Using Zoho One to manage two (or more) businesses

Using Zoho One to manage two (or more) businesses

We are one company that operates two business, a scenario that Zoho One doesn't really seem to handle very well, and one which I can't imagine is at all unique to us!  (It is basically designed to facilitate branding and use for one business only per subscription).

A bit of background ....

In terms of Zoho One apps, our business operations mostly centre on using Inventory / Books.  Back in the beginning of our time using Zoho, when things were a bit smaller scale, I thought we might be able to run it all under one subscription, by doing such things as disabling the logo and organisation name and addresses, creating separate templates for all documents relating to each business and associating them, using reporting tags in Books so that we could run separate P&Ls for each business etc etc etc ....

BUT it became apparent fairly quickly that this was going to become complicated and messy (especially as we grew to more users etc,) and it would be better to separate the two businesses out into each having their own subscription.  A big, tear-your-hair-out kinda job that I wouldn't wish on anyone, especially having to go through Books with a fine tooth comb and separate out all the transactions!  : / 

Anyway, fast forward and now and the situation is ...

I have two separate super admin accounts, just for myself as the owner for each business.  (Annoying, but that's the way it goes ... and don't even get me started on the whole issue of having to have two separate mobile phone numbers as one individual person to open another account!  Beyond ridiculous, but Zoho appear determined to remain steadfast and not able to see any semblance of reason on that front.) 

Because I also keep an eye on the emails of our main user account at each of our locations, I am basically working across four accounts a lot of the time.  I use Firefox Multi-Container to be able to keep multiple accounts open at the same time, and that works well, but working this way can certainly get a bit higglety-pigglety!

For the most part though, it has worked out ok,  keeping the Inventory / Books separate for each business and then combining the figures when it comes to BAS tax time etc. (as, of course, one company means ONE entitiy in the eyes of the Tax Office). 

It did mean we lost the ability to do certain things like transfer stock between the two businesses, ie by having each one as a 'warehouse' under the one subscription, but we are able to fairly easily work around this by using inventory adjustments at each end instead. 

HOWEVER, the main issue that lingers is on the communications side.  We use the Workplace apps, Mail, Cliq etc within the businesses.  With Cliq as an example, it's ok if I am at my computer, because I have all the accounts open as described above, therefore I can receive / see all messages intended for me.  BUT, on my mobile phone app, because I can only be logged in to one of the Orgs at once, I'm only able to receive messages from one half of my employees!  (Depending which business's Org I am logged in to.)

And because we are one company, there are times when it would be beneficial for users in one of the businesses to be able to directly message users in the other business.  But the way it is at present they are two separate 'silos'.  

Is there anyone else out there with this situation?  If so, how do you deal with it?  With Cliq, could this problem be alleviated by adding the users from one of the Orgs as 'external' users in the other Org? 

Sometimes, I wonder if it would be better to set up a separate 'company-wide' Workplace subscription and we all use that instead of / over the top of Workplace associated with the separate Zoho One Org's but I suspect that could lead to its own set of problems. 

If anyone has any words of wisdom related to this, please let me know!

    • Sticky Posts

    • How to Add Users to your Organization in ZohoMail?

      A better clarity so you can create other users to start using Zoho Mail. You can directly Add Users from the Control Panel to your Organization. You can invite users with the existing email address. If the person (user) already uses ZohoCRM, then you can import users from Zoho CRM. You can also import them using a .csv file. (if you are planning to add them in Bulk)  In this topic, We will be discussing on how to Add and Invite users only.  The Import options are self explanatory. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • We Asked, Zoho Delivered: The New Early Access Program is Here

        For years, the Zoho Creator community has requested a more transparent and participatory approach to beta testing and feature previews. Today, I'm thrilled to highlight that Zoho has delivered exactly what we asked for with the launch of the Early Access

      • Can the Product Image on the Quote Template be enlarged

        Hello, I am editing the Quote Template and added ${Products.Product Image} to the line item and the image comes up but it is very tiny. Is there anyway that you can resize this to be larger? Any help would be great! Thanks

      • Is Desk Down?

        Across department - always an error. [Status Mode] - error [Table View and the rest] - working

      • How do I change the wording of the tile of SignForm?

        When my user opens a SignForm url, the title that is presented is always "SignForm signer Information" and a form is displayed asking for the username and email address. This can be confusing to the end user. How can I change the title at least (Or at

      • How to link tickets to a Vendor/Vendor Contact (not Customer) for Accounting Department?

        Hi all, We’re configuring our Accounting department to handle tickets from both customers and vendors (our independent contractors). Right now, ticket association seems to be built around linking a ticket to a Customer / Customer Contact, but for vendor-originated

      • Problem with CRM Connection not Refreshing Token

        I've setup a connection with Zoom in the CRM. I'm using this connection to automate some registrations, so my team doesn't have to manually create them in both the CRM and Zoom. Connection works great in my function until the token expires. It does not refresh and I have to manually revoke the connection and connect it again. I've chatted with Zoho about this and after emailing me that it couldn't be done I asked for specifics on why and they responded. "The connection is CRM is not a feature to

      • Automatic Matching from Bank Statements / Feeds

        Is it possible to have transactions from a feed or bank statement automatically match when certain criteria are met? My use case, which is pretty broadly applicable, is e-commerce transactions for merchant services accounts (clearing accounts). In these

      • Clone Recurring Expenses

        Our bookkeeping practices make extensive use of the "clone" feature for bills, expenses, invoices, etc. This cuts down significantly on both the amount of typing that needs to be done manually and, more importantly, the mental overhead of choosing the

      • Unify Overlapping Functionalities Across Zoho Products

        Hi Zoho One Team, We would like to raise a concern about the current overlap of core functionalities across various Zoho applications. While Zoho offers a rich suite of tools, many applications include similar or identical features—such as shift management,

      • Automation #7 - Auto-update Email Content to a Ticket

        This is a monthly series where we pick some common use cases that have been either discussed or most asked about in our community and explain how they can be achieved using one of the automation capabilities in Zoho Desk. Email is one of the most commonly

      • Ticket to article and Ticket to template

        Hello! I would like to know if it is possible (and how) to do the following actions: 1. To generate an article from a ticket (reply + original message) 2. Easy convert an answer to an email template

      • Is there API Doc for Zoho Survey?

        Hi everyone, Is there API doc for Zoho Survey? Currently evaluating a solution - use case to automate survey administration especially for internal use. But after a brief search, I couldn't find API doc for this. So I thought I should ask here. Than

      • Windows Desktop App - request to add minimization/startup options

        Support Team, Can you submit the following request to your development team? Here is what would be optimal in my opinion from UX perspective: 1) In the "Application Menu", add a menu item to Exit the app, as well as an alt-key shortcut for these menus

      • Kaizen #225 - Making Query-based Custom Related Lists Actionable with Lookups and Links

        Hello everyone! Welcome back to another post in the Kaizen series! This week, we will discuss an exciting enhancement in Queries in Zoho CRM. In Kaizen #190, we discussed how Queries bridge gaps where native related lists fall short and power custom related

      • WebDAV / FTP / SFTP protocols for syncing

        I believe the Zoho for Desktop app is built using a proprietary protocol. For the growing number of people using services such as odrive to sync multiple accounts from various providers (Google, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, etc.) it would be really helpful

      • CRM x WorkDrive: We're rolling out the WorkDrive-powered file storage experience for existing users

        Release plan: Gradual rollout to customers without file storage add-ons, in this order: 1. Standalone CRM 2. CRM Plus and Zoho One DCs: All | Editions: All Available now for: - Standalone CRM accounts in Free and Standard editions without file storage

      • Non-responsive views in Mobile Browser (iPad)

        Has anyone noticed that the creator applications when viewed in a mobile browser (iPad) lost its responsiveness? It now appears very small font size and need to zoom into to read contents. Obviously this make use by field staff quite difficult. This is not at all a good move, as lots of my users are depending on accessing the app in mobile devices (iPads), and very challenging and frustrating. 

      • [Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - AI-Enhanced Logistics Management in Zoho Creator

        Hello Everyone! We’re excited to invite you to another edition of Learning Table Series, where we showcase how Zoho Creator empowers industries with innovative and automated solutions. About Learning Table Series Learning Table Series is a free, 45-60

      • Learner transcript Challenges.

        Currently i am working on a Learner Transcript app for my employer using Zoho Creator. The app is expected to accept assessment inputs from tutors, go through an approval process and upon call up, displays all assessments associated with a learner in

      • Customizable UI components in pages | Theme builder

        Anyone know when these roadmap items are scheduled for release? They were originally scheduled for Q4 2025. https://www.zoho.com/creator/product-roadmap.html

      • Feature Request - Set Default Values for Meetings

        Hi Zoho CRM Team, I would be very useful if we could set default values for meeting parameters. For example, if you always wanted Reminder 1 Day before. Currently you need to remember to choose it for every meeting. Also being able to use merge tags to

      • Analytics <-> Invoice Connection DELETED by Zoho

        Hi All, I am reaching out today because of a big issue we have at the moment with Zoho Analytics and Zoho Invoice. Our organization relies on Zoho Analytics for most of our reporting (operationnal teams). A few days ago we observed a sync issue with the

      • How to use Rollup Summary in a Formula Field?

        I created a Rollup Summary (Decimal) field in my module, and it shows values correctly. When I try to reference it in a Formula Field (e.g. ${Deals.Partners_Requested} - ${Deals.Partners_Paid}), I get the error that the field can’t be found. Is it possible

      • Zoho Creator to Zoho CRM Images

        Right now, I am trying to setup a Notes form within Zoho Creator. This Notes will note the Note section under Accounts > Selected Account. Right now, I use Zoho Flow to push the notes and it works just fine, with text only. Images do not get sent (there

      • CRM gets location smart with the all new Map View: visualize records, locate records within any radius, and more

        Hello all, We've introduced a new way to work with location data in Zoho CRM: the Map View. Instead of scrolling through endless lists, your records now appear as pins on a map. Built on top of the all-new address field and powered by Mappls (MapMyIndia),

      • Error Logs / Failure logs for Client Scripts Functions

        Hi Team, While we are implementing client scripts for the automation, it is working fine in few accounts but not working for others. So, it would be great if we can have error Logs for client scripts also just like custom functions. Is there any way that

      • Automate pushing Zoho CRM backups into Zoho WorkDrive

        Through our Zoho One subscription we have both Zoho CRM and Zoho WorkDrive. We have regular backups setup in Zoho CRM. Once the backup is created, we are notified. Since we want to keep these backups for more than 7 days, we manually download them. They

      • Zoho Books blocks invoicing without VeriFactu even though it is not mandatory until 2027

        I would like to highlight a very serious issue in Zoho Books for Spain. 1. The Spanish government has postponed the mandatory start of VeriFactu to January 1st, 2027. This means that during all of 2026 businesses are NOT required to transmit invoices

      • Problem : Auto redirect from zoho flow to zoho creator

        Hi there, I've been waiting for zoho team to get back on this for last couple of days. Anyone else have the problem to access zoho flow? everytime I click on zoho flow it redirects me to zoho creator. I tried incognito mode but it still direct me to zoho

      • Client and Vendor Portal

        Some clients like keeping tabs on the developments and hence would like to be notified of the progress. Continuous updates can be tedious and time-consuming. Zoho Sprints has now introduced a Client and Vendor Portal where you can add client users and

      • #7 Tip of the week: Delegating approvals in Zoho People

        With Zoho People, absences need not keep employees waiting with their approval requests. When you are not available at work, you can delegate approvals that come your way to your fellow workmate and let them take care of your approvals temporarily. Learn more!

      • Trouble with using Apostrophe in Name of Customers and Vendors

        We have had an ongoing issue with how the system recognizes an apostrophe in the name of customers and vendors. The search will not return any results for a name that includes the mark; ie one of our vendors names is "L'Heritage" and when entering the

      • Why am I seeing deleted records in Zoho Analytics syncing with Zoho CRM?

        I have done a data sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics, and the recycle bin is empty. Why do I see deleted leads/deals/contacts in Zoho Analytics if it doesn't exist in Zoho CRM? How can I solve this problem? Thanks

      • Nueva edición de "Ask The Expert" en Español Zoho Community

        ¡Hola Comunidad! ¿Te gustaría obtener respuestas en directo sobre Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk u otra solución dentro de nuestro paquete de CX (Experiencia del Cliente? Uno de nuestros expertos estará disponible para responder a todas tus preguntas durante nuestra

      • How to use MAIL without Dashboard?

        Whenever I open Mail, it opens Dashboard. This makes Mail area very small and also I cannot manage Folders (like delete/rename) etc. I want to know if there is any way to open only Mail apps and not the Dashboard.

      • Peppol: Accept Bill (Belgium)

        Hi, This topic might help you if you're facing the same in Belgium. We are facing an issue while accepting a supplier bill received by Peppol in Zoho Books. There is a popup with an error message: This bill acceptance could not be completed, so it was

      • Zoho Books is now integrated with Zoho Checkout

        Hello everyone,   We're glad to be announcing that Zoho Books is now integrated with Zoho Checkout. With this integration, you can now handle taxes and accounting on your payment pages with ease.   An organization you create in Zoho Checkout can be added to Zoho Books and vice-versa. Some of the key features and benefits you will receive are:   Seamless sync of customer and invoice data With the end-to-end integration, the customer and invoice details recorded via the payment pages from Zoho Checkout

      • Sync Issue

        My Current plan only allows me with 10,000 rows and it is getting sync failure how to control it without upgrading my plan

      • Add Zoho PDF to Zoho One Tool Applications

        It should be easy to add from here without the hassle of creating a web tab:

      • JOB WISE INVOICE PROCESS

        I WANT TO ENABLE JOB WISE TRACKING OF ALL SALES AND PURCHASE

      • Next Page