Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas

Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas

Dear Customers,

We hope you're well!

By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record.
With Zoho CRM, you can include such calculations within records using the formula field. Today, we're introducing some new enhancements that aim to improve the accuracy and usability of formulas in your business processes.


Let's look at them!

Enhancement 1: Auto-refresh time-based formulas to view real-time values.

Businesses rely on time-based computations to conduct various analyses. Some computations measure time like a stopwatch. For example:
  • To ascertain the possibility a customer might churn, you would compute the age of their deals.
  • To validate an applicant's eligibility for an insurance policy, you would calculate the age of the applicant as of the current date.

The above examples are ongoing calculations that show the age of the record or of the customers. For these types of computations, you might expect that the formula is constantly ticking and rendering an accurate time measurement whenever you view the record. However, formula fields in fact compute and render the latest result only when the record is edited manually or updated via automation. By simply viewing a record, an agent may not be seeing accurate results. This enhancement addresses this.
Though formulas that provide the latest values include a "now" function in their syntax, computing all of these formulas continually and concurrently across all records poses a significant technical constraint. To address this constraint, we've introduced a checkbox to the formula field property labeled, Automatically refresh formula fields containing the Now function in real time.

If checked, the auto-refresh checkbox makes the relevant formula run every time the user visits or edits the record. This means users will always see the correct time measurements.

Info
Limitation:
  • You can apply the auto-refresh only for two fields with the Now function per module.
  • Formulas with date/ date time return types cannot be used in workflows that are based on date/time -based triggers.
  • Fields enabled with auto-refresh will have updated values every time you view them. But, this doesn't qualify for record edit. If you have automations based on edit of a record, this record will not be used unless the record is really "edited".
  • Also, creating custom views and filters using these fields cannot be done.

Enhancement 2: Stop formula executions based on criteria

In contrast to the case above—where you'd expect the formula to run constantly—there are scenarios wherein you may want to stop a computation from executing. Let's say a customer has churned, and you want to calculate the time it took them to churn. In that case, you might want the formula to stop computing under certain conditions.

Accordingly, you can use this new function to:
  • Calculate the number of days the deal was under negotiation
  • Calculate the number of days spent in trial before conversion
  • Calculate the number of days taken to ship a product
You may want to stop ongoing computations whenever there are events acting upon a given record. By doing so, you can determine the amount of time the record spent in a particular stage.

Previously, there hasn't been any functionality in Zoho CRM that effectively stops a formula from computing. Even when a cutoff date has passed, formulas continued to compute durations. With this enhancement, you can stop computations or freeze values based on specific criteria.

With these two enhancements, you can choose how you want your time-based formulas to be computed—to keep them running or to stop at a given time.

Info
Limitation:
A formula field that has auto-refresh and stop criteria enabled, then those fields cannot have multiline fields, picklists, and lookup fields as participating fields.

Enhancement 3: Include an existing formula as part of another formula's component

A formula is only as powerful as its components. Zoho CRM enables you to construct various complex formulas, but one missing piece has been the inability to include an existing formula field to construct a new one.

Thus far, you could do this by building a long and linear syntax.

For example, let's say you want to determine the discounted value and overall discount percentage for your finalized quotes. Firstly, to determine the discount value, you'd write a formula.

Next, to find the discount percentage, you'd write another formula that looks something like this:

As you can see, the structure of the formula involves an existing computation. In Zoho CRM, to achieve this, you'd first formulate the discount value, and then—to find the percentage—you have to repeat the discount formula to get the percentage.

For a simple formula like this, the syntax is fairly easy to understand. But imagine calculating commissions, which would involve several smaller formulas—in which case, you have to repeat the entire formula structure even if you already have them computed in your record layout.

This is complex, redundant, and time-consuming—problems that this latest enhancement addresses.

A formula field looks like any other field in Zoho CRM. Thus, in addition to the list of fields available under the fields part of the formula configuration, all the existing formula fields will also be listed. Admins can construct new formulas using the existing formulas without having to repeat syntax.

That's all for the updates. If you have any feedback or questions, please drop them in the comments section. Let's connect!

QuoteRelease plan: These enhancements are lined up for release DC by DC, gradually. We will keep you posted on the comments accordingly.

Thanks and have a good one!
Kind regards,
Saranya Balasubramanian

    • Recent Topics

    • Why is Zoho Meeting quality so poor?

      I've just moved from Office 365 to Zoho Workplace and have been generally really positive about the new platform -- nicely integrated, nice GUI, good and easy-to-understand control and customisation, and at a reasonable price. However, what is going on

    • Items Below Reorder Point Report?

      Is there a way to run a report of Items that are below the Reorder Point? I don't see this as a specific report, nor can I figure out how to customize any of the other stock reports to give me this information. Please tell me I'm missing something s

    • Qwen as the default open source Generative AI model for Zia

      Hello everyone, Zia Generative AI is transitioning from Llama (8B parameters) to Qwen (30B parameters) as the default model. This means that users who were using Llama as a GenAI service will now use Qwen. This upgrade was made with a vision to enhance

    • Calendar week view: Today + 6

      Is there anyway to have the calendar change dynamically based on the date? Due to the amount of events, we only display a week at a time, but towards the end of the week, we can no longer see ahead to next week (without changing it manually every time).

    • How to restrict user/portal user change canvas view

      Hi , I would like to restrict user / portal user change their canvas view because I hide some sensitive field for them. I dont want my user switch the canvas view that do not belong to them But seems Zoho do not provide this setting?

    • E-Invoicing in Belgium with Zoho Inventory

      Starting January 1, 2026, Belgium is introducing mandatory electronic invoices (e-invoicing) for all B2B transactions between VAT-registered businesses. Invoices and credits notes must be exchanged in a prescribed digital format. How E-Invoicing Works

    • Introducing parent-child ticketing in Zoho Desk [Early access]

      Hello Zoho Desk users! We have introduced the parent-child ticketing system to help customer service teams ensure efficient resolution of issues involving multiple, related tickets. You can now combine repetitive and interconnected tickets into parent-child

    • How to add to Subforms via Zapier with Zoho Writer?

      I have the following layout for a Zoho Writer Document. As you can see there is a repeating subform taking in "Items". I am trying to make a Zapier integration with it, and I can see there is 1 field saying: "Items", but it does not specify how I'm supposed

    • Contrôles administratifs granulaires : un atout pour la sécurité des e-mails

      La moindre erreur dans votre système de messagerie peut coûter très cher à votre entreprise, tant en argent qu’en conformité et en image de marque. Pour beaucoup d’organisations, ce risque est bien réel. Les e-mails véhiculent quotidiennement des informations

    • Marketer's Space: Why mobile optimization deserves a place in your email strategy

      Hello Marketers, Welcome back to Marketer's Space! Today, we'll talk about the importance of creating mobile-friendly email designs. While mobile phones were once used only to make phone calls, today they're used for almost everything, including texting,

    • Collections Management: #6 Realign Customers who gets back In-Term

      Arun stared at the subscription list on his dashboard. Another account had just been moved to Cancelled status after completing the whole dunning process. Nothing unusual, just that payment failures happen, retries fail, and cancellation is the expected

    • Zoho Mail IP Blacklist

      I need problems with send mails: Error: junk mail rejected - sender4-op-o10.zoho.com 136.143.188.10, is in RBL. Spamcop. Please remove FQDN for blacklist. Regards.

    • I can receive but not send emails

      Hello, I've been not able to send emails for almost a year now. I been using alternate email to do this. I want to know how to fix this so I can use my zoho account normally again.

    • Setting checkbox value on template in Sign from Creator

      Good day, Please help me understand how do I set a tick from a checkbox in Creator into a checkbox on a Sign template. Below is the only values on the Sign template and the code from Creator, "field_boolean_data": {}, "field_date_data": {}, "field_radio_data":

    • The challenge of 24/7 connectivity: Being present and meeting customer expectations

      Before television entered our homes, radio was our window to the world. We had to tune carefully to catch voices from distant places. When television arrived, the world began to grow smaller. We can watch rocket launches, see the goal that wins our favorite

    • How to download all attachments from inbox, send, other folders in one go

      Hi All, Appreciate if anyone could help me with steps for below requirement. How to download all attachments from inbox, send, other folders in one go. Even mapping to new folder will help me. Thanks in advance.

    • Cannot connect mail accounts to Thunderbird

      Hi Support - I'm attempting to add my mail accounts to Thunderbird but I'm getting an unable to login to server error. I tried to use the password associated with my account I received the unable to login error. So I went into Zoho Accounts and generate

    • Alias Email Id already exists

      Hi, I just verified my domain sesque (dot) com and now I am trying to create the admin account using admin (at) sesque (dot) com, but I am getting an error saying "Alias Email Id already exists". I used to have another Zoho account with this email address,

    • Unable to connect to smtp server, connection timed out

      Hi Team, I am facing below issue, while sending out emails from thunderbird client. It used to work, facing this issue from morning. Error: Sending of the message failed. The message could not be sent because the connection to Outgoing server (SMTP) smtp.zoho.com

    • javax.mail.authenticationfailedexception 535 authentication failed

      Hi, I am facing 535 authentication failed error when trying to send email from zoho desktop as well as in webmail. Can you suggest to fix this issue,. Regards, Rekha

    • Client Portal ZOHO ONE

      Dear Zoho one is fantastic option for companies but it seems to me that it is still an aggregation of aps let me explain I have zoho books with client portal so client access their invoice then I have zoho project with client portal so they can access their project but not their invoice without another URL another LOGIN Are you planning in creating a beautiful UI portal for client so we can control access to client in one location to multiple aps at least unify project and invoice aps that would

    • Zoho Creator customer portal users

      Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

    • DKIM Verification Failed (Namecheap)

      Hi! I have already set up the TXT records in Namecheap but I keep getting the "Verification Failed" pop up. Was wondering if I'm the only one who has this problem and can anyone help me with this? Thanks!

    • Emails stuck in Queue

      Hi there, Since yesterday I have a few out going emails stuck in a queue. It say it will auto retry sending however nothing is happening. It seems to be affecting roughly 50% of my outgoing emails. Please help Thanks

    • Soft Bounce from transational emails from BREVO (Sendinblue)

      I manage the website of a client who uses your EMAIL service for the domain floranativadobrasil.com. And I use the BREVO email service, previously called SendinBlue, to send transactional emails about events specific to the website. All emails sent to

    • 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

    • Introducing Multi-Asset Support in Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments

      We’re excited to announce a highly requested enhancement in Zoho FSM — you can now associate multiple assets with Work Orders, Estimates, and Service Appointments. This update brings more clarity, flexibility, and control to your field service operations,

    • Getting an error Address not found Your message wasn't delivered

      Hey, I'm trying to configure zoho mail for my website https://businessentity.org/ The email is meredith.karter@businessentity.org I'm able to successfully send the mails but when someone sends an email to above mail, this error shoots up: Address not

    • Support Uploading YouTube Videos Longer Than 60 Minutes

      Hi Zoho Social Team, How are you? We would like to request support for uploading YouTube videos longer than 60 minutes directly through Zoho Social. Your support team informed us that Zoho Social currently cannot upload videos over 60 minutes due to “API

    • Need Faster Help? Try Live Chat Support

      Hello there, We understand that sometimes, whether you’re facing an issue, exploring a feature, or need quick clarification, sending an email and waiting for a response just doesn’t cut it. You need answers, and you need them now. That’s exactly why we

    • Can't deactivate Spell Check

      Hi Community, right now I'm using the Zoho Mail Desktop-Software. So far, so good.. many possibilities. Overall very nice. What is extremely annoying right now, is that we are not able to deactivate the Spell Check feature. And we are barely able to focus

    • Zoho Toolkit Email Signature Generator

      I'm having real issues with the email signature generator with no matter where I host the photo, Zoho doesn't seem to show the photo on the link provided?

    • Company Policy Upload - Request All EE to review and sign

      How can I upload policies into Zoho People and have the employees review them and sign off saying they agree, etc.? Also, if I make a revision to a policy, I would like that changed or updated policy to be distributed or have the employees notified that

    • Zoho Sign Global Settings vs. Template and Document

      Hello, We are running into an issue on a current use case. We already use Zoho Sign. Now that KBA is available, we want to begin using it in our tax delivery process, by allowing clients to sign electronically, but also download a copy of their return

    • Zoho Mail Desktop Crashes on Linux - Ubuntu 24 LTS

      Hi, I have been trying to run the desktop app on Ubuntu for the past few day with no luck. I have tried both the .deb package and the appImage. When I attempt to open the app. It just crashes immediately. The crash error dialog appeared once and I cant

    • Can't login to Zoho mail

      I'm logged into Zoho but when I try to go in zoho mail I get: Invalid request! The input passed is invalid or the URL is invoked without valid parameters. Please check your input and try again. I just set up my mx records and stuff with namecheap a few

    • Zoho IP blocked by SpamCop

      Hi, Many of my emails are blocked and I receive this:  INVALID_ADDRESS, ERROR_CODE :550, ERROR_CODE :spamcop.mimecast.org Blocked - see https://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?136.143.188.51. - https://community.mimecast.com/docs/DOC-1369#550 [DGwIYPPSOfWI

    • Differences between Zoho Books and Zoho Billing

      Without a long drawn out process to compare these. If you were looking at these Books and Billing, what made you opt for one and not the other. Thanks

    • 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'

    • No Ability to Rename Record Template PDFs in SendMail Task

      As highlighted previously in this post, we still have to deal with the limitation of not being able to rename a record template when sent as a PDF using the SendMail Task. This creates unnecessary complexity for what should be a simple operation, and

    • Next Page