Composite Items & Purchase Orders

Composite Items & Purchase Orders

The Composite Item is great way to bundle different products and services into a single line and sell it as a single line item in Estimates, Sales Orders and Invoices.

However, on the other side - i,e,. Purchasing - this item creates quite a bit of a mess and is completely useless (unless I really don't understand how to use it 😉).

ISSUE #1
The composite item, could potentially, include items from different vendors. This would require creating a purchase order for each vendor with the relevant items. However, this is not possible because when placing the composite item in a purchase order - It shows the name and SKU number of the composite number which is meaningless to the vendor. 
There is a workaround to copy the description of the items - when editing the composite item -  into the composite item's description. This will list the items and their SKU numbers which you can then cut and paste into the purchase description. However, as I mentioned before, if the composite item includes items from different vendors then this method gets messy and confusing to the vendors as they will see unrelated SKU numbers next to their SKU numbers.

Let's continue to the next issue.....

ISSUE #2
Let's ignore for a second the 1st issue....
Assuming we have a composite item, containing 2 items from the same vendor. 
We place the item in a purchase order and send it to the vendor. The purchase order contains a single line item, showing the composite part number and SKU number that we created.
Now, we received 1 out of the 2 items in the composite item. When trying to process "Received Items" there is no way to update the PO because the item we received doesn't match the PO which contains only 1 composite item. 
Furthermore, imagine you sent multiple purchase orders with multiple composite items. When you start to receive the actual items - there is no way to know to which PO they belong or to in which composite item they belong.
and, since the system would not allow exceeding the ordered quantities - there is no way to receive these items.

Obviously, this issue needs to be rectified as the composite item cannot be used for Sales and Purchasing.

SUGGESTION
One way to resolve both issues is by allowing to break the composite item back into individual items when creating a purchase order. With this way, the user can delete the irrelevant items and create multiple purchase orders for multiple vendors.
When receiving items from the vendors, the user can then update the PO so it can be closed when all items have been received.

CONCLUSION
While the composite item is great for selling, it is almost useless for purchasing. 
Not sure how Zoho missed this one but it should be fixed sooner rather than later. 

Any thoughts?

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Zoho Writer - Option to Export as .zdoc format

        I've noticed that it's not possible to export a Zoho Writer Document in the .zdoc format. Isn't zdoc, Zoho Writer's own format? My use case is that I sometimes need to create quite complex documents with floating elements, which sometimes need to become

      • Is it possible for contacts to "Re-enter" a workflow in Zoho Campaign?

        We are currently working on a way to automatically add users to from one list to other lists based on specific criteria, but can't seem to find a native way of doing this so we are trying to use Workflows to do this. So, for example, if a user's status is set to "Active," then they should be added to the list "Active Users." If the same user's status is then set to "Paused," they should be added to the list "Paused Users" and removed from the list "Active Users." This works fine for the first go

      • Bulk upload images and specifications to products

        Hi, Many users have asked this over the years and I am also asking the same. Is there any way in which we can bulk upload product (variant) images and product specifications. The current way to upload/select image for every variant is too cumbersome.

      • Out of Office for Just One of My Alias Email

        Can I set up the Out of Office Reply for Just One of my Alias Email Addresses?

      • Can I map multiple Surveys into the CRM using the same fields?

        Hello, We are a healthcare practice that offers two distinct services (Nutrition and Primary Care). We use Zoho Survey for our lead generation form (Get Started Survey), which allows people to express interest in one of the two services and even allows

      • Dealing with API responses where integers have more than 16 digits

        Hi there How do I deal with an api response contaning an int or float with more than 16 digits (before any decimal places for a float). I constantly receive the response "Unable to cast the 'BigInteger' value into a 'BIGINT' value because the input is

      • To Zoho customers and partners: how do you use Linked Workspaces?

        Hello, I'm exploring how we can set up and use Linked Workspaces and would like to hear from customers and partners about your use cases and experience with them. I have a Zoho ticket open, because my workspace creation fails. In the meantime, how is

      • [Webinar] Automate sales and presales workflows with Writer

        Sales involves sharing a wide range of documents with customers across the presales, sales, and post-sales stages: NDAs, quotes, invoices, sales orders, and delivery paperwork. Generating and managing these documents manually slows down the overall sales

      • Can't change form's original name in URL

        Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new

      • Need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books

        I N=need Inactive accounts to be visible in Reports in Zoho Books to do recons of the accounts but when i see the same they are not visible in the Accountant - Account Transactions report

      • unblock e-mail

        please unblock my e-mails info@meatnews.gr and myrtokaterini@meatnews.gr

      • Add Zoho Mail for users who do not need Zoho One

        We have licenses for ZOho One for teams that need to use the suite of products that Zoho One offers.  We have 8 more people who only need email access and we would like to add just a Zoho Mail.  They do not need the Zoho One license.  We are currently

      • Zoho Projects - Q2 Updates | 2025

        Hello Users, With this year's second quarter behind us, Zoho Projects is marching towards expanding its usability with a user-centered, more collaborative, customizable, and automated attribute. But before we chart out plans for what’s next, it’s worth

      • ZML vs HTML Snippet - which is better?

        Are there certain use cases where one is better than the other?

      • Auto CheckOut Based On Shift.

        This Deluge script runs on a scheduled basis to automatically set the 'Actual_Check_Out' time for employees who haven't manually checked out. If the current time is past their scheduled 'Shift_End_Time', the script updates the check-out time to match

      • How to remove some users in zoho accounts

        How to remove some users in Zoho accounts.

      • Customizing Form Questions per Recipient Group in Zoho Campaigns/Forms

        Hello everyone, I would like to ask if it’s possible in Zoho Campaigns or Zoho Forms to send out a campaign where the form questions can be customized based on the group of recipients. Use case example: I have prepared 20 questionnaire questions. For

      • Infinite loop of account verification

        Hi I can't do anything on my zoho account.  I always get this message Hi Sheriffo Ceesay As a security measure, you need to link your phone number with this account and verify it to proceed further. When ever I supply the details, it displays that the number is associated with another account. I don't have any other account on zoho so this is really annoying. 

      • Load PO_Date field (Purchase Order) with current date in Deluge

        Hi, I'm not a full time developer, just helping to customize our CRM, in the small company I work for. There must be something wrong with me, because I can't do something so simple as complete a field with the current date in a function using Deluge.

      • Zoho CRM in Microsoft Power Automate Custom Connector

        Hi everyone, I’m building a Power Automate flow that integrates Microsoft Bookings with Zoho CRM. The goal is to automatically create a meeting (event) in Zoho CRM whenever a new appointment is booked via Microsoft Bookings. To achieve this, I created

      • Spell check sucks

        Come on guys, it's 2024 and your spell check is completely retarded. You gotta fix it.

      • How to include total km for multiple trips in expense report.

        Whenever I create a mileage report it only shows the total dollar amount to be reimbursed. The mileage for each individual trip is included but I also need to see the total distance for all trips in a report? How do I do this?

      • Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected.

        I just made payment for my Zohomail Today and have been debited so i will like to be Unblocked because this is what it says (Outgoing blocked: Unusual activity detected) Thank you i await your swift responses

      • Zoho One Login Issue - Unable to receive OTP

        Hi Support Team, I am experiencing a unique login issue with Zoho One. I am attempting to log in from India using Zoho Login credentials provided by a USA-based client. Their Zoho account is hosted on a US data center. After entering the username and

      • Question Regarding Managing Sale Items in Zoho Books

        Good day, I was wondering about something. Right now, Zoho Books doesn’t seem to have a way to flag certain items as being on sale. For example, if I want a list of specific items to be on sale from October 1 to October 12, the user would have to export

      • In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subf

        In the Zoho Creator Customer Payment form i Have customer field on select of the field Data want to fetch from the invoice from based on the customer name In the Customer Payment form i Have subform update Invoice , there i have date field,Invoice number

      • Problem of Import Client Users From CRM and or Expense

        I am premium plan user on Projects. I have about 500 customers on Expense and CRM that integrated with each other. According to at below link, I am trying to import clients from CRM, system not allowed to select any customer. If I import from Expense,

      • Unable to see free plan option

        Hello Zoho Support Team, I hope you are doing well. I am trying to sign up for Zoho Mail, but I am unable to see the option for the free plan. Could you please guide me on how I can access or activate the free plan? Thank you for your assistance.

      • unblock my zoho mail account. outlines@zoho.com

        please unblock my zoho mail account, outlines@zoho.com

      • domain not verified error

        Hi when i try to upload a video from zoho creator widget to zoho work drive iam getting domain not verified error.I don't know what to do .In zoho api console this is my home page url https://creatorapp.zoho.com/ and this is my redirect url:www.google.com.Iam

      • equest to Disassociate Bigin from Zoho One and Migrate to Standalone (Upgrade to Bigin Premier – 3 Seats, Annual)

        Dear Zoho One Support Team, I’m writing to request your assistance to disassociate (remove) the Bigin application from our Zoho One organization while preserving all existing Bigin data. After the disconnection is successfully completed, we intend to

      • SMTP email sending problem

        Hello, I've sent emails before, but you haven't responded. Please respond. My work is being disrupted. I can't send emails via SMTP. Initially, there were no problems, but now I'm constantly receiving 550 bounce errors. I can't use the service I paid

      • billing

        hi, I am being billed $12/year, and I can't remember why. My User ID is 691273115 Thanks for your help, --Kitty Pearl

      • How to add receipts

        How to add receipts

      • Unable to enable tax checkboxes

        Hi Zoho Commerce Support, I'm writing to report an issue I'm having with the tax settings in my Zoho Commerce store. I've created several tax rates under Settings > Taxes, but all of them appear with the checkbox disabled. When I try to enable a checkbox,

      • Does Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?

        Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?

      • Zoho Commerce - Enable Company Name and Tax Number collection for B2B orders in Global Edition

        Please enable Company Name and Tax Details option on checkout settings in Zoho Commerce Global Edition. It is still important to collect Company Name and Tax Number for B2B sales in many countries. My business is based in Ireland (in the EU) and I have

      • ZohoSign and ZohoBooks Integration/Workflow

        Hello All, We utilize ZohoSign for signatures on tax eFiles. We utilize Dynamic KBA. Additionally, we use ZohoBooks for invoicing for these services. Is there a way to accomplish the following: Send a copy of the Tax Return, Invoice and eFiles in one

      • Manage monthly tasks with projectsf

        Hi All I run a finance and operations team where we need both teams to complete monthly tasks to ensure we hit our deadlines. Can Zoho projects be used for this. There many finance focused tools but we have Zoho one so want to explore Thanks Will

      • Zoho Suite is very slow

        Since today Zoho is incredibly slow over all applications! What's going on?

      • Next Page