Tip #3 Automating total item weight calculation for your sales orders in Zoho Inventory

Tip #3 Automating total item weight calculation for your sales orders in Zoho Inventory

Hello,


Hope the day is treating you well.
Last week, we saw how we could automate the calculation of total shipping charges from numerous shipments for your sales orders and invoices. This week, we will see how you can automate the calculation of total item weight for your sales orders. 

How does this work?
First, you are required to capture the weight of all your items using a custom field. And when you create a sales order, you can either have the system display the individual weights for you or you can manually enter new weights. You are also required to define a custom field under sales orders and packages called Weight to capture the total package weight. Through the custom function, the system will then add up the individual weights of items to arrive at a total weight and display it on your sales orders and packages. Later when you ship via a carrier, you can refer manually to this weight and input them into the shipment order to generate shipping rates.

Note: This custom function works only if a sales order has a single package. If there are multiple packages, then please note that this function will display the total weight of all items in the sales order inside of every package and not the total weight of items present inside that package. 

What do you need before writing the custom function?

How do I set it up?

Log in to your Zoho account and click on this link to generate an Auth Token which is required to make this work.

 

  • Open your Zoho Inventory organization.

  • Navigate to Settings using the gear icon from the top-right corner.

  • Select Automation from the sidebar. Now click on the button adjacent to +New Workflow Rule.

  • Out of the four options from the drop-down, select Custom Functions.

  • Now let's add a name for this workflow rule and make sure that there are no spaces between words.

  • Choose "Sales Orders" against the module field.

  • Add a description if you need one.

  • Now, the workflow type is going to be "Event Based".

  • And for the trigger, we are going to choose the option - "when a Sales Order is created".

In the deluge pane, we are going to copy and paste the following code snippet:


authtoken = "Copy and paste your authtoken here";
salesorderID = salesorder.get("salesorder_id");
salesorderdate = salesorder.get("date").toDate();
organizationID = organization.get("organization_id");
bson=Map();
lineitems=salesorder.get("line_items").toList();
weight=List();
for each line in lineitems
{
cfs=line.get("item_custom_fields").toList();
for each cf in cfs
{
if(cf.get("label").toString().equalsIgnoreCase("weight")) /*replace with item level custom field name*/
{
weight.add(cf.get("value").toDecimal() * line.get("quantity"));
break;
}
}
}
wei=0;
j=0;
for each index j in weight
{
wei=wei + weight.get(j).toDecimal();
}
info wei;
cf=List();
cf1=Map();
cf1.put("label","Weight"); /* replace with sales order custom field */
cf1.put("value",wei);
cf.add(cf1);
customs=salesorder.get("custom_fields").toList();
customs.addAll(cf);
bson.put("custom_fields",customs);
bson.put("customer_id",salesorder.get("customer_id"));
res=zoho.inventory.updateRecord("SalesOrders", organizationID,salesorderID, bson);
info res.toMap().get("message");

  • Before you save, you are required to copy and paste your auth token inside the quotes in the 1st line that says:

    • authtoken = "Copy and Paste your auth token in place of this text";

    • The auth token is a critical piece of information that helps the system identify you, so keep yours safe and confidential. Do not share it with anyone, not even folks from Zoho.

  • Now, hit Save to finish.

Henceforth, the total weight of all your items in a sales order you make will be calculated automatically and updated to the package that is associated with it. 

Don't use this, if you have multiple packages for a single order.


Hope this makes shipping a little more easier for you. Have you tried custom functions for your business? Email us your recipes (scenarios and code snippets), questions and suggestions to support@zoho-inventory.com.


Until next time!


Your everyday end user,

Ajay Aadhithya Chandrasekaran

Zoho Inventory






        • Recent Topics

        • Zoho Campaigns API endpoint for contact details

          there is some REST API support for Zoho Campaigns, however, I am not able to find an endpoint for "get contact details".  in particular, I'd like to access contact's subscription status and also their topic. ideally there is all profile available including

        • Specifying time increments on a Date/Time field

          Hi all, Im using a Date/Time field in my CRM module. At the moment the increments are 30 minutes. How can I change these to be 15 minutes? Thanks

        • Nimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging

          Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integration

        • Sort by Project Name?

          How the heck do you sort by project name in the task list views??? Seems like this should be a no-brainer?

        • Maximum limit of bank accounts

          I'm currently setting up Zoho Books in order to migrate at the start of our next financial year (April) and while adding bank accounts I've tried to add a second account from the same bank and receive an error about the maximum limit of bank accounts.

        • Zoho Sprints iOS and Android app update: Global view. Screen capture control, file encryption, tags enhancement(iOS)

          Hello everyone! We are excited to introduce new features in the latest version(v2.1) of the Zoho Sprints iOS app update. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new. 1. Global view Global view brings all your project items into one centralised space. You can

        • Creating Restaurant Inventory Management on Zoho

          Hi,  We run a small cloud kitchen and are interested to use Zoho for Inventory and Composite Item tracking for our food served and supplied procured to make food items.  Our model is basically like subway where the customer can choose breads, veggies,

        • Price Managment

          I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just

        • How do I create an update to the Cost Price from landed costs?

          Hi fellow Zoho Inventory battlers, I am new to Zoho inventory and was completely baffled to find that the cost price of products does not update when a new purchase order is received. The cost price is just made up numbers I start with when the product

        • only 100 entry download entries in Zoho Form

          Is there a way to download more than 100 entries in a form at a time? It is capped (unless I am not doing the export correctly). This is very frustrating as I want to make sure I don't miss a record when downloading data. Thanks!

        • Zoho FSM Premium Edition is Here

          As your field service operations grow, so do the complexities — managing large distributed teams, keeping sensitive data secure, generating the right reports at the right time, and ensuring every technician dispatched is the right fit for the job. The

        • Seeking a WhatsApp Business App (not API) Zoho CRM integration

          We have a business need to integrated WhatsApp Business App (not API) into Zoho CRM to centrally manage communications between our Sales team and Leads & Contact. Is there a reputable integration available for this scenario of ours? Core features we would

        • Zoho Recruit mailserver get blocked by Microsoft!

          Hi, We have experienced this issue twice now, where Zoho Recruit outbound IP addresses are being blocked by Microsoft. We are confident that Microsoft is the blocking party, as all outbound emails to candidates with @hotmail.com, @live.com, and @outlook.com

        • Auto-sync field of lookup value

          This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.

        • How are other Books users integrating crypto and digital assets into Books?

          If my company owns some digital assets I would want those to exist in Books as assets, and also be able to change the value as needed when generating reports. My company would also be receiving payment in cryptocurrencies and may sell at the time of payment

        • Lets Talk Recruit: Key takeaways from our India community meetups

          Welcome back to Let's Talk Recruit — the series where we bring you real stories, product insights, and community highlights from the world of recruitment. Our last post covered how Resume Harvester can take the follow-up out of hiring. This edition is

        • Edit a previous reconciliation

          I realized that during my March bank reconciliation, I chose the wrong check to reconcile (they were for the same amount on the same date, I just chose the wrong check to reconcile). So now, the incorrect check is showing as un-reconciled. Is there any way I can edit a previous reconciliation (this is 7 months ago) so I can adjust the check that was reconciled? The amounts are exactly the same and it won't change my ending balance.

        • Approval Workflow for Purchase Orders Abrir

          The requirement is , that all purchase orders greater than or equal to 5000 go through an approval process from certain people, but within books I only see that the approvers can be by levels or any approver but we cannot enter a rule like these. Can

        • Unable to create new finance account in Zoho Books Android app due to missing account number field.

          Free plan I have enabled a setting via the website requiring unique account codes to be specified for all accounts. When using the android app, go to expenses, new expense, select account, new account. Promoted to enter the Account name and description.

        • How to Fetch data from Sales Order and Insert into Purchase Order with Deluge

          Hello, I am wanting to write a Deluge script that would take the shipping address on a Sales Order and upon conversion to a Sales Order automatically insert it into that corresponding PO. I am new to Deluge but understand that it has great capabilities.

        • Google Drive shared folder

          My deluge script has stopped working, no longer collecting files from Google Drive - have these connections finally been deprecated ?? They seem to be active but errors occur when updating them ?

        • Can't add attachment on email template

          The attachment does show up. This is my template. Hi ${Cases.Assigned Programmers}, Please be reminded about the following task that has been assigned to you. Subject : ${Cases.Subject} Description : ${Cases.Description} Ticket # : ${Cases.Request Id}

        • Zoho Desk: Mobile Updates | Q1 2026

          Hello everyone, Greetings! As we gear up for the end of Q1, we are excited to share a quick journey into all that released in the first quarter of 2026. We have brought in a few enhancements in the mobile apps that improve overall user experience and

        • CRM x WorkDrive: We're rolling out the WorkDrive-powered file storage experience for existing users

          Release plan: Gradual rollout to customers without file storage add-ons, in this order: 1. Standalone CRM 2. CRM Plus and Zoho One DCs: All | Editions: All Available now for: - Standalone CRM accounts in Free and Standard editions without file storage

        • Additional Address - Company Name

          It would be very helpful to have a "Company Name" field in the Additional Address shipping section.  In a situation where you drop-ship orders to a different address or different company entirely, it may be necessary to list the company name of the receiver. I understand that the Attention field can be used for that purpose, but that's not really the intended purpose of that field.

        • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

          Availability Update: 29 September 2025: It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition exclusively for IN DC users. 2 March 2026: Available to users in all DCs except US and EU DC. 24

        • Zoho Payroll's Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Canada edition is available in Zoho One

          Great news for Zoho One users! Zoho Payroll has expanded to five new regions: Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Canada. And the best part? These new editions are fully integrated with Zoho One, just like our existing editions in India, the UAE, Saudi

        • Does Zoho Creator support multilingual translation for user-entered data?

          I understand that Zoho Creator provides localization support for UI elements such as field labels and static text. I would like to know: Does Zoho Creator support automatic translation of user-entered data (for example, form inputs or stored records)

        • Upload field on tasks module

          Hello, Why I cannot add an upload field to a Task? Or maybe when creating the task make attachements visible, so you can add an attachement while creating the task? Looking forward to your response!

        • WhatsApp phone number migration

          Hi @Gowri V and @Pheranda Nongpiur, Thanks for implementing the promised enhancements to the integration between Zoho CRM and WhatsApp. The previous discussion has been locked, so I'm opening this new one. I am copying below a specific

        • How to let club members update their own profile data

          Our club has about 200 members. We keep names, addresses, phones, emails, payment records, etc. for each, recently migrated to Creator. Once a year I send email to each member to confirm or correct their info on file with us, as well as ask for payment

        • Document retention in Zoho Sign

          Document management doesn’t end at signing. It extends to how long you retain agreements—and how securely you dispose of them. With the document retention option in Zoho Sign, you can define structured, policy-driven timelines for managing completed documents.

        • Sales Allowed Beyond Available Stock and Payment Recorded Without Restriction

          Hi, While testing in Zoho Inventory, I noticed that a sales order can be created with a quantity exceeding the available stock in the selected warehouse. In my case: Available stock: 5 units Ordered quantity: 6 units Despite this: I was able to convert

        • Deleting, Adding and Changing a Zoho Books Entry

          Zoho Books Community & Support, If a bulk upload of entries were added to an account, what is the process to: - Delete an entry - Change the amount of an entry - Is there a means to manually add an entry other than upload?

        • Zoho Commerce in multiple languages

          When will you be able to offer Zoho Commerce in more languages? We sell in multiple markets and want to be able to offer a local version of our webshop. What does the roadmap look like?

        • Zoho CRM - Feature Request - Analytics Components Group By Week Alternative Formats

          On the Zoho CRM Analytics Components, please consider adding an option to allow group by week format to be changed to other formats such as Week Commencing or Week Ending dates, rather than the current Week Number. This would provide improved usability

        • The Social Playbook March edition: Myth vs Facts

          We’ve all heard a lot of myths growing up. Some sound convincing, some feel believable, and over time they start to feel like facts. But the truth is, a myth is still a myth until it’s backed by real facts. Marketing is no different. Over time, many ideas

        • Updating Analytical Fields Data

          Dear Zoho team, I'm having an issue with the recently added fields in both Analytical Desk and Analytical. How can I generate the data in Analytical when new fields are added? https://analytics.zoho.com/workspace/2436819000000007005/edit/24368190000

        • Marketing Tip #26: Optimize product images for SEO

          Product images can do more than make your store look good. They can also help customers discover your products through search. Since search engines can’t "see" images, they rely on text signals to understand what an image is about. Two small actions make

        • What's New in Zoho Analytics - February 2026

          Hello Users! We're back with another round of updates for Zoho Analytics. This month's release focuses on giving you greater flexibility in how you visualize, manage, and act on your data - with new features like custom visualizations, remote MCP server,

        • Next Page