What's New - October 2024

Hello everyone,

We’re excited to announce the latest updates to Zoho Backstage, crafted to improve your event management experience and compliance! Here’s a quick overview of what’s new this month:

New feature

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - VAT (early access)

We’re introducing VAT management for events in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for Essential plan and above users.

Feature highlights

VAT is required for businesses with an annual turnover exceeding SAR 375,000. For in-person and hybrid events held in Saudi Arabia, VAT applies based on the event location. For online events, VAT applies based on the attendee's location.

Key terms

TRN (Tax Registration Number): A unique 15-digit identifier issued by ZATCA for tax purposes.
VAT Rates: Standard (15%), Zero-rated (0%), and Exempt.
Place of Supply (POS): The VAT-eligible location based on where goods or services are received.

How VAT works in Zoho Backstage

Configure Your Organization’s Location: Set the organization’s location in Portal Settings > Payments.
Tax at the Event Level: Enable tax from the Tax tab once the event location is set.
Ticket Purchase: VAT automatically applies based on the event or attendee location.

Notes

VAT can't be applied to events held outside Saudi Arabia
An event can't be published without specifying its location

Email enhancements

Badge download: The "Download Badge" button is now available in several Exhibitor emails, including:

Exhibitor Request Approved
Invite Booth Member
Booth Reassigned
Also, all Scheduled Emails

"Invite prospect to your event" email: Now listed under Automated Emails, with a toggle option to keep it active or paused. If "Take Consent from Prospects" is enabled under Data Privacy, the email will be active by default.
Email notifications for guest lists: Event organizers can now decide whether to send email notifications when adding guest lists to promotional codes. By default, emails will be sent unless turned off.

Other changes and improvements

From email updated for demo emails: Demo emails now use the primary contact’s email address as the from address by default to prevent spam filtering.
Enhanced event details in "Invite prospect to your event " email: This email now includes the event’s date, time, and location.
"Order Canceled" email: The order ID now links directly to the “Manage Order” page for easy access.
Acknowledgement of exhibitor requests: Event information now appears at the top of the email for quick reference.

These updates make Zoho Backstage more powerful and compliant. We hope you enjoy these improvements! For any questions, reach out to us at support@zohobackstage.com.

Thank you for choosing Zoho Backstage!