Zoho Books | Product Updates | November 2024

Zoho Books | Product Updates | November 2024

Hello users,

We are back with exciting new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From multi-criteria workflows to writing off customer opening balances, discover the new updates designed to make your bookkeeping swift.

Attach XRechnung to Invoices [Germany Edition]

When you create an invoice, you now have the option to attach an XRechnung compliant invoice file to the email sent to your customer. This feature ensures that your invoices meet the legal requirements for transactions with government or public organizations in Germany.



To include an attachment of XRechnung in the invoice sent to your customer, go to Sales > Invoices. Create an invoice and click Save and Send. Check the Attach XRechnung option.

Extend the Validity Period of e-Way Bills [India Edition]

E-way bills are valid only for a specific period of time. This may cause issues during unexpected circumstances such as an accident, which can delay the transportation of goods. We've introduced an option to extend the validity period of an e-way bill.

This option is only available for e-way bills that are in the Generated and Expired statuses. You can extend the validity of an e-way bill 8 hours before or 8 hours after its expiration time. 



To extend the validity period of an e-Way bill, go to e-Way Bills > Select an e-way bill and click Extend e-Way bill at the top.

Validate VAT [Germany Edition]


You can now validate the VAT Registration Number to ensure that a business associated with it is still active. This is required for applying reverse charges on Sales transactions and will also serve as a verification step for e-invoicing.

To validate a VRN, go to Settings > Taxes and Compliance > Taxes > Vat Settings. Enter the Vat Registration Number (VRN) and click Validate.

Manage your Income TDS Rates [India Edition]

With the addition of the newly-introduced  Direct Taxes tab under Settings, you can easily manage your TDS rates. Now, you can select whether to associate TDS at the line-item level or the transaction level from Income TDS Settings.  You can also view the total number of transactions associated with different modules for a TDS rate by clicking View Associated Entities. For recurring transactions, such as recurring bills and invoices, clicking on the total number of transactions will redirect you to the list page.



To manage your TDS Rates, go to Settings > Taxes and Compliance > Direct Taxes > Income TDS Rates. To see the total number of transactions linked to a TDS rate across different modules, hover over the TDS rate, click the dropdown, and select View Associated Entities.



To manage your TDS settings, go to Settings > Taxes and Compliance > Direct Taxes > Income TDS Settings.

Associate Multiple Criteria for Workflows

At times, you might need to create multiple workflow rules to complete a  task. For example, if you want to send an email alert and notify a third-party application via webhook whenever the status of a created invoice changes in Zoho Books, you would have to create multiple workflow rules for the different invoice statuses. This can be time-consuming and may exhaust the number of permitted workflow rules you can create under your organization's plan. 

Now, you can achieve the same outcome with a single workflow rule by associating multiple criteria and linking them to their appropriate actions.



Write Off Customer Opening Balance

If a customer is unlikely to pay their outstanding balance, if there are discrepancies, or if the account has remained outstanding for an extended period, you can write off the customer's opening balance. You can also cancel the write-off.



To write off customer opening balance, go to Sales > Customers. Select a customer and click View Opening Balance. Click the Menu icon and select Write Off.

Auto-Populate Customer or Vendor Details [India Edition]

Creating a customer or vendor can be time-consuming, especially when you are adding multiple entries. If this is a concern, we’ve got you covered. You can now auto-populate the contact details by entering the GSTN of the customer or vendor, which will be fetched from the GSTN portal. You can then select the address from the list of addresses associated with that GSTN. Additionally, you can edit the auto-populated details as needed.



To auto-populate contact details for your customers, go to Sales > Customers > Select a customer and click + New. Click Fetch From GSTN and enter the GSTN. Click Fetch Customer Details. Similarly, you can auto-populate contact details of your vendors.

Bulk Export Invoices as a ZIP File

Downloading invoices separately and searching for them can be a hassle, especially when you’re downloading multiple invoices. Now, you can download multiple invoices as a single ZIP file with just the click of a button. A single ZIP file is easier to manage and transfer and keeps all the documents together. 




To bulk export multiple invoices as a single ZIP file, go to Invoices > select invoices and click the ZIP icon.

Import or Export Custom Modules

We have extended the import and export option to custom modules. The import/export will occur asynchronously, with the first module being imported/exported first, followed by the second module upon the completion of the first import/export.
If your file exceeds 1,000 or your export file exceeds 25,000, the import/export will be scheduled, and a summary will be emailed to you after successful completion.



To import/export custom modules, go to Custom Modules. Select a custom module. Click the More icon and select the required option. 

Other Enhancements

  • If the number of default filters exceeds 10 or if there are any custom views for a module, a search bar will appear, allowing you to search for the desired filter.
  • We have introduced a new label, Bill Amount Without TDS in vendor payments, allowing you to view the bill amount excluding the TDS deduction and the TDS amount separately.
  • You can now enable endorsements for SEZ and overseas customers, indicating whether the supply is made with or without the payment of Integrated Tax (IGST). This feature is only supported in Spreadsheet and Standard templates, and your business must be GST-registered.
  • You can now search all fields in a custom module rather than just the primary field. Previously, we only supported lookups for the primary field of a module, but this feature has now been enhanced to support lookups for all fields in custom modules.



We hope you like the new features and enhancements in Zoho Books! Take some time to explore the latest updates. We’ll be back next month with even more updates, as we continually strive to elevate your accounting experience.

You can also visit the What's New timeline for byte-sized information about our previous feature updates and enhancements. If you need any assistance, feel free to reach out at support@zohobooks.com.

Best regards,
The Zoho Books Team


      Zoho Campaigns Resources


        • Desk Community Learning Series


        • Digest


        • Functions


        • Meetups


        • Kbase


        • Resources


        • Glossary


        • Desk Marketplace


        • MVP Corner


        • Word of the Day


        • Ask the Experts


          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

            Zoho Books Resources


              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                Zoho Projects Resources


                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                    Zoho Orchestly Resources


                      Zoho Creator Resources


                        Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                          Zoho CRM Resources

                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                            CRM Community Learning Series


                          • Tips

                            Tips

                          • Functions

                            Functions

                          • Meetups

                            Meetups

                          • Kbase

                            Kbase

                          • Resources

                            Resources

                          • Digest

                            Digest

                          • CRM Marketplace

                            CRM Marketplace

                          • MVP Corner

                            MVP Corner




                            Zoho Writer Writer

                            Get Started. Write Away!

                            Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                              Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                                ご検討中の方

                                  • Recent Topics

                                  • View Audit Trail field

                                    The Audit Trail feature is great, but its data is only available to admin users. It would be really great to have a system field "Audit trail" that we can add to the detailed view of a record. This would allow supervisors, directors and etc. to quickly track what changes have been done by whom for each record. It is a current feature from a client of mine and while it's probably possible to hard code it, since this data is already available in Zoho, I would be surprised to hear how hard it would
                                  • Recuring bills payments

                                    I've entered recuring bills that are auto drafted from my account monthly. Can I set up the recuring payment or do I continue to manually do it monthly?
                                  • Automatically assign Contact Roles to a Deal

                                    Hi guys, Is there a way to assign multiple Contact Roles to a Deal via a workflow or similar? Thanks
                                  • on submit of creator form then record is create in Zoho crm purchase module then on automatically task want to create in the crm

                                    on submit of creator form then record is create in Zoho crm purchase module then on automatically task want to create in the crm
                                  • Zoho CRM Webinar – Automate everything across Customer Journeys in CommandCenter 2.0

                                    How efficient is your current CRM automation setup? As customer journeys become more dynamic, it's common for data and actions to get scattered across teams and modules. This leads to broken processes and inconsistent customer experiences—especially across
                                  • Changing employees email address

                                    How do I change an employee's email address? I am an administrator on the account but it says that I am "not allowed" to do it?
                                  • MULTI-SELECT LOOKUP - MAIL TEMPLATE

                                    Dear all how are you? We need to insert data from MULTI-SELECT LOOKUP in a email template, but I can't do that, when I'm creating the template I can't find the field to insert it. is there any solution? PVU
                                  • Changing the owner of a call

                                    Am I correct in my conclusion that I cannot change the owner of a call in Zoho? The field does not show up in the screen, nor can I make it show up as the systems does not give me that option. I cannot "mass update" it either. I tried it, but Zoho refuses to change the name of the owner. Please help out: how do I change the owner of a call.
                                  • Global Fields

                                    Just like Global Sets for Picklists, we would like to have global fields for any kind of field. Three things that should be saved globally: 1. The Existence of the field 2. The Name and 3. Association with a module should be set up in a respective place
                                  • Introducing Screen Share with Audio

                                    Share your entire screen or just the chrome tab with audio for more engaging presentations. Your audience will hear sound just like you do, whether it's a video, demo or any other content. This is ideal for training sessions, team meetings, and client
                                  • Need Help Preventing Overselling in Zoho Inventory

                                    Hi fellow Zoho Inventory users, I'm reaching out for advice on managing inventory control in our growing business. We've recently encountered situations where sales orders get confirmed despite insufficient stock, creating operational challenges. Our
                                  • Tip #53: Populate and search values from tables using Table Lookup

                                    Qntrl supports tables to store organization-related data and access it easily. Data stored here can be populated and displayed in orchestration using Table Lookups. This helps organizations list sizeable data in dropdown or multiselect dropdown fields
                                  • Introducing more AES digital signature options in Zoho Sign

                                    Greetings! Zoho Sign has continually strived to partner with trust service providers across the globe to give you complete security and confidence, so you can e-sign documents no matter where you are. We've recently partnered with IgniSign, a trust service
                                  • Shuffling between one note to the next

                                    I usually start all my notes per interaction with a contact with the date and then a little detail. But when I search for it it only see a small portion of the note and can't immediately tell which contact its associated with. can we make the note content
                                  • Important Update: TRAI Mandates New SMS Header Format

                                    Hello everyone, We have an announcement regarding a new regulation by the Telephone Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that affects all application-to-person (A2P) SMS services. Starting on May 6, 2025, TRAI has mandated that telecom service providers
                                  • Preview generation in progress for days

                                    I uploaded a video file to Zoho webinar. The file has been showing Preview generation in progress for days. Pls help, why is not approved?
                                  • Workdrive Upload Notification

                                    Is there a way to be notified when someone externally has uploaded files to a folder? The "Unread" tab is really worthless because it shows all files from every directory on the system. I just need an email (or bell at worst) that says "someone has uploaded into <foldername>".
                                  • Workflow for "Expenses" module?

                                    Hi there, over the last 2 years, Zoho Expense has seen tremendous growth and we are happy with it. But, sometimes it is frustrating to see things are being implemented halfheartedly, or so it seems. For example, There is the possibility to create workflows
                                  • Markup instead of discount??

                                    Is it possible to have the discount field on an invoice or estimate be a markup instead? It's the very same functionality that I am looking for - to be able to markup an individual item by either a $ or a % and have that cost added (instead of subtracted) to the item cost.  Currently, I use the tax feature to accomplish this, but it's very awkward to have "Markup 15%" listed after the subtotal. Plus, if I want to markup items at different rates, I end up with several "markup" lines in the totals
                                  • Allow Mapping of Zoho Desk Knowledge Base Categories to Multiple Departments in Zoho SalesIQ

                                    Hello Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Zoho SalesIQ integration with Zoho Desk, specifically regarding the way Knowledge Base (KB) articles are mapped and displayed across departments. Current Limitation
                                  • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.27.4.0)

                                    Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with exciting new features to elevate your communication and enhance productivity. Let’s dive into what’s new! Smart Sign-in. You can now sign in to Trident with Smart Sign-in. With this new addition, you can
                                  • Inactive Items - Make Less Prominent by Default

                                    Currently, when one marks an Item as "Inactive", it really doesn't do much of anything to hide it or get it out of the way. Search and reporting within Finance should, by default, hide inactive Items from standard reports, searches, etc. If one specifically
                                  • Add Lookup Field in Tasks Module

                                    Hello, I have a need to add a Lookup field in addition to the ones that are already there in the Tasks module. I've seen this thread and so understand that the reason lookup fields may not be part of it is that there are already links to the tables (
                                  • Time Entry : Auto fill fields Hours minutes seconds

                                    Hello world, Do someone know a script (for workflow rules) which fill automatically fields hours spent, minutes spent, seconds spent when we fill Executed time and End time Formula should start from (End time - Executed time) Thx in advance
                                  • Zoho Forms - edit the settings of the Zoho CRM field to change the integration with CRM

                                    I've created a Zoho CRM field in my form to pre-populate selected CRM details into the form, following the instructions here https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/integrations/zoho/zoho-forms/articles/zoho-forms-crm-integration#Step_2_-_Add_Zoho_CRM_Field_in_the_form
                                  • Ability to add notes to an appointment and add notes/attach docs to a consultation

                                    As an idea for the future, it would be helpful to be able to add notes to an existing appointment--there is a place to add notes for the customer, but I don't see one for the appointment. It would also be helpful to be able to add notes or attach documents
                                  • Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension

                                    Im trying to white list domain dynamically in zoho desk extension. But it show error Error: {errMsg: 'No entry found in plugin-manifest whiteListedDomains for requested URL'} syntax "config": [ { "displayName":"Shopify Admin API access token ", "name":
                                  • Zoho Payroll: Product Updates for India - May 2025

                                    This May, we are glad to unveil new capabilities in Zoho Payroll that simplify your payroll activities. Here's the list: Let Employees Choose Their Tax Deduction Method for One-Time Payments Calculate variable earnings based on percentage of CTC Carry
                                  • Bulk Update Tasks/Task Lists/Milestones

                                    Is there a way to bulk update tasks/task lists/milestones? We have several projects that are in the same template, and our staff complete them tasks at a time - and would like to go in an bulk update all related tasks/task lists/milestones at once. But you can't do this. I remember in an old version you could export your tasks, update the excel doc and reimport. But it doesn't seem like that option is available anymore. Can someone provide a solution/idea? Otherwise we are spending a lot of time
                                  • Sync failed: Invalid Date value

                                    Hi, I have a local .sqlite database. After importing one table through the Databridge, and produced my dashboards, I cannot sync. I get an error regarding the date column: [Line: 2 Field: 4] (2018-07-12) -ERROR: Invalid Date value The data found at the
                                  • Office 365 is marking us as "bulk"

                                    All of a sudden (like a couple of days ago) all of our customers who are on Office 365 are getting our mails in their junk email. This is not the case with Gmail or other random mail servers, nor between us. We got a 10/10 score on mail-tester.com. Also,
                                  • Zoho Assist

                                    Hi, We are using zoho assist unattended access in some windows server 2012 and recently the agent lets you connect but not let you do anything on the remote machine. Sometimes you can click on something but nothing happens. There's a issue with this new
                                  • Modify workflow from "ON CREATE & EDIT" to "ON CREATE" only

                                    Salut, Is there a way to easilly change my choice of trigger of workflow from on create & edit to on create only, or do I have to re-do the whole worklow from scratch ? Sylvain
                                  • Access custom modules via API?

                                    Is it possible to access a custom module in Zoho Inventory via the API? I can not find any reference to this in the API docs.
                                  • Welcome to the Zoho Service Plus community

                                    Hey everyone, We are excited to welcome you to be a part of the Zoho Service Plus community. Here's a quick overview of what Service Plus is all about and how the community can help us work together. What's Zoho Service Plus? Zoho Service Plus is a unified
                                  • Restrict Zoho Cliq Webinars and Announcements to Admins Only

                                    Hi Zoho Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to raise a feature request regarding in-app announcements in Zoho Cliq, such as the recent webinar popup about the Cliq Developer Platform: While these announcements are useful, they are not always
                                  • Track ZohoForm Conversion using Postmessage event

                                    Hi, I’ve been using a third-party lead tracking tool to capture leads from my website along with their source. Earlier, with the HubSpot form, the third-party script was able to detect the postMessage event that iframe forms typically send back to the
                                  • Share Notebook with group created in Zoho One

                                    I have created a group in Zoho One for a section in my company. Is it possible to share a notebook with that Zoho One Group? Currently, it seems only possible to share to emails. Unfortunately for large teams, this will mean we are constantly having to
                                  • Create Tasks in arbitrary Zoho Project triggered from CRM [Zoho Flow]

                                    Community, hello What I'm trying to do is to create a Zoho Project when a Deal is created in CRM and then to be able to add tasks to this Project also from Zoho CRM with the trigger (Blueprint/ Workflow). I succeeded in creating Project using Zoho Flow,
                                  • Outlook Add-in security times out needs to login 10 times a day

                                    hi we've just switched the Zoho. We use Azure SSO. All users have stopped using it. Sometimes it asks every 5 minutes. What should I lot at to solve this?
                                  • Next Page