Book project costs to tasks

Book project costs to tasks

Hi all,

New to zoho but far from new to this sort of platform.

I've been scouring the web for a suitable platform for my growing business. I'm currently using Xero and WorkFlow Max but it lacks a key need. I signed up to zoho projects and books to test drive it and it seems that zoho is also lacking this key need!

In my experience in project orientated organisations the best workflow for project cost tracking is to create a list of tasks that people book their time to - zoho and workflow max do this as you would expect.

The thing they're both lacking is the ability to align costs with the tasks! for example a task such as 'Brickwork'. If I order 10 thousand bricks and raise a purchase order on the job, I should be able to raise it against a specific task, to track costs accurately.

I've worked for a few high profile organisations and they have all operated in the same way. The workflow is just sensible. As a project team member, I put in a request for a PO with the 'powers that be/finance team' (via line manager approval) the request includes the project name/number and also includes the subtask I would like the purchase order raising against.

Surely this is just basic? Rather than just racking up costs at the top level then trying to decipher what cost relates to what in a spreadsheet. This also applies to staff expenses!!

anybody have this issue, found a workaround or found project and business management software that accommodates this?

    • Sticky Posts

    • Four types of task dependencies

      "Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."                                                                                                                  - Henry Ford Projects, small or large, are driven by simple work units called tasks. Monitoring standalone tasks might look simple but as the workflow becomes elaborate, tasks may start relying on one another. In project management, this relationship between tasks is termed as "Task Dependencies". Dependency between tasks arise
    • Tip: How to print the Gantt View

      Though we move from the traditional project management system (using papers) to an online project management system, we still prefer to have a printed copy of the activities/tasks that are to be done in the project. This way, we can carry the to-do lists with us for the meetings and refer when we are offline. The print option, available at the right side of the page, allows the users to print the project information across all the modules. However, this option failed to print all the tasks & milestones
    • Task and Project numbering

      Zoho Projects now generates a unique number for each project, task, and issue added. The auto-generated ID is a combination of a prefix and a number which is assigned by Zoho Projects. The unique IDs for projects, tasks, and issues will be useful to track, identify, and search easily. You can modify the settings to enable or disable the Project and Task IDs.  Learn more on how to modify Prefix & ID settings for projects and tasks. Issue IDs cannot be disabled, only its prefix can be changed (tasks
    • Task Inline Editing Enhancement

      Hi All, Today, we have made an enhancement in task inline editing. In 4.0, task edit is moved in a single screen in a pop-up. We designed this in-order to make the task edit across the product to be the same. Let it be in Feeds, Tasks & My Tasks tab, Calendar & My Calendar tab, a click on the task title will open the popup and user can edit the values. Customers pointed us the inline editing was very useful to them & how much they miss that in 4.0. Based on the feedback, we have rolled out this enhancement.
    • Blueprint in Zoho Projects

      Often, we stumble upon tasks having the same status workflow. Repetitive task processes are tedious to handle, right? That’s why we have introduced Blueprint for task automation. Blueprint is a tool to organize tasks and automate them based on the workflow you design and the criteria you define.    How do I associate tasks with a blueprint? You can set the criteria while creating the blueprint such that when you publish a blueprint, the tasks that satisfy the criteria will be associated with the

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Zero Customer Support

        I have been a paying customer on Zoho Mail Premium, which clearly advertises a 40MB attachment limit. However, for a long time now, I have been experiencing ongoing issues sending PDF attachments over 10MB. Instead of sending properly as attachments,
      • Unable to send message;Reason:554 5.1.8

        Dear Zoho Support Team, I have attempted to send multiple documents in several different ZIP files containing PDF and Word documents. Initially, I received the following notification: “When Office 365 tried to send your message, the receiving email server
      • SOLVED - Unsubscribe Feedback Page inexplicably presenting in French, German, etc. not default language of English

        As the titles says, had the "Unsubscribe Feedback Page" for two different clients presenting the feedback options to unsubscribers in French, German, etc., not in English like it should. And no, it wasn't due to user preferences, embedded web translators,
      • Identify and clean hard bounce lists in Automation 2.0

        Hello. 1. I want to know how I can identify hard bounces in the lists I created to clean them before sending an email, given that the bounce rate has increased and it is necessary to clean the lists. 2. How can I exclude hard bounces and invalid emails
      • Catalyst DB is insufficient for many use cases

        Hi all: I've been diving deep on full stack application development inside Zoho Catalyst. I've been using catalyst for serverless compute and API gateway for a few years, but I haven't used the DB beyond simple storing of app data. As I was working through
      • Edit a previous reconciliation

        I realized that during my March bank reconciliation, I chose the wrong check to reconcile (they were for the same amount on the same date, I just chose the wrong check to reconcile). So now, the incorrect check is showing as un-reconciled. Is there any way I can edit a previous reconciliation (this is 7 months ago) so I can adjust the check that was reconciled? The amounts are exactly the same and it won't change my ending balance.
      • How to change column headings in pivot table?

        Hi, Is there a way to rename the column headers of a pivot table? Now some the columns are named with value labels: 'SUM of .....'. We would like to rename those headers. As of now we couldn't find any direct solution to adjust the headers, besides copying and reformat. We want to avoid these extra steps. Best, Tiemen
      • Native QuickBooks integration for Zoho CRM: Connecting sales and finance

        Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're excited to announce Zoho CRM's integration with QuickBooks Web, which is designed to synchronize your CRM data with your QuickBooks accounting records and bridge the gap between sales and finance. This
      • Rename system-defined labels in Zoho CRM

        Renaming system-defined labels is now available across all DCs. Hello everyone, Zoho CRM includes predefined system fields across modules to support essential CRM operations. Until now, the labels of these fields were fixed and could not be edited from
      • Report/All Entries Filter Contains to support multiple values

        Hi, I use different fields to filter All Entries before Export, one is the Added Email ID (May soon replace with the new Logged in User Name Field!!), and I want to filter for more than one person, so select "Contains", but I try with a comma seperating
      • Marketing Tip #32: Improve SEO and customer confidence with an FAQ section

        Before making a purchase, customers often have simple questions about delivery times, returns, product usage, or sizing. If they can’t quickly find answers, they may leave your store without buying. Adding a clear FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section
      • Zobot with Plugs

        Hello, I am having a problem with Zobot using Plugs. Here is my current flow: When I run the flow, I should immediately see the messages from the initial cards (Send Message cards), then after running the plug, and finally, see the messages after the
      • Zoho Creator é para você? Saiba quando escolher (e quando não escolher) essa plataforma

        Todo mês alguém me pergunta: "Leandro, vale a pena usar o Zoho Creator para o meu projeto?" A resposta honesta é: depende. E neste artigo vou te dar os critérios reais que uso para tomar essa decisão — sem marketing, sem generalização. O que é Zoho Creator,
      • Control Fields on Mobile App

        On the mobile app, how do we control which fields appear on the screen for records that have a related list? In the example below I want the Inspection Stage and Inspection Type fields to appear, not the record owner (Dev Admin). I changed the Inspections
      • Show Zoho Marketing Automation Messages in SalesIQ Chat

        When the same number is used in Zoho Marketing Automation and SalesIQ, campaign messages should be visible inside the SalesIQ chat. Currently, when customers reply to marketing campaign messages, SalesIQ chat owners get confused because they cannot see
      • Switch between multiple LLMs instantly for tailored Zia experiences

        Availability Editions: Professional , Enterprise, Ultimate , CRMPlus , ZohoOne Release Plan: Available for all DCs Hello everyone. Earlier, the Multi-LLM feature supported only one LLM at a time for Zia Record Assistant bot restricting flexibility from
      • Lost the ability to sort by ticket owner

        Hi all, in the last week or so, we have lost the ability to sort tickets by Ticket Owner. Unlike the other columns which we can hover over and click on to sort, Ticket Owner is no longer clickable. Is it just us, or are other customers seeing this too?
      • SalesIQ Chat Owner to CRM Lead Owner Mapping

        There is no proper mapping between the SalesIQ chat owner and the CRM lead owner. When a chat is assigned to an agent, the lead created in CRM is often assigned to a different user, forcing admins to manually change ownership every time. This creates
      • Automatic Email Alerts for Errors in Zoho Creator Logs

        Hello, We would like to request a feature enhancement in Zoho Creator regarding error notifications. Currently, Zoho Creator allows users to view logs and errors for each application by navigating to Zoho Creator > Operations > Logs. However, there is
      • [Webinar] Agentic AI and its influence on analytics and autonomous decision-making

        Analytics is evolving from passive reporting to proactive, intelligent systems. Agentic AI is at the center of this shift, bringing context-aware reasoning, continuous learning, and the ability to act on data in real time. Join this webinar with Michael
      • Zoho One: books and inventory working together

        Hi, I was very pleased when I saw that in Zoho Inventory can now pull the orders from Woocommerce. They are now fed in Inventory as Sales order and with choosing convert invoice as Instant Invoice I am getting the exact data as they appear in Woocommerce.
      • Zoho Forms - Form Availability Redirect Option

        Hi Forms Team, It would be great if there was a redirect URL option on the Form Availability settings. For example, I would like to create a support form which is only available outside business hours and if the current data and time is not Mon-Fri 9-5
      • VAT and Taxes option not available

        Dear ZOHO Team , The VAT and Taxes options in my ZOHO books account not available,I tried to find how to enable or check the way to use this option but unfortunately couldn't find it anywhere ,I'm in UAE ,kindly let me know what to do to solve this issue
      • Syncing zoho books into zoho crm

        I was wondering how I can use zoho books in crm as I have been using them separately and would like to sync the two. Is this possible and if so, how? Thanks
      • Client requests I submit invoices using bill.com

        The title states it all. I have a reoccurring invoice setup for this client who has been manually paying by credit card. We are both experiencing merchant costs/fees. The use of bill.com's direct deposit is not far removed from Zoho's, only the client
      • Zoho Inventory Feature Roadmap Visible To All

        Hello, please consider making your feature roadmap visible to us users so that we know what to expect in future. This may appease current users who are seeking clarification on feature implementation dates, so that they can make an informed decision whether
      • Can't Remove Payment Gateway

        I am getting the error "Settings cannot be cleared as some of the transactions are still in progress." when trying to remove the PayGate payment gateway which I was unable to get working. I am now using paystack and I want to remove Paygate.
      • Improve Zoho Vault search

        Hello, we started using Zoho Vault and we really appreciate the app. At the moment, when searching passwords, the search query only targets the password name. I think having the query search among Name, User name, URL, Notes and Tag would be a better
      • New in WorkDrive: Personalize your file system with Labels

        Data is the driving force behind every decision made by businesses today. We at WorkDrive know every employee needs reliable access to their information and be able to locate the data they need at the right time.  Introducing Labels: organize your files in a way that's personal to you.  While WorkDrive's Data Templates feature focuses on adding structure to your organization's data, Labels help your team members classify files based on their preference. The Labels created will appear only to the
      • Custom Buttons & Links Now Supported in Portals

        We’ve just made portals in Zoho Recruit more powerful and customizable than ever! You can now bring the power of Custom Buttons and Links to your Candidate, Client, Vendor, and Custom Portals, enabling portal users to take direct action without recruiter
      • 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
      • Integrate your Outlook/ Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API

        Hello folks, In addition to the existing IMAP and POP options, you can now integrate your Outlook/Office 365 inbox with Zoho CRM via Graph API. Why did we add this option? Microsoft Graph API offers a single endpoint to access data from across Microsoft’s
      • Work Type Section in Field Service Settings

        Hello Team, We are trying to understand how skills are managed in the system. During our review, we found an article mentioning a section called Work Type, which is used to manage skill assignment. According to the documentation, this section should be
      • Mirror Component in Zoho CRM: Access real-time related data without leaving your record

        Hi everyone, This feature is now available for the JP, CA, SA, UAE, and AU DCs. We're excited to bring to you Zoho CRM's mirror component, which presents relevant data on a record's details page and keeps everything users need in one place without having
      • Clone a Module??

        I am giong to repurpose the Vendors module but would like to have a separate but very similar module for another group of contacts called Buyers. I have already repurposed Contacts to Sellers. Is it possible to clone (make a duplicate) module of Vendors
      • Is there lead tracking in Bigin? There should be.

        Is there a way to track leads before they are ready to be added to Pipelines? I'm afraid we're going to lose opportunities. Example: We're sending out small batches of 25 emails to those we collected at tradeshows. They are all qualified leads. Out of
      • How to get static reports via Desk API

        Hello, we are hoping to use the Desk API to automatically export the default static reports in Zoho Desk, or reconstruct them via other API calls. What's the best way to do this? For example, if I want to recreate the Response Time static report via the
      • Product updates in Zoho Workplace applications | April 2026

        Hello Workplace Community, Let’s take a look at the new features and enhancements that went live across all Workplace applications for the month of April. Zoho Mail Enhance group member exports with additional data fields Customize your group member exports
      • Billing Status Update

        Hello Latha, I’m working on a new automation (deluge) to fulfill one of our requirements. In this automation, there is a step to update the Work Order billing status from “Not Yet Invoiced” to “Non-Billable.” I tried to find the API information relevant
      • Zoho Projects Coming to CRM Teamspaces

        Availability: The US DC Standard Edition is now available. It will be rolled out to customer accounts in all DCs in phased manner. Hello all, You are probably already familiar with Teamspaces, the dedicated workspaces where teams organize the CRM modules
      • Next Page