Title: Integrating Zoho Books with applications using connections | Community | Zoho Finance

Title: Integrating Zoho Books with applications using connections | Community | Zoho Finance

In our last post, we looked at an overview of the key features available for creating a Zoho Books extension, including connections. In this post, we'll go over connections in depth, including their types and applications.

What are connections?

"Connections" is a component in the developer console that allows you to establish secure connections between applications. In general, a secure connection is essential for apps to work seamlessly for data transmission and synchronization. The connections functionality in the Zoho Books extension developer portal is ideal for securely connecting Zoho Books to other Zoho products or third-party applications.

Types of connections

The Zoho Books extension developer portal allows you to use both predefined and custom connections.

Predefined connections:
 These are ready-to-use connections that are preconfigured for various applications to connect with Zoho Books. You can simply search for the application you want to connect to from the default list, choose it, enter some basic information (scope), and connect to Zoho Books.

Custom connections:
 These are connections for apps not included in the default list. You can create a custom connection by manually setting up or configuring information about the application you want to connect to Zoho Books with—such as the authentication type and other corresponding details—and then proceeding with the connection.

Notes
Note: You can also create these custom connections for applications in the default list if you want to customize the connection with specific details.

Now, let's explore the steps to create these connections with an example for each.

Steps to create a predefined connection
  • Go to Sigma and access your workspace.
  • Enter the developer portal of the Zoho Books extension you're creating a connection for.
  • Navigate to the Build section and click Connections to view the connection details, types (predefined and custom), and support to create a new connection.

  • Click the New Connection button to create a new connection.
Notes
Note: Alternatively, you can use the View All option under a connection type to see all the services under that particular connection type and begin building connections.

  • You'll be redirected to the connections page of your extension's developer space, where you can select default or custom services to create connections.


In this post, we'll walk you through creating a predefined connection using the default services available.

For our example, let's create a connection for Wrike (a project management service) available in the default services list and integrate it with Zoho Books.
  • Choose Wrike from the default services list.

  • Click the Create Connection button.

  • Provide the connection details.
➤ Enter the connection name.
➤ Toggle and choose whether you want every user to enter their credentials during connection authorization.
➤ Choose the scopes necessary for your purposes for the connection.

  • Click Create And Connect. Proceed with the flow to accept the scopes and authorize the connection.
  • The connection is now authorized, and you'll be directed to the connection details page. This page will also contain sample code in both deluge and JSON formats that can be used to utilize this connection as part of your extension components. Depending on which component you want to invoke the connection in, you can use the appropriate sample code format.
Notes
Note: Giving the connection name in the script is critical to be able to use the connection in the extension.


  • Close the connection's detail page, and you'll be taken back to your extension's developer portal.
  • If needed, you can create multiple connections for your extension. The connections you've created will be visible in the My Connections section of the Connections page.

  • You can click on a connection to view its details or choose to revoke it, if necessary. You can reconnect a revoked connection whenever you need it.
Let's look at a simple scenario for the predefined connection we created. Assume that each time a project is created in Zoho Books, a new project is created in Wrike to handle project management in detail. In addition, if any tasks are available as part of that Zoho Books project, they'll be instantly created in Wrike alongside the project. This can be accomplished easily in an extension using workflows, custom functions, and connections.

Let's check out the steps to make this happen.
  • Create a custom function for the Projects module by selecting Automate, then Workflow Actions, then Custom Functions, then New Custom Function. Include the logic to fetch the details and its tasks from a Zoho Books project and create a matching project in Wrike.
createwrikeproject deluge function - Please find the code snippet as an attachment in the post
  • In the code above, the Zoho Books project's details, such as project name and task details, are fetched from the Project Map parameter in the custom function.
  • The retrieved project details are constructed as a Map and then passed to the invokeURL deluge task to invoke the Wrike API and create a project. Additionally, a check is made to see if the Zoho Books project has tasks associated with it. If it does, then those tasks are added to the project created in Wrike using the Wrike API to create tasks.
  • The Invoke URL task requires some basic parameters to invoke the API and provide a response.
➤ url: This is the URL of the application's API that will be invoked. In our case, it's the Wrike API URL for Create Project and Create Task.
➤ type: This is the method of the HTTP request required for the API. Since we're creating projects and tasks in Wrike, the type is POST in our example.
➤ parameters: These are data that need to be constructed and passed as the body for the API.
➤ connection: The name of the Wrike connection we created has to be supplied as the value for the connection parameter. This ensures that data transfer between Zoho Books and Wrike is authorized and secure.
  • Next, create a workflow rule for the Projects module by selecting Automate, then Workflow Rules, then New Workflow Rule.
  • Set the Action Type as "When project is created."

  • Now, associate the custom function (createwrikeproject) as a workflow action to this workflow rule. Save the workflow rule.


We've now completed our extension setup for our use case.

After testing and publishing our extension, whenever a new project is created in Zoho Books, a matching project is created in Wrike as well, along with any tasks.


This example demonstrated a seamless transfer of data from Zoho Books to Wrike with connections. This use case can be taken a step further, making sure the project and its tasks maintained in Wrike are also synchronized in Zoho Books.

In this post, we've seen how to set up a predefined connection and use it in a Zoho Books extension. In the next post, we'll look at custom connections and how to create them.

SEE ALSO


    • Recent Topics

    • Page Layouts for Standard Modules like CRM

      For standard modules like quotes, invoices, purchase orders, etc, it would be a great feature to be able to create custom page layouts with custom fields in Zoho Books similar to how you can in Zoho CRM. For example, and my current use case, I have a

    • Non-depreciating fixed asset

      Hi! There are non-depreciable fixed assets (e.g. land). It would be very useful to be able to create a new type of fixed asset (within the fixed assets module) with a ‘No depreciation’ depreciation method. There is always the option of recording land

    • Fixed asset management

      I want to know if there is any individual module for fixed assets management

    • One time sale item in billing automatically detects as service

      if i have some items which i don't want to add in my "item" list because its sold only for one time. but when i type item name in invoice, it (system) automatically takes it as a service and despite of HSN , it shows SAC code to be entered. if its selectable i.e. either item or service , it would be very helpful and a must have feature.

    • Project template after project creation

      How can I apply a project template AFTER the project has been created?

    • convert the project to templet

      i have some deployment ME product for different customer , i need to create a fixed template for use it rather then keeping creating this template every time

    • Is there a notification API when a new note is addeding

      Trying to push to Cliq, or email notification when there's a new note added in module. How to implement this?

    • Seriously - Create multiple contacts for leads, (With Company as lead) Zoho CRM

      In Zoho CRM, considering a comapny as a lead, you need us to allow addition of more than one contact. Currently the Lead Section is missing "Add contact" feature which is available in "Accounts". When you know that a particular lead can have multiple

    • Related Module in Sharing Rules

      Zoho CRM team recently added the feature to filter records by Related Records It will be really beneficial if we can have this feature for Sharing Rules as well

    • Assignment Thresholds Resetting After Lead Conversion

      Hello everyone, We're facing an issue with Zoho CRM's lead assignment thresholds that makes them unsuitable for our workflow. I'm hoping to find a potential workaround or solution from the community. Here’s our current process: A new lead is created automatically

    • Zoho CRM Analytics - Allow To Reorder Dashboards

      I would like to suggest that you add the ability to reorder dashboards in the Analytics Module. I can see that this has been requested some time ago, the latest 9 years ago. I am not sure if this is a big or small endeavor, but such a small fix can go

    • Territory view for custom modules?

      I have recently activated territories however I can't seem to find how to use territories for custom modules? These modules have territories:  Contacts /  Accounts / Opportunities These modules don't have territories:   Buildings (custom module) and 

    • Zoho Books - How to Invoke a Custom Function in Schedulers

      We have multiple schedulers that send emails to customers in batches. Currently, we are maintaining the same code across several schedulers. Is it possible to use a custom function inside a scheduler script? If yes, how can we invoke the custom function

    • Approval Process Comments

      Is it possible to view the comments entered during the approval or rejection of a record in the approval process? If not, is there a way to require a field to be completed upon approval or rejection?

    • Login for test case

      Had a few questions regarding authentication test cases and couldn't find an answer in the the docs. 1. If an app like Zoho Creator requires authentication before providing access, do I need to create a login function and add it to each test case? 2.

    • Zoho / Outlook Calendar sync

      The current Marketplace -> Microsoft -> Meetings integration needs 2 changes. 1. The current language for the Two-Way sync option should be changed. It currently states, "Sync both your Zoho CRM Calendar and Office 365 Calendar meetings with each other."

    • Please make it easier to Pause syncing

      right now it takes 3 clicks to get there. sounds silly, but can you make it just 2 clicks to get it done instead? thats how dropbox does it, 2 clicks to pause instead of 3.

    • Customer members area

      Does FSM support a customer members area? If not what do you propose we use if we want the data used in FSM for customers to give them an area / login to see past orders, create new orders and general announcements.

    • Zoho Books-Accounting on the Go Series!

      Dear users, Continuing in the spirit of our 'Function Fridays' series, where we've been sharing custom function scripts to automate your back office operations, we're thrilled to introduce our latest initiative – the 'Zoho Books-Accounting on the Go Series'.

    • Desktop app doesn't support notecards created on Android

      Hi, Does anybody have same problem? Some of last notecards created on Android app (v. 6.6) doesn't show in desktop app (v. 3.5.5). I see these note cards but whith they appear with exclamation mark in yellow triangle (see screenshot) and when I try to

    • Notes created in mobile can no longer be accessed in desktop

      Working with a 2013 Mac running OS 10.14.6; Desktop Notebook version 4.5.3. Using Motorola Moto G Power 5G - 2024; Android app version 6.7 I have been using Notebook for some years. Starting several weeks ago, the notes newly created ion the phone can

    • Function #49: Manage varying installment payments using Zoho Books

      . Hello everyone, and welcome back to our series! Last week, we discussed automating the collection of fixed installment payments in Zoho Books. But what if your payment structure involves charging varying percentages of the invoice total as installments?

    • Open Sans Font in Zoho Books is not Open Sans.

      Font choice in customising PDF Templates is very limited, we cannot upload custom fonts, and to make things worse, the font names are not accurate. I selected Open Sans, and thought the system was bugging, but no, Open Sans is not Open Sans. The real

    • 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

    • 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. 

    • Next Page