Kaizen 206 - Answering your Questions | Displaying Related Purchase Orders from Zoho Books in CRM D

Kaizen 206 - Answering your Questions | Displaying Related Purchase Orders from Zoho Books in CRM D


Hello everyone!
We're back with another post in the Kaizen series.
We're grateful for the feedback we received from all of you!

One of the questions we received was "I would like to see the list of Purchase Orders in Zoho Books for a Deal in CRM."

We will discuss how to achieve this using the Queries feature in Zoho CRM.

Scenario

In many organizations, a single Deal in Zoho CRM may correspond to one or more Purchase Orders(POs) in Zoho Books. To get a real-time view of all POs associated with a Deal in CRM, we can leverage the Queries feature under Setup > Developer Hub > Queries, and custom related lists.

1. CRM and Zoho Books Integration

Zoho CRM and Books integration allows you to
  • View POs, invoices, and payments for deals directly in CRM
  • Synchronize financial data between CRM deals and Books POs
  • Automate the mapping of deals to POs via custom fields
To create this connection,
  1. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Connections
  2. Create a connection to Books(OAuth) with the scopes ZohoBooks.contacts.All and ZohoBooks.purchaseorders.All.

2. Prerequisites

Before creating the query and automation, you must have the following ready:
  1. Zoho Books organization ID – needed for REST API calls.
  2. Custom field in Books PO module:
    Field Name: CRM Deal ID
    Type: Single-line
    Purpose: Store the CRM deal ID that each PO relates to.
    Why do we need this custom field?
    By default, Books POs are not directly linked to CRM Deals. To bridge this gap, we create a custom single-line field(CRM Deal ID) in Books POs to store the CRM Deal’s record ID. This makes it possible to filter POs in queries(cf_crm_deal_id == {{deal_ID}}) and reliably display only the related POs in CRM.

    You can store the record ID of the deal in CRM in this field either manually or via a custom function. When you use a custom function, use the Update a Purchase Order API to update the CRM Deal ID field in Books with the record ID of the deal in CRM. You can then associate this function to a button or automation to constantly update the PO in Books every time a deal in CRM is created or updated in CRM. You can also use Zoho Flow to achieve this instead of a function.
  3. Trusted domain and source:
    1. Ensure you have added Books API domain to trusted domain for API calls.

    2. Add Zoho Books as the source of the query to get the PO details from Books. You can add the Books' organization ID as a parameter either here or while creating the query.

3. Single Deal, Multiple POs

Scenario

  • A CRM deal requires multiple POs from different vendors.
  • Each PO in Books stores the same Deal ID in the CRM Deal ID field.
  • This allows a related list in CRM to show all POs associated with the deal.

Why a Single-line Field Works?

  • Each PO references one deal.
  • Queries in CRM can filter using cf_crm_deal_id == {{deal_ID}}. cf_crm_deal_id is the API name of the custom field in PO of Books. You can find it under Setup > Purchases > Purchase Orders > {the custom field} > Edit.
  • Works reliably for related list display.

4. Creating a REST API Query in CRM

Since we will use Books API to get the list of POs, we will create a REST API type query.

  1. Go to Setup > Developer Hub > Queries > Create Query.
  2. Enter the details as shown in the following image:

  3. Choose the Books source that you added recently.
  4. Give a name for the query.
  5. The API name will be auto-populated, and the URL will be populated from the source.
  6. Enter the endpoint to access the resource from Books. In our case, purchaseorders.
  7. To filter based on the value in the CRM Deal ID field in Books, enter the parameter as cf_crm_deal_id and its value as a variable. This variable takes the Deal's record ID as the value during run time. This ensures that the query takes the deal residing in the CRM Deal ID(which is also the record ID of the deal in CRM) field in Books and filters only those POs related to this Deal.
  8. If you have not given org_id as a parameter while creating the source, include it here.
  9. Click Next. You will get a pop-up asking for the value to the variable cf_crm_deal_id. Give a value to see the query in action.
  10. The query returns the list of POs from Books that are related to this particular deal in CRM.
  11. Save the query.

5. Serializing(to return a table for the related list)

Serializer allows you to manipulate the response of the query using Javascript.
In our example, the raw response of the query will contain the POs from Books for a deal in CRM as an array with many fields.
For example, the deal with CRM record ID 3652397000017912047 has two POs in Books viz, PO-00001 and PO-00003. The raw response before serialization is as follows.


But, to associate this response with a related list, we don't need all the fields. We can use the serializer to modify this response and use only the required fields.
The following image shows the serialized response.


Click Save and configure the Schema.


Click Save to save the query.

6. Adding the Query to a Related List

Now that we have the query ready, let's associate this with a related list in the Deals module in CRM to contextually view the POs of the Deal in Books.
  1. Navigate to the Deals module in CRM.
  2. Click the three-dot icon on the right corner of the record, and click Add Related List. Alternatively, you can also click the Add Related List option on the left in the Related List pane.

  3. From the pop-up, select Queries.

  4. From the list of available queries, select the Get Purchase Orders query you created and click Associate.

  5. Give a name for the related list.
  6. Under Variable Mapping, type #(to view merge fields) to get the list of modules available. Choose Deals and the Deal Id field. This means that the record ID of the deal will be passed as the value of the cf_crm_deal_id variable at runtime. The query will then fetch the list of POs for this Deal ID from Books, and display it in this related list.

  7. Click Save and you will see the related list under the Related Lists section of the record.

  8. Reload the page to see the query in action.

Automation Options

You can automatically update the CRM Deal ID in Books POs when a deal is created or a PO is raised.

1. Using Function

  • Function triggers on deal creation or a button click in CRM.
  • Fetches the PO in Books and updates the CRM Deal ID field using the Books connection.

2. Using Zoho Flow

  • Event: Deal created or updated in CRM.
  • Action: Update the corresponding PO(s) in Books.
  • Works without writing Deluge code.
Both methods require the Books connection and organization ID.

Summary/Best Practices

  • Single Deal, Multiple POs: Use single-line CRM Deal ID field in Books.
  • Queries and serializer: Filter POs based on cf_crm_deal_id == {{deal_ID}}.
  • Automation: Use functions or Zoho Flow for real-time updates.
  • Multi-Deal, Single PO: Not supported for related lists; use custom reporting instead.

This setup ensures that sales and finance teams can see all POs for a deal directly in CRM without manual reconciliation.


We hope this post answered your question and you found this useful.
Let us know what you think in the comments or write to us at support@zohocrm.com.


Cheers!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------










    • Sticky Posts

    • Kaizen #197: Frequently Asked Questions on GraphQL APIs

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Kaizen #198: Using Client Script for Custom Validation in Blueprint

      Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – 1 More to the Big Two-Oh-Oh! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Celebrating 200 posts of Kaizen! Share your ideas for the milestone post

      Hello Developers, We launched the Kaizen series in 2019 to share helpful content to support your Zoho CRM development journey. Staying true to its spirit—Kaizen Series: Continuous Improvement for Developer Experience—we've shared everything from FAQs

    • Kaizen #193: Creating different fields in Zoho CRM through API

      🎊 Nearing 200th Kaizen Post – We want to hear from you! Do you have any questions, suggestions, or topics you would like us to cover in future posts? Your insights and suggestions help us shape future content and make this series better for everyone.

    • Client Script | Update - Introducing Commands in Client Script!

      Have you ever wished you could trigger Client Script from contexts other than just the supported pages and events? Have you ever wanted to leverage the advantage of Client Script at your finger tip? Discover the power of Client Script - Commands! Commands

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Microsoft PowerPoint files Extremely slow to save

        I and others on my team have noticed that Microsoft PowerPoint documents are extremely slow to save when using WorkDrive. It always takes over 30 seconds to save a file. Word and Excel files seem to save in a typical length of time, but PowerPoint is

      • How can users unblock their blocked Zoho Mail accounts?

        After the reason for the account block (storage exceeded, spam detection etc.) has been rectified, the user can unblock the account from the UnBlock Me page. Account support@edu2review.com  Edu2Review is an education review platform, we rate the quality

      • Adding additional fields for batch information

        Hello, I am looking at adding additional information into our inventory module. we would like to be able to see up to 8 attributes that will be individual & different for each batch (i.e. batch specific information) but currently I seem to only be able

      • Dynamic Pickup List Values using Deluge and Client Script

        I would like to dynamically show Pickup List Values For example we need to fetch some data from an on premise application and display it so they can choose and pick This can be done in Creator but I didn't find anything for CRM

      • Validation Rule for Controlled Stage Movement in Deals Module (Deluge Script)

        For keeping a control over module stage or status, you can use the below deluge script. The below deluge script defines validation control over deals module stages: // Function to validate allowed stage transitions in the Deals module map validation_rule.LeadStatustValidation1(String

      • Pick List Issues

        I have created a pick list that looks at a table in a sheet, it selects the column I want fine. Various issues have come along. The option to sort the pick list is simplistic, only allows an ascending alphabetical sort. Bad luck if you want it descending.

      • 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

      • 1099 tracking

        Do zoho books offer feature of tracking for 1099's for contractors, etc? Quick books offers this feature and wondered when/if Zoho books will do same

      • VAT-type Taxes in US Edition?

        I'm located in the US, and I use the Zoho One US edition of Books. We are in the process of registering with Canadian authorities for their GST / HST, which is a VAT-type of scheme. It is not immediately obvious to me how one would deal with input tax

      • 2 users editing the same record - loose changes

        Hello, I'm very new to Zoho so apology if this has been addressed somewhere i can't find. I have noticed the following: If we have 2 users put an inventory item in edit mode at the same time: say user1 click on edit and user2 while user1 is still in edit,

      • Schedule sms to be sent later

        When will you make available an option to send sms's at a later time??? You finaly have this option available on emails, so it will be very useful to have it also with sms. Our sms provider, has already this available but we cannot use it because you

      • Ecommerce integration with prestashop

        Development of campaigns integration with prestahop. When???

      • How to create an article containing images and rich text via the api?

        Hi, I'm trying to migrate our kb articles from our previous helpdesk service, and import them to ZohoDesk. Is there any way to create an article that contains images?  Is it possible to add formatting to articles created via the API? Thanks, Adam.

      • Number of statement execution limit exceeded on deluge scheduled function

        I'm working on a send email functionality in creator that sends out crew work orders at the end of the day each day for the next day. I'm running into the issue that zoho is unable to handle the number of statements that I am doing to be able to successfully

      • Color of Text Box Changes

        Sometimes I find the color of text boxes changed to a different color. This seems to happen when I reopen the same slide deck later. In the image that I am attaching, you see that the colors of the whole "virus," the "irology" part of "virology," and

      • Zoho SignForm In Progress But Cannot Be Completed

        If a person starts signing a document (via SignForm), but closes the window before submitting, Zoho marks the document "in progress", but how do they finish signing it?

      • How to show Assemblies AND component items in a report

        Hi Is there any way in Analytics to create a report that shows the Composite Item AND the Component Items with mapped quantity? It seems that the component item is not exposed in any table that I can find. Also, the same question but for Stock on Hand.....this

      • Mandatory Messages for Specific Members in Zoho Cliq Channels

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a feature enhancement to Zoho Cliq that would allow marking certain messages in a channel as mandatory for specific members — with built-in tracking and reminders. 🎯 Use Case:

      • Admin Access to Message Read Statistics in Zoho Cliq

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a feature enhancement that would allow admins or channel owners to view read/unread statistics for messages, even if they were not the original sender. 🎯 Use Case: Currently, in

      • Online Member Visibility in Channels (Similar to WhatsApp Group Presence)

        Hello Zoho Cliq Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to request an enhancement to Zoho Cliq’s channel experience by introducing online presence indicators for channel members — similar to how WhatsApp shows how many people in a group are currently

      • Show ticket field in Zoho Desk only if that same field is not empty (API‑created records)

        Zoho Team , We have a ticket workflow where every ticket is created via API based on dynamic logic from an external form. That form has complex logic and already decides what’s relevant to ask, and the API only populates fields in Zoho Desk based on that

      • Multiple Products on Ticket

        Good morning. We will classify all tickets based on the product. Users sometimes send different requests on the same ticket, so we are facing some challenges. Is there a way to add more than one product to the ticket, or is there a way to tie the product

      • Não recebo Email de confirmação e validação de cadastro do PagSeguro

        Olá, utilizei uma das minhas contas de email Zoho para criar um cadastro no PagSeguro, contigo o email com o link de confirmação da conta não chega no meu email Zoho (nem.ma caixa de spam, nem na lixeira, e nem em outras pastas). Outros emails do PagSeguro

      • Does Thrive work with Zoho Billing (Subscriptions)?

        I would like to use Thrive with Zoho Billing Subscriptions but don't see a way to do so. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thank you

      • accounts payable and receivable subaccounts

        How to create accounts payable and receivable subaccounts? Being that I have several clients and in my balance sheet have to specify the accounts of each client and not only appear "accounts receivable or accounts payable" ??

      • DUPLICATING WORKFLOWS IN CREATOR

        Hi all, I want to duplicate and slightly amend 3 workflows in Creator so that I don't have to keep typing in all the rules and properties each time. I can see lots of videos on CRM with the 3 dots at the top of the workflow, but nothing like that in Creator.

      • Add SKU to query options in `items` API endpoint

        It would be very useful to be able to pull items by SKU in the API as this is a commonly used unique ID that tends to be consistent across systems.

      • Estimates and invoices being sent from company-wide address, rather than individual

        In our organization, team members send estimates and invoices through Zoho Books by using the "Send Email" function. However, for certain users, the system defaults to sending estimates and invoices from a shared organizational email address (e.g., company@example.com)

      • Need profit margins for books in estimates & invoice

        https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/show-my-cost-or-profit-while-creating-estimate

      • Decimal places settings for exchange rates

        Hello, We are facing issues while matching vendor payments with banking feeds. As we often import products/services exchange rate comes into play. Currently, ZOHO allows only six digits for decimal places. We feel that conversions like JPY to INR require

      • Item Level Notifications

        I need to create a custom workflow based on the creation of an estimate that has a SKU/Item name that matches certain criteria. I can have it generated based on a total amount, but not at the item level. Is this possible?

      • Cannot categorize a bank deposit to an income sub-account

        When I go to categorize a bank deposit, I am not able to see any income sub-accounts. If I set up an income account without a parent, then I am able to categorize a transaction into that account, but as soon as I make it a child account, it disappears

      • ZV Extension passkey changes in v5.7.0

        Has there any changes to the how passkeys are managed in ZV - Chrome extensions v5.7.0? Namely, if the passkeys were already implemented/enforced as 2FA on a certain webpage, but ZV does not track them yet. Would that be the issue for my use case?

      • What's New in Zoho Billing - August 2025

        Hello everyone, We are excited to share the latest updates and enhancements made to Zoho Billing in August 2025 to improve your overall billing management experience. Keep reading to learn more. Notify Customers About Subscriptions via WhatsApp Business

      • How do I get my account id?

        Hello, I followed the instructions to get a list of accounts of the currently authenticated user (which is me, and I am logged in). But when I follow the below instructions I get the following error: ERROR: {"data":{"errorCode":"INVALID_TICKET","moreInfo":"Invalid ticket"},"status":{"code":400,"description":"Invalid Input"}} Instructions that I am following: GET - User account details Purpose The API retrieves the list of accounts of the currently authenticated user.  Request URL  http://mail.zoho.com/api/accounts

      • Why are tasks not showing in Zoho Calendar?

        Hi there, I updated the Zoho calendar preferences for Task records to show on the calendar together with Meetings and Calls - see attached screenshot. Despite of that, Task records still won't show on the calendar. Is there a specific reason why this

      • Zoho Payroll: Product Updates - July 2025

        Over the past month, we've focused on making Zoho Payroll more flexible, compliant, and easier to use—whether you're processing complex payouts, ensuring accurate calculations, or meeting local tax regulations. Here's what's new: One-Time Payments and

      • Discussion for “sub product”, “sub item” or “child products”

        Hello everyone, In some CRM systems, there is the ability to associate products in a hierarchical manner within a quote. For example: Product A: Gold Plan Product B: Setup Product C: Connector Product D: Silver Plan Product B: Setup Product C: Connector

      • Retrieve Accidental Deleted User

        Is there a way to undelete a user who accidentally deleted themselves?

      • Request for Support - CRM Integration Issues

        I’m reaching out to request assistance with the following items: 1. Zoho Forms Integration with Zoho CRM We are currently using Zoho Forms to send the Global Credit Application form to our customers. The intended workflow is for the form submissions to

      • Next Page