embedded on your website or blog. Visitors

      • Tip of the Week #34: Embed Calendars using Zoho Calendar

        You can make your calendars public and visible to the general public by embedding them in your websites/blogs using Zoho Calendar. You can use the embed code to add your own calendars to your website's/ blog's HTML code, and the calendar will appear on

      • Tip of the week #35: Migrate to Zoho Calendar from Google Calendar.

        If you are looking to move your Google Calendar events to Zoho Calendar, never worry about missing out the events from your Google Calendar. You can migrate the events from Google Calendar using the export option and import it to Zoho Calendar and manage

      • Tip of the week #36: Migrate to Zoho Calendar from Outlook Calendar.

        If you've been using Outlook calendar and looking to migrate to Zoho Calendar, you can seamlessly export your calendars from Outlook and import them into Zoho Calendar without losing any events, participants, and the reminders set for each event. To migrate

      • Next Page