What's New in Zoho Books - April 2024

What's New in Zoho Books - April 2024

Hello users,

We are back with a bunch of new features and enhancements to make your accounting experience seamless. Keep reading to learn more about them.

WhatsApp Integration in Zoho Books 

You can now connect WhatsApp to your Zoho Books organization to send notifications of payments and sales transactions directly to your customers. You will be able to customize marketing and utility templates for each module to send notifications. You can also initiate conversations with your customers directly from the app.

Learn how to set up WhatsApp integration in Zoho Books in our help document.

To enable WhatsApp for your customers, navigate to Sales > Customers, select a customer, and edit their Primary Contact or Contact Person details on the overview page. Then, enable WhatsApp as their Communication Channel.



Record ACH Payments for your Retainer Invoices


We have supported ACH payments for your retainer invoices which means, you can record ACH payments for your retainer invoices directly from Zoho Books. Additionally, customers can make ACH payments through external links or in the customer portal. Once the payment clears within 3-5 business days, a payment receipt will be generated for the invoice in Zoho Books.

To record ACH payments, go to Sales > Retainer Invoices. Select your preferred ACH payment gateway when creating or editing an invoice.



Add your MSME details in Zoho Books [India]

As per Section 43B(h) of the Finance Act 2023, you should make payments for purchases from (Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) MSME registered businesses within 45 days from the date of purchase to ensure timely payments to avoid tax implications.

If your organization is MSME registered, you can add your MSME details in Zoho Books. Simply enter your MSME/Udyam registration number in your organization's address. Additionally, you can add the MSME details of your vendors in Zoho Books, to track and manage unpaid bills from MSME vendors directly from your dashboard and make timely payments within the 45 days.




Apply Late Fees to Your Invoices [US Edition]

Now, you have the option to apply a late payment fee if your customer misses the due date for an invoice. You can specify how many days past the due date the fee will be applied and choose the calculation method based on the invoice amount. Additionally, you can track all late fees applied in your organization under a default account.

To enable this feature, go to Settings > Preferences > Invoices and toggle the Late Fee Preference option.

Note: This feature is available only in the Premium, Elite and Ultimate plans of Zoho Books. Visit our pricing page for a comprehensive list of features in each plan.



Enhanced Comments & History Section 

We've upgraded the Comments & History section of your transactions with new features. Now, you can tag and notify other users about a transaction within your comments. Additionally, you can emphasise your words with style using bold, italic, and underline options.


Zoho Inventory Add-On Updates

Void Option for Transfer Orders

Now, you can easily void transfer orders that have been partially or fully processed, making them inactive. This automatically updates stock levels in both the source and destination branches. You also have the option to convert void transfer orders into drafts for any needed adjustments before resending.

To void a transfer order, go to Items > Transfer Orders, and choose Void from the More dropdown menu on the transfer order's overview page.

Cumulative Stock for Item Groups

You can now efficiently track the total stock in hand of all items within an item group to manage and reorder them easily. View the cumulative stock in hand of each item group in the Item Groups module.

Other Feature Enhancements 

UPI ID Option for Invoice QR Codes

We have introduced the UPI ID option for your invoice QR codes. You can include your UPI ID as a QR code on the PDF of your invoices. This allows your customers to scan the QR code with their device and make payments directly to your UPI ID.

To use this feature, go to Settings > Sales > Invoices > General and select UPI ID as the QR code type in the Invoice QR Code section.



TDS Surcharge and Cess [India Edition]

We have introduced the options to include TDS surcharge and cess within a TDS group tax. Now, when you apply the TDS group tax to a bill, the surcharge and cess amounts will be deducted along with the TDS tax amount.

To add new TDS surcharge and cess rates, navigate to the TDS Rates page in Taxes under Settings.



 
The Zoho Finance Workshop 2024 

Join us for a two-day workshop and get hands-on experience with our Zoho Finance suite. Registrations are currently open for cities across India, the GCC, and Canada. Visit this page to register and for more details.



That's it from us for this month's product updates! We hope the latest enhancements are helpful for your business. You can also visit the What's New timeline for byte-sized information about our previous feature updates and enhancements.

We'll catch you in next month's product updates. Until then, if you require any assistance or need clarifications, feel free to write to us at support@zohobooks.com, we'd be happy to help!

Best regards,
The Zoho Books Team


    • Recent Topics

    • Zoho Analytics Regex Support

      When can we expect full regex support in Zoho Analytics SQL such as REGEXP_REPLACE? Sometimes I need to clean the data and using regex functions is the easiest way to achieve this.

    • Automatically CC an address using Zoho CRM Email Templates

      Hi all - have searched but can't see a definitive answer. We have built multiple email templates in CRM. Every time we send this we want it to CC a particular address (the same address for every email sent) so that it populates the reply back into our

    • Solution to Import PST File into Office 365.

      MailsDaddy OST to Office 365 Migration Tool is an outstanding solution to recover OST files and migrate them into Office 365 without any hassle. Using this software users can multiple OST files into Office 365 with complete data security. It offers users

    • Series Label in the Legend

      My legend reads 'Series 1' and 'Series 2'. From everything I read online, Zoho is supposed to change the data names if it's formatted correctly. I have the proper labels on the top of the columns and the right range selected. I assume it's something in

    • Associate emails from both primary and secondary contacts to deal

      We need to associate emails from multiple contacts to a deal. Please advise how this can be achieved. At present, only emails from primary contacts can be associated. Thanks

    • New integration: Zoho Sign for Zoho Projects

      Hey there! We’re excited to announce the brand-new Zoho Sign integration for Zoho Projects! With this integration, users can now send documents for signatures, track their progress, and manage approvals—all without leaving Zoho Projects. This bridges

    • Update to attachment display in ticket threads

      This enhancement will provide faster access for support teams and end-users, significantly boosting productivity for everyone. Get ready for a more efficient and satisfying experience! Immediate benefits Faster ticket rendering reduces wait times and

    • Narrative 15: Blueprint - Automate, guide, and transform your support processes

      Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 15: Blueprint - Automate, guide, and transform your support processes Even organizations that deliver quality products and services can face low customer satisfaction when their

    • Different MRP / Pricing for same product but different batches

      We often face the following situations where MRP of a particular product changes on every purchase and hence we have to charge the customer accordingly. This can't be solved by Batch tracking as of now so far as I understand Zoho. How do you manage it as of now? 

    • Batch/lot # and Storage bin location

      Hi I want to ask for a feature on Zoho inventory I own a warehouse and I've gone through different management software solutions with no luck until I found Zoho, it has been a game changer for my business with up to the minute information, I'm extremely happy with it. It's almost perfect. And I say Almost because the only thing missing for me (and I'm sure I'm not alone) is the need of being able to identify the lot number of my inventory and where it is located in the warehouse. Due to the nature

    • ZOHO BOOKS - RECEIVING MORE ITEMS THAN ORDERED

      Hello, When trying to enter a vendor's bill that contains items with bigger quantity than ordered in the PO (it happens quite often) - The system would not let us save the bill and show this error: "Quantity recorded cannot be more than quantity ordered." 

    • 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

    • Sync desktop folders instantly with WorkDrive TrueSync (Beta)

      Keeping your important files backed up and accessible has never been easier! With WorkDrive desktop app (TrueSync), you can now automatically sync specific desktop folders to WorkDrive Web, ensuring seamless, real-time updates across devices. Important:

    • Latest update caused issue in using marathi typingzoho

      With latest update now marathi typing does Not work in zohonotebook. I preferred zoho over other because it was supporting marathi font without any distortion.. But after new update,keyborad simply does not work

    • Writer update results in BitDefender blocking it as malware

      After updating Writer to latest update, Bitdefender blocked the app and writer no longer runs.

    • Zoho Books - New Interface keep details with PDF View

      Hello, The Zoho Books Interface has changed for estimates etc... One thing is causing issues though. Before the change, in PDF view you could see the detail information including custom fields entered for the estimate. Now, you have to switch between

    • Zoho One Unified Portal - Applications

      Hello, It is great to see the work on the New Unified Customer Portal. Thanks for that. The number of applications is limited though. It is now only around the Zoho Books ecosystem (Books, Expense...) and Zoho Social. = Are other applications planned

    • Refresh frequency

      Dear Zoho Team, I really, truly appreciate that Zoho Books gets frequent updates. As a matter of fact this is how a good SaaS company should stay on top. However, I feel that I have to hit refresh almost every day. This was exciting at the beginning but

    • Refund

      My plan expired today, and I updated my payment details with a new credit card. At the same time, I wanted to downgrade, but the system wouldn’t allow the downgrade until the payment details were updated. As a result, I was charged for the same plan before

    • Add "Fetch Composite Item" Action for Inventory

      I want to make a Flow that uses information returned in the GET call for Composite Items, and it's not currently available in Zoho Flow. Please consider adding this functionality.

    • Calling Function via REST API with API Key gives 401 using Zoho Developer

      Hi, I created a couple of functions using the one month trial of Enterprise edition, which I was able to call using the API Key method from Postman and from an external site. Now that my trial has expired, I have created the same functions in the Developer

    • Error due to - 'Internal Exception' when uploading Sign-generated PDF file to workdrive via Deluge in Zoho CRM

      Hi I wasnt getting this error a few days ago and my code had not changed, so I'm wondering if there's a Zoho bug somewhere? I am downloading a PDF file from a Zoho Sign url using invokeurl and then uploading it to a Workdrive folder using zoho.workdrive.uploadFile.

    • Embed CRM record images in email templates

      I have email templates that I want to embed dynamic images in their body - not as an attachment. For the context, the image is a QR code individual to each contact. So there are couple of challenges for which I think there is no solution in CRM: 1/ I

    • Assign multiple departments to multiple helpcenters

      Hi there! I have a reseller company for a software and I'm using Zoho Desk as my helpcenter and ticket management system. The software is great and I would like to make a suggestion! With multi-branding activated, your departments that visible in help

    • Zoho Desk Training

      Hello, We've had Zoho desk for a while now, but we run into issues occasionally, and I was wondering if there was a customer who currently uses it and really enjoys the functionality, that would be wiling to chat with us?

    • Advanced Customization of the Help Center using JavaScript

      Hello everyone, The Help Center in Zoho Desk can be customized by using HTML and CSS to provide structure and enhance the page's appearance—but what if you want to add interactive and dynamic elements? You can add these effects with JavaScript, a programming

    • Exciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!

      Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerful

    • 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!

    • PO Based Advance payment to Vendor

      We recommend to introduce a provision at PO to make advance payment to vendors and auto apply that advance paid later at the time of Vendor Bill submission for that PO. This will help us track PO-wise Total Payments.

    • Converting Customer Invoice to Purchase Bill

      Hi, In my service-based business, I sometimes create the customer invoice first, and later I receive the purchase bill from the vendor for the same job. Is there any option in Zoho Books to: Convert a customer invoice into a purchase bill, or Link/associate

    • Getting Project Template List using the REST API

      I am trying to confirm that I can use the REST API to create a project using a project template. The API documentation indicates this is possible by providing the Template ID, but it is not clear at all how to get a list of available Project Templates

    • How to get Quickbooks Desktop Info into Zoho?

      Our team has used Quickbooks desktop for years and is looking at switching to Zoho books in 2026. I want to bring all old sales history over since we use Zoho CRM. I can export Item sales history and generic sales orders from Quickbooks desktop. How do

    • ZeptoMail API Request

      We tried to send mail using ZeptoMail using Django. Following is my payload {'from': {'address': 'abc@abc.com'}, 'to': [{'email_address': {'address': 'xyz@xyz.in', 'name': 'Bhavik'}}], 'subject': 'Report Name', 'htmlbody': '<p>Test</p>'} Following is

    • Zoho Inventory - Allow Update of Marketplace Generated Sales Orders via API

      Hi Inventory Team, I was recently asked by a client to create an automation which updated a Zoho Inventory Sales Order if a Shopify Order was updated. I have created the script but I found that the request is blocked as the Sales Order was generated by

    • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

      Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?

    • Mass import of documents into Zoho Writer

      I'm using Google's word processor at the moment but feel that Zoho does a better job (on the online apps market). Iwant to move my documents (about 50-70) to Zoho but it seems to me that I have to import them seperately. Is it already possible to upload several documents at a time or is this a forthcoming feature? Cheers Rolli :?:

    • How we cut CRM updates from ~20 minutes down to 2, our real workflow

      Updating the Zoho CRM after every call used to be one of the biggest time sucks for our team. By the time you write your notes, clean them up, fill in the fields, and log everything properly… you’ve easily lost 15–20 minutes per call. We started experimenting

    • Add home page or dashboard in CRM customer portal

      is it possible to add home page or dashboard in CRM customer portal?

    • User Tips: How to change the the label display name of a system defined field

      Most users know how to change field label names via Settings > Modules & Fields but if you want to change the name of a system defined field you can’t as there is no “edit properties” option.  However with a simple hack you can edit any system defined

    • Search not working!

      I have items in my notebook tagged but when I search for a tag nothing comes up! Any fix for this?

    • Next Page