How to maintain steady cash flow during the COVID-19 crisis using Zoho Invoice

How to maintain steady cash flow during the COVID-19 crisis using Zoho Invoice

Dear customers,

I hope this finds you and your loved ones in good health.

As we are witnessing, the COVID-19 pandemic has started taking a toll on businesses of all types. Here are some useful tips that could help you streamline your invoicing and AR processes to keep your business healthy.

1. Communicate clearly with your customers:
During this period, transparent communication with customers is a necessity. A lot of businesses have started displaying messages on their home pages, explaining their BCP (Business Continuity Process) and other important announcements they want to convey to their customers.

As an additional means of communication, you can use the banner message in the customer portal of Zoho Invoice. The banner message is visible in the home page of the portal, so it can help get the customer's attention quickly. You can set up this message under Settings > Preferences > Portal.

2. Relax the deadlines for estimates and invoices:
Your customers' priority at this moment will be keeping their family and loved ones safe, which might mean your estimates get accepted a little later than usual. Same goes for your invoice payments. Instead of bombarding the customer with multiple reminder emails, you can relax your policy and push back the expiration dates and due dates of your estimates and invoices. 

To push back the dates on individual transactions, you can simply edit and make the changes. However, you can also perform this action in bulk (for up to 25 transactions in one go). Here's a screenshot that explains the steps:



You can follow the same steps in the Estimates section to update expiration dates in bulk.

 3. Be approachable:
As a standard business practice, you might have set up automatic payment reminders in Zoho Invoice to go out on specific days before or after the invoice due date. However, given the current circumstances, you can definitely expect delays in payment.

Since you have control over the content that goes out in these reminder emails, think about rephrasing it to let your customers know that if they need any assistance, they can reach out to you by phone or email. This way, your finance team doesn't have to wait and wonder whether the customer will make their payment or not, or spend time sending extra emails. You can tweak your reminder email content under Settings > Reminders.

By making it easy for your customers to approach you and treating them on a case-by-case basis, you can actually bring down the number of unpaid transactions.

Let's say you have done this and have clearly stated how your customers can contact you. Now, what responses can you expect from them?
a) "I might not be able to pay the full invoice amount on time."
b) "I might not be able to pay the full invoice amount at all."
c) 'If you can offer me a discount, I can pay now."

Tips 4, 5, and 6 can help you handle these cases efficiently.

4. Enable partial payments for invoices:
Rather than waiting for your customers to be able to make a full invoice payment, you can encourage them to make partial payments for invoices so that you can have a steady cash flow. If you are collecting payments online, you can enable this option while creating or editing an invoice.



If you collect payments offline, you can convey this information through the 'Terms and Conditions' field on the invoice.

5. Offer discounts:
By offering discounts on your outstanding invoices, you are proving that you care about your customers enough to give them a bit of a break. If you don't see the option to apply discounts to existing invoices, please enable it under Settings > Preferences > General.

6. Write off invoices in special cases:
If you've extended the deadline for a payment, but your customer has really run out of funds and won't be able to make the payment any time soon, you can waive the invoice so you can move ahead with your accounting. 



Since written-off invoices turn into bad debt, use the Bad Debt report in the Reports section of Zoho Invoice to make sure you're not accumulating too much. 

7. Increase the credit limit for loyal customers:
If a customer has been with you for a long time and is sticking with you during this period, an increased credit limit is a good way to thank them for their business. By increasing their credit limit, you are letting them know that you continue to want their business. The option to set a credit limit is available when you create or edit a customer profile.

Though some of these tips might have a negative effect on your finances temporarily, they can gain you long-term benefits like customer loyalty and customer retention, which will help your business recover more easily. 

Did you find these tips useful? Can you think of some other best practices that businesses can use to get through difficult times? Let us know in the comments. 

Note from Zoho: If you need any assistance regarding Zoho Invoice, our support team is available 24 hours a day, Monday-Friday. You can also reach out to us through email (support@zohoinvoice.com), live chat, or phone.

Because Zoho recognizes that our own customers may be facing difficult times right now, we have rolled out an Emergency Subscription Assistance Program (ESAP) to help small businesses through this crisis. Learn more about this program.

Take care and stay safe! We'll get through this storm together.

Regards,
Harikrishna
Customer Relations | Zoho Finance


    • Sticky Posts

    • Zoho Finance Workshop 2023 is coming to the USA. Get exclusive training on Zoho Finance apps, one-on-ones, and more.

      Hello all, We'd like to invite you to our biggest Zoho Finance workshop in the United States. After a brief break, we are excited to be back. This year, we're bringing together our customers and community members for two days of curated hands-on sessions,

    • How to maintain steady cash flow during the COVID-19 crisis using Zoho Invoice

      Dear customers, I hope this finds you and your loved ones in good health. As we are witnessing, the COVID-19 pandemic has started taking a toll on businesses of all types. Here are some useful tips that could help you streamline your invoicing and AR processes to keep your business healthy. 1. Communicate clearly with your customers: During this period, transparent communication with customers is a necessity. A lot of businesses have started displaying messages on their home pages, explaining their

    • Introducing: Digital signature for estimates and invoices

      Dear customers, We are pleased to announce that the much awaited Zoho Invoice - Zoho Sign integration is live! You can now sign your estimates and invoices before emailing it to your customers. Also, you can have them sign your estimates while accepting it. Here is our help document to help you get started: https://www.zoho.com/invoice/help/integrations/sign-integration.html Note: This feature is available across all editions of Zoho Invoice except the Indian edition. Out of all the feature requests

    • Webinar: Introduction to the Client Portal

      Business owners know there is never enough time in the day. Not only do you have to beat the competition and make the sale, you then have to make sure you get paid. In fact, the sales process starts way before the sale, and never really ends. Preparing and getting estimates approved, collecting payments, and fielding customer requests for information related to past transactions are all part of the day in the life of a business owner. Well, Zoho Invoice can offer some relief to weary business owners.

    • Recent Topics

    • Performance Appraisal Probation Period

      Hello All,  Is there any possible way to create an appraisal cycle for new staff members, at the end of probation period? Many thanks!

    • Zoho Creatorの一括操作における処理の同期/非同期について

      現在、Creatorのレポート機能を利用して、複数のレコードに対して一括で処理を実行しようとしていますが、処理の実行順序について確認したいことがあります。 レポート内の複数レコードに一括で処理を実行した際、処理は同期的に行われるのでしょうか？それとも非同期的に行われるのでしょうか？ 【同期処理の場合】 レコード①に対する処理が開始され、終了後にレコード②に対する処理が開始され、最後にレコード③に対する処理が実行されるように、処理が順番に行われる場合。 【非同期処理の場合】 レコード①、レコード②、レコード③の処理が一斉に開始され、それぞれ並行して処理が行われ、全処理が終了する場合。

    • Adding Chargebee as a Data Connector

      Is it possible to get Chargebee added as a Zoho Analytics data connector?

    • Delete commerce website

      I need to delete a commerce website, but the only option is to click on settings, REQUEST DELETE, choose an urgency notice, add a message....AND THEN nothing, no way to send the request. Why is nothing simple!?!?!  I just want to delete the store.  The

    • Adding external users to Zoho Social under Zoho ONE licence - how to best achieve this

      My client has a small business, and we are looking to implementing Zoho ONE with a single flexible user licence as that is all they really need and offers the best pricing for the range of modules we eventually wish to set them up with, one of which will

    • Has anyone built a custom AI support agent inside Zoho (SalesIQ/Zobot)?

      Hi all, I’ve been experimenting with building my own AI support assistant and wanted to see if anyone here has tackled something similar within Zoho. Right now, I’ve set up a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline outside of Zoho using FAISS. It

    • This mobile number has been marked spam. Please contact support.

      Problem Description: One of our sales agents in our organization is unable to sign in to Zoho Mail. When attempting to log in, the following message appears: This mobile number has been marked as spam. Please contact support at as@zohocorp.com @zohocorp

    • Zoho Books - Hide Convert to Sales Order if it can't be used.

      Hi Books team, I noticed that it is not possible to convert a Quote to a Sales Order when a Quote is not yet marked as accepted. My idea is to not show the Convert to Sales Order button when it is not possible to use it, or show it in a grey inactive

    • What’s New in Zoho Inventory | April 2025

      Hello users, April has been a big month in Zoho Inventory! We’ve rolled out powerful new features to help you streamline production, optimise stock management, and tailor your workflows. While several updates bring helpful enhancements, three major additions

    • Zoho Books - Quotes to Sales Order Automation

      Hi Books team, In the Quote settings there is an option to convert a Quote to an Invoice upon acceptance, but there is not feature to convert a Quote to a Sales Order (see screenshot below) For users selling products through Zoho Inventory, the workflow

    • When Zoho Tables Beta will be open to EU data center

      Hello all, We in EU are looking at you all using and testing and are getting jealous :) When we will be able to get into the beta also? We don't mind testing and playing with beta software. Thank you!

    • Pass current date to a field using Zoho Flow

      I am trying to generate an invoice automatically once somebody submits a record in Zoho CRM. I get an error in the invoice date. I have entered {{zoho.currentdate}} in the Date field. When I test the flow, I get "Zoho Books says "Invalid value passed

    • API: Mark Sales Order as Open + Custom Status

      Hi, it's possible to create Custom Status (sub-status actually) states for the Sales Order. So you have Open, Void. Then under Open you can have Open, and create one called Order Paid, Order Shipped, etc etc...which is grouped under Open. I can use the

    • Zoho Quartz Screen Recording

      Hello, can we get access to Quartz, please, as a standalone solution? It would be great for creating training videos for current and future staff on how to use Zoho software according to our company requirements. Thank you

    • Tip 26: How to hide the "Submit" button from a form

      Hi everyone, Hope you're staying safe and working from home. We are, too. By now, we at Zoho are all very much accustomed to the new normal—working remotely. Today, we're back with yet another simple but interesting tip--how to hide the Submit button from your forms. In certain scenarios, you may want to hide the submit button from a form until all the fields are filled in.  Use case In this tip, we'll show you how to hide the Submit button while the user is entering data into the form, and then

    • filter broke my data

      I uploaded a file recently from Sheets and it has top 2 rows frozen, with table headers in second row and each one is filterable. somehow my first 2 columns became unfiltered and no matter what I do I cannot reapply the filter?? also didn't realize they

    • How do I move Notes around within a Group?

      It says here: " You can now sort notes by title (alphabetically), or by date modified and date created. You can even organize your notes by dragging and dropping them into a particular order. To sort your notes, simply go to Settings and tap “Sort By.” Please note: all sort settings will be saved and synced across devices, except for custom sorting. Custom sorting will be device specific."However, I am unable to 'custom sort' in either Notebook for Mac or on the Web. In addition, I can't find the

    • Generate a link for Zoho Sign we can copy and use in a separate email

      Please consider adding functionality that would all a user to copy a reminder link so that we can include it in a personalized email instead of sending a Zoho reminder. Or, allow us to customize the reminder email. Use Case: We have clients we need to

    • Zoho Sign: need to leave document pending for up to a year, or maybe there's a better way?

      I have zoho one, maybe there's a better way to do this with another service than sending a zoho sign template from zoho crm. At the end of the day this requirement is due to regulations, no matter how dumb it may seem. I'm just looking for a way of getting

    • Separate Items & Services

      Hi, please separate items and services into different categories. Thank you

    • What's New in Zoho Inventory | Q2 2025

      Hello Customers, The second quarter have been exciting months for Zoho Inventory! We’ve introduced impactful new features and enhancements to help you manage inventory operations with even greater precision and control. While we have many more exciting

    • Mastering Zia Match Scores | Let's Talk Recruit

      Feeling overwhelmed by hundreds of resumes for every job? You’re not alone! Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit, where we break down Zoho Recruit’s features and hiring best practices into simple, actionable insights for recruiters. Imagine having an assistant

    • We are unable to process your request now. Please try again after sometime or contact support@zohoaccounts.com

      I cannot sign up and return the error of we are unable to process your request now. Please try again after sometime or contact support@zohoaccounts.com

    • Multi-currency - What's cooking ?

      Hi,       We have been doing this feature for sometime and we would like to give you some glimpses of it.  Working with Multi Currency :        Multicurrency support gives you the ability to handle business transactions in multiple currencies. You can define a base currency for your organization and add more currencies with exchange rates based on the base currency.  Setup :        From the setup page, you can manage all the currencies supported by your organization.       Currencies page        

    • Integrating Chatbot with Zoho Creator Application

      Is it possible to integrate a chatbot with a Zoho Creator application?

    • How to reduce programmatically the image uploaded by user?

      I need a function that will automatically reduce the pixel dimension to 800 x 600 pixels / 180 resolution or (approx. 1.37MB) of image uploaded by user from digital camera, for example, 2271 x 1704 pixels /180 resolution or approx. 11.1MB. After the user selected the image, the function will able to detect if pixels is above 800x600, process the photo (crop/ reduce) and resume upload. Need help...  

    • Dark mode for Zoho Creator / Zoho CRM Code editor

      Hi Team, Is there any plans for Dark mode in Zoho creator / Zoho Crm code editor and development pages in pipeline?

    • Is there a way to make a button scroll down?

      Looking to have a button on a landing page scroll down to another section on the page. Any recomendations outside of coding?

    • Collective-booking event not added to all staff calendars

      We assign two staff to certain events. When the client books this event, it adds it to one staff calendar (the 'organiser') but not the other. How can I ensure all staff assigned to a collective booking get the event in their calendar? (A side note: it

    • ZOHO Android Client

      Hi, I installed the Android app, but it had an issue, so I reinstalled it. I was able to add multiple accounts, but now when I add the next account, it just duplicates the one I already have and will not even allow me to enter the info for another account.

    • I'd like to suggest a feature enhancement for SalesIQ that would greatly improve the user experience across different channels.

      Hello Zoho Team, Current Limitation: When I enable the pre-chat form under Brands > Flow Controls to collect the visitor’s name and email, it gets applied globally across all channels, including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. This doesn't quite align

    • Enhance Barcode/QR Code scanner with bulk scanning or continuously scanning

      Dear Zoho Creator, As we all know, after each scan, the scanning frame closes. Imagine having 100 items; we would need to tap 100 times and wait roughly 1 second each time for the scanning frame to reopen on mobile web. It's not just about wasting time;

    • Non-depreciating fixed asset

      Hi! There are non-depreciable fixed assets (e.g. land). It would be very useful to be able to create a new type of fixed asset (within the fixed assets module) with a ‘No depreciation’ depreciation method. There is always the option of recording land

    • Managing Rental Sales in Zoho Inventory

      I am aware that Zoho Inventory is not yet set up to handle rental sales and invoicing. Is anyone using it for rentals anyway? I'd like to hear about how others have found work arounds to manage inventory of rental equipment, rental payments, etc. Th

    • Megamenu

      Finally! Megamenu's are now available in Zoho-Sites, after waiting for it and requesting it for years! BUT ... why am I asked to upgrade in order to use a megamenu? First: Zoho promised to always provide premium versions and options for all included Zoho-applications

    • Cannot access KB within Help Center

      Im working with my boss to customize our knowledge base, but for some reason I can see the KB tab, and see the KB categories, but I cannot access the articles within the KB. We have been troubleshooting for weeks, and we have all permissions set up, customers

    • Zoho Flow to Creator 3001 Respoonse

      I have updated my Flows with the new V2 connection to Zoho Creator, but now some Flows do not work. They take in data from a Webhook and are supposed to create a record in Creator, however creator returns a 3001 message along with a failure, but I cannot

    • File Upload to Work Drive While Adding Records in Zoho Creator Application

      Hi I am trying to set a file attachment field in zoho creator form, to enable the user to upload a scanned document from their local pc. The file should be uploaded to zoho workdrive and not to the default zoho creator storage. The file link should be

    • Why not possible to generate?

      Using this https://desk.zoho.com/DeskAPIDocument#TicketCount#TicketCount_Getticketcountbyfield on my ZML script url :"https://desk.zoho.com/api/v1/ticketsCountByFieldValues?departmentId=XXXXXXXXXXX&accountId!=XXXXXXXXX&customField1=cf_country_1:XXXXXX&field=overDue"

    • email

      Hi My crm email is not working, can you check, I have zoho one account.

    • Next Page