Feature Spotlight: Employee Custom Fields

The next topic in the Community Learning Series focuses on custom fields and how to use them in various scenarios.

 

Think about what happens when a new employee joins your organization. Their information is immediately fed into the HR and payroll system, which is set up to collect certain types of employee information automatically. Here's how a typical employee profile looks in Zoho Payroll. The system automatically collects certain types of information, organized into Basic, Personal, and Payment categories.

Employee information

What are custom fields?

Employee custom fields can help collect any additional information about the employees that is not mandated in the payroll system. There are various instances where it's helpful to collect additional PII on top of the data collected automatically with Zoho Payroll (such as Aadhar card details, emergency contact info or blood group). Once the custom fields are created, the information they collect will be automatically available under Personal Information > Other Details in the employee’s profile.

How to create custom fields

Here's an example. Follow the steps below to create a new custom field called Aadhar card no. 

• In Zoho Payroll, go to Settings -> Preferences -> Employee Custom field 
  
• Click Create New
  
• Create a new field called Aadhar card no
  
• Choose the data type called Number 
  
• Provide Help Text for reference
  (In this case, the number of digits of the Aadhar card number can be indicated in the help text like this: "1234-1234-1234") 
• Choose whether to encrypt the information 
  (This ensures only users with access can view this information) 
• Choose whether to make the field mandatory and whether it will be available within the ESS portal 
  
• Click Save 
  

The status of the field created will be Active. The field can be made inactive, edited, or even deleted at any point. 

Custom Field creation

Where to view this information

The data collected by this field will be available within the Employee module, under Personal information. A new section called Other information will be created where all the custom fields you create will appear automatically. 

Custom fields

You can refer to our help docs for a detailed explanation of how to create and set up your custom fields.

Adding custom field information with a large employee count

Entering custom field data manually when there are hundreds of employees on your payroll can get hectic. This is where Zoho Payroll's import functionality helps, by letting you add details for all of your employees in one go. 

Here's how to add the Aadhar card information for a payroll process with many employees: 

• In the employee import file, add a new column called Aadhar card number

Note: In the absence of an employee import file, the file can be exported by going to Employee Module -> Export data -> Employee Personal Details, choosing Active employees and the file type of .xls or .csv, and clicking on Export. In the exported file, add the new column.

• Add the Aadhar card information of all the employees under the column you created 
  

(Ensure that the employee data is mapped to the right employee ID in the import file)

• Save the file and go to the employee module inside Zoho Payroll
  
• Click Import Data and select Employee Personal Details 
  
• Upload the import file
  
• Map the custom field called Aadhar card no to the column in the import file called Aadhar card number 
  
• Tick the checkbox below to save the preferences for the future 
  
• Click Next to import the custom field data
  

Under the employee module, choose any employee. The Aadhar card details will automatically appear under the employee's personal details. 

Adding custom fields from Zoho People to Zoho Payroll

How do you add custom fields when the payroll system is integrated with the HR management tool Zoho People? It's pretty simple. 

Before going ahead, ensure that the integration between Zoho Payroll and Zoho People  is active. You can check by navigating to Integrations. The status of the Zoho People integration with Payroll should be Active.

Zoho People integration

Next, ensure that the custom field to be added to Zoho Payroll already exists in Zoho People. 

To add the Aadhar card information of all the employees within Zoho People to Zoho Payroll: 

• Create a custom field called Aadhar card number inside Zoho Payroll using the steps in the first section of this post. 
  (Once that's complete, the data can be synced within the two platforms)
• Go to Settings -> Integrations and click Zoho Apps 
  
• Choose View details in Zoho People
  
• Select Edit field mapping. The custom field created will appear under the section Other information
  
• Now map the right field name within Zoho People with the corresponding custom field
  (In this example, Aadhar card number <----> Aadhar card no)
• Click Save
  
• Once complete, select the Instant sync option on top of the window
  

Employee Custom Field sync between Zoho People and Zoho Payroll

A notification that the sync is complete will appear within a few seconds, showing that the custom fields have been mapped from Zoho People to Zoho Payroll successfully. As in the previous case, this information can be viewed for all the employees within the employee module.

Hope you found this post useful! If you have any questions about custom fields and their uses, let us know in the comment section below, or email us at support@zohopayroll.com and we will get back to you.

Until next time! 

• Topic Participants

• Archana

  

• Recent Topics

• Making digital signatures accessible to all: Introducing accessibility controls in Zoho Sign

  Hi there! At Zoho Sign, we are committed to building an inclusive digital experience for all our users. As part of our ongoing efforts to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we’re updating the application with support that will go

• Kaizen #129 : Client Script Support for Blueprints

  Hello everyone! Welcome to another week of Kaizen. Today, let us discuss about how you can use Client Script during a Blueprint transtion to meet your requirements. This Kaizen post will provide solution for the post - Need non-mandatory fields in blueprint

• Navigate with Ease: Announcing Improvements to Your Zoho CRM for Everyone's Setup Experience

  Hello Everyone, We’re thrilled to announce new enhancements to the Setup Menu in our Zoho CRM for Everyone system, designed to simplify your workday and streamline your overall experience. What's New? Addition of a Setup Homepage Faster Search in Setup

• Currency abbreviations

  Hello, Im stuck, and need help. I need the currency fields for example, opportunity value, or total revenue, to be abbreviated, lets say for 1,000 - 1K, 1,000,000 - 1M, and so on, how should I do this?

• Account Owner Field From Accounts Module to be Displayed in Contacts module

  I have a field in the Accounts Module in the CRM called "Account Owner" i want that field to be also mapped into the Contacts Module custom single line field called "Account Manager".

• Update a field in the ZOHO Form, basis numeric value in another field in the same form

  I am trying to create a questionnaire in ZOHO, where clients need to answer 10 questions, and basis response, values are assigned. I have created a total score field where the sum of the values is stored. But i am unable to create a rule whereby another

• Default Sorting on Related Lists

  Is it possible to set the default sorting options on the related lists. For example on the Contact Details view I have related lists for activities, emails, products cases, notes etc... currently: Activities 'created date' newest first Emails - 'created

• How to update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records

  Hello Zoho CRM, How do I update "Lead Status" to more than 100 records at once? To give you a background, these leads were uploaded or Imported at once but the lead status record was incorrectly chosen. So since there was a way to quickly add records in the system no matter how many they are, we are also wondering if there is a quicker way to update these records to the correct "Lead Status". I hope our concern makes sense and that there will be a fix for it. All the best, Jonathan

• Meet up de Zoho en Bilbao

  Buenos días comunidad! Estamos estudiando hacer un Meet up en Bilbao desde zoho y varios Partners. Para que la experiencia sea excelente, queremos saber cuantas pesonas se vendrían a Bilbao al evento. Y para que sea lo mas útil posible, que temas dentro

• Option to Customize Career Site URL Without “/jobs/Careers”

  Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the Career Site URL structure in Zoho Recruit. In the old version of the career site, our URL was simply: 👉 https://jobs.domain.com However, after moving to

• In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."}

  In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."} this is button Function used in the Creator map Inventory.Create_Credit_note(int CRE_ID) { return_value

• Creator Change History: Ways to improve

  Hi Everyone, Recently been working in developing this change history(an idea from Zoho Forms) - unlike forms that you can this with a click but using Creator, we can use "old" keyword. The concept I come up with is to put the result in a table however,

• Marketing Tip #2: Recover lost sales with abandoned cart emails

  Did you know most online shoppers don’t complete checkout? Automated cart recovery emails are an easy way to bring them back. A simple reminder can recover sales you’d otherwise lose. Try this today: Enable abandoned cart emails in Zoho Commerce and set

• Billing Management: #9 Usage Billing in IoTs

  We live in a world where connectivity has become a lifestyle rather than a luxury. From smart thermostats that adjust your home's temperature to GPS trackers monitoring end-to-end fleets and sensors that optimize energy grids, the Internet of Things has

• {"code":1038,"message":"JSON is not well formed"}

  Today this began failing: sales_order_data = zoho.books.createRecord("salesorders",books_organization_ID,order_data); with this error message. {"code":1038,"message":"JSON is not well formed"} This code has been running for two years. Here is the input

• Exciting Updates to the Kiosk Studio Feature in Zoho CRM!

  Hello Everyone, We are here again with a series of new enhancements to Kiosk Studio, designed to elevate your experience and bring even greater efficiency to your business processes. These updates build upon our ongoing commitment to making Kiosk a powerful

• How can I migrate Shared Mailbox from Zoho Mail to Team Inbox?

  I am unable to migrate mails from my shared mailbox in Zoho Mail to Team Inbox. I am the super admin of my Zoho One plan and yet I am getting an error saying only admins can do this? I don't understand the issue.

• Remember all the ways we've posted?

  The world celebrates World Postal Day in 2025 with the theme “#PostForPeople: Local Service. Global Reach". The story of the “post” is a story of human connection itself, evolving from simple handwritten notes carried over long distances to instant digital

• In arattai received message can't be deleted

  The issue has been noticed in following: arattai app (Android) arattai app (Window) arattai web While the message posted by me may be deleted, the ones received from others can't be. The item <Delete> change to <Report> when the message is a received

• Add Support for Authenticator App MFA in Zoho Desk Help Center

  Hello Zoho Desk Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement related to security for the Zoho Desk Help Center (customer portal). Currently, the Help Center supports MFA for portal users via SAML, JWT, SMS authentication,

• Can no longer upload my own Notebook cover

  I've had Notebook for over a year and have been able to create my own notebook covers, but when I tried to upload my own cover for a new notebook today, the upload feature has suddenly been starred, requiring me to upgrade my account. When did this

• External File Share - Allow delete

  Hi Team, when I share an external link and give it edit rights the external user can add but not delete files and folders. what am i doing wrong?

• Elevate your CX delivery using CommandCenter 2.0: Simplified builder; seamless orchestration

  Most businesses want to create memorable customer experiences—but they often find it hard to keep them smooth, especially as they grow. To achieve a state of flow across their processes, teams often stitch together a series of automations using Workflow

• Zoho Desk - Cannot Invite or Register New User

  Hi who may concern, we encountered a problem that we cannot invite user or the visitor cannot register for a user at all through our help center portal, with the snapshot shown as below and the attachement. It always pops up that "Sorry, Unable to process

• Kaizen# 209 - Answering Your Questions | All About Client Script

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another exciting Kaizen post! Thanks for all your feedback and questions. In this post, let's see the answers to your questions related to Client Script. We took the time to discuss with our development team, carefully

• Allocating inventory to specific SO's

  Is there a way that allocate inventory to a specific sales order? For example, let's say we have 90 items in stock. Customer 1 orders 100 items. This allocates all 90 items to their order, and they have a back order for the remaining 10 items which could

• Reports: Custom Search Function Fields

  Hi Zoho, Hope you'll add this into your roadmap. Issue: For the past 2yrs our global team been complaining and was brought to our attention recently that it's a time consuming process looking/scrolling down. Use-case: This form is a service report with

• Custom domain issue

  I recently changed records for my support area custom domain for a few months, I then wanted to come back to Zoho, but now I can't connect it and I can't login as it's having an SSL issue. I cannot get a good response from support, as I've been notified

• SOME FEATURES ARE NOT IN THE ZOHO SHEET IN COMPARISION TO ZOHO SHEET

  TO ZOHO sir/maam with due to respect i want to say that i am using ZOHO tool which is spreadsheet i want to say that some features are not there in zoho sheet as comparison to MS EXCEL like advance filter and other Features which should be there in ZOHO

• Zoho Sheet - Desktop App or Offline

  Since Zoho Docs is now available as a desktop app and offline, when is a realistic ETA for Sheet to have the same functionality?I am surprised this was not laucned at the same time as Docs.

• 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

• Auto-upload Creator Files to WorkDrive

  Hi everyone, I’m working on a workflow that uploads files from Zoho Creator to specific subfolders in Zoho WorkDrive, as illustrated in the attached diagram. My Creator application form has two multi-file upload fields, and I want—on successful form submission—to

• How do you generate personalized certificates and save them in dynamic folders using Writer's mail merge?

  Zoho Writer's mail merge feature can help you enhance the certificate management process. It's a great way to save time and effort! Merge certificates and maintain a well-organised repository with personalised certificates stored in separate folders for

• Zoho Editor

  Zoho PDf Editor is not working I am clicking on EDIT PDf then it again bringing me back to the same page. again and again.

• The present is a "present"

  The conversation around mental health has been gaining attention in recent years. Even with this awareness, we often feel stuck; the relentless pace of modern life makes us too busy to pause, reflect, and recharge. In the world of customer support, this

• Export as MP4 or GIF

  Hi, Just wondering if there's a way to export/convert a presentation to an MP4 video file or even a GIF. One use case would be to use the animation functionality to create social media graphics/charts/gifs/videos. Thanks for a great tool... Rgds Jon

• Zoho Autoplay Issue

  Currently, we run our graphics on a playlist with youtube videos interspersed in our office -- however, when we go to update the playlist (since last Thursday at around 8-9am EST) it no longer saves the autoplay function.  We have tried making a new account, manually saving with cntrl+s, making a new show, etc but nothing seems to work.  Even with our old program, we can't change it off of autoplay for ones that were created in the past. Another issue is that if we change a slide transition to anything

• Where is the Global Search field?

  I am looking for an alternative to SF.com. Zoho CRM seems to be work fine, and be customizable in terms of the fields and reports. But there's one big thing missing and it's going to prevent us from using it: there's no global search box at the top of

• Zoho Sheet Autofit Data

  While using Autofit Data function in Zoho Sheets with Devnagri Maratji or Hindi Fonts, a word or a number, it keeps couple of characters outside the right side border.

• KPI Widget dashboard select periods

  I have a problem with selecting periods as a user filter. In the beste scenario I would like to have to have a period filter like Google Analytics has of Datastudio (see attachment). In the KPI widget I "Group by "inquiry_date" on week&Year". It selects

• Next Page