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? We've got you covered with a solution—a Custom Button that simplifies the process.

Let's consider an example where Mr. John Hector is availing the services of Zylker Designs to build a website for his new business. The total project cost is $5,000 and is divided into the following milestones:

Initial Discussion: 10%

Design Phase: 30%

Development Phase: 40%

Final Delivery and Testing: 20%

Let's see how this payment structure can be handled in Zoho Books using a Custom Button.

First, Zylker Designs should create a sale invoice of $5,000 in their Zoho Books organization. When it's time to bill for a milestone, they can click the Custom Button and input the percentage of the invoice total to be charged. Then, a retainer invoice is automatically created and sent to the client. Once the payment for this installment is recorded, another custom function will apply it to the sale invoice, reducing the balance accordingly. This process can be repeated for each milestone until the invoice is fully paid.

But wait, there's more!

In addition to the Custom Button, we are also sharing a Related List script. This script displays information about the installment payments, such as the associated Retainer Invoice number, amounts paid, and the invoice balance both in amount and percentage.

Prerequisites: 

1. Create a Connection named "zbooks" to successfully execute the scheduler. You can watch the GIF attached below to know how to create the connection.

2. Create a Decimal-type custom field called "Installments" for the Invoices. This field will dynamically reflect the percentage of the invoice total that has been billed. 

3. Create a new Retainer Invoice template with the document title "Installment Payment". Then, copy the template ID (You can get the ID from the URL of the webpage) and substitute it in line 19 of the custom button script. This ensures that all the retainers sent for collecting installment amounts are correctly labeled.



(1) Custom Button to create Retainer Invoices:

Go to Settings -> Sales -> Invoices -> Custom Buttons -> Click +New -> Populate the details as mentioned below:

1. Name - Give a suitable name (e.g., Send Installment Invoices).

2. Visibility - Select the option that aligns with your preference for granting users access to the custom button.

3. Location - Choose "Details Page Menu".

Once done, add the script from this GitHub link -> Click "Edit Arguments" > Input the Param name as "Percentage" and Param type as "String" -> Save. 

Note: Input only "Percentage" as the Param name. 

(2) Custom Function to apply installment payments to the sale invoice:

Navigate to Settings -> Automation -> Workflow Actions -> Custom Functions -> +New Custom Function- > Module -> Select Retainer Invoice -> Add the function code from this GitHub Link -> Save. 

(3) Workflow Rule to apply instalment payments:

Go to Settings -> Automation -> Workflow Rules -> +New Workflow Rule and set up the workflow rule as shown below:-

In the final step of this workflow rule, associate the custom function you created and then hit Save.

(4) Related List:

Navigate to Settings -> Sales -> Invoices -> Related Lists -> +New Related List. Provide a suitable name, select view preferences, and then paste the script from this GitHub link. Save the changes.

Here's how to access the Custom button:

Go to Sales -> Invoices -> Click on the invoice for which you need to generate installment invoices -> Click the custom button "Send Installment invoices" -> Input the percentage to be charged -> Execute. 

Do give this a try and let us know how you liked it. If you need any help with setting up this automation, feel free to contact our support team at support[at]zohobooks[dot]com. We're here to assist you every step of the way.

Regards,

Shireen Farhana

Zoho Books

• Topic Participants

• Shireen Farhana

  

• Agustin Gomez

• Recent Topics

• Unable to change sales_order status form "not_invoiced" to "invoiced"

  I am automating process of creating of invoice from sales_orders by consolidated sales_orders of each customer and creating a single invoice per customer every month. I am doing this in workflow schedule custom function where i create invoice by getting

• Custom Buttons for Mass Actions

  Hello everyone, We’ve just made Custom Buttons in Zoho Recruit even more powerful! You can now create Bulk Action Buttons that let you perform actions on multiple records at once, directly from the List View. What’s new? Until now, custom buttons were

• Zoho Vault Passwords

  Is there a way to consume Zoho Vault Manager passwords using the API? Thanks in advance.

• Is the ChatGPT Assistant integration capable of recognizing WhatsApp voice messages?

  I was wondering: if a visitor sends me a voice message on WhatsApp, would the assistant be able to transcribe it and reply to them?

• 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

• 【Zoho CRM】レポート機能のアップデート

  ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、レポート機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について 2. 通貨項目の表示について 3. レポートの削除の監査ログへの反映について 1. レポートのエクスポート時のレコードIDの表示について これまで、レポートをエクスポートするとファイルにレコードIDが必ず含まれていました。レコードIDが識別子として役立つ場合もありますが、実際には多くの企業で参照されることはありません。

• Translation in zoho bookings

  We cant translate zoho booking emails. The general text we can change. But what about text like: ""Here a link to join the meeting online:"" and "Add to Zoho Calendar" and "Add to Google Calendar"? No professional business have mixed languages. Its looking

• Is there any way to bill one client in different currencies on different invoices?

  I have some customers who have their currency set as USD and most of their billing is done in USD.   However, from time to time I have a need to bill them in my base currency GBP for some specific invoices, but there seems to be no way of doing this that I can see. The only workaround that I can see is to create two client records for the same client, one for USD billing and one for GBP billing, but this is not an ideal situation. Is it likely that the (hopefully!) soon to arrive multi-currency support

• API name for all fields in Zoho Project (Standard or custom)

  Hi! I struggle to find easily all API name of all field in Zoho Project to build my API rest with other services. We can find them very fast in CRM but not in PRoject.   Could you share a function to get the list of all API Name of any field of an App

• Disappearing Mouse cursor in Zoho Mail / Windows 11 (Chrome + Edge)

  I'm seeing an issue when writing mails with the light theme with the mouse cursor being white and the document area also being white - making it nearly impossible to see the mouse cursor. I see the problem on Windows 11 under Chrome and Edge. (Yet to

• Zoho Assist not rendering NinjaTrader chart properly

  Hi everyone. Just installed and testing Zoho Assist. I want to display my laptop' screen (Windows 11) on a monitor connected to my Mac mini. The laptop is running a stock trading program called NinjaTrader. Basically, when running, this program displays

• Dropshipping Address - Does Not Show on Invoice Correctly

  When a dropshipping address is used for a customer, the correct ship-to address does not seem to show on the Invoice. It shows correctly on the Sales Order, Shipment Order, and Package, just not the Invoice. This is a problem, because the company being

• Best way to schedule bill payments to vendors

  I've integrated Forte so that I can convert POs to bills and make payments to my vendors all through Books. Is there a way to schedule the bill payments as some of my vendors are net 30, net 60 and even net 90 days. If I can't get this to work, I'll have

• Link(s) between Notes

  Hello Everyone, It would be great if links could be created between notes. Let's say we have 5 Notes A, B, C , D, E. I would like to be able to link Note A to Note B but not in other way, so no link appears in Note B linking to Note A. An so on, linking

• Option to Hide Project Overview for Client Profiles

  In Zoho Projects, the Project Overview section is currently visible to client profiles by default. While user profiles already have the option to restrict or hide access to the project overview, the same flexibility isn’t available for client profiles.

• Zoho Books | Product updates | August 2025

  Hello users, We’ve rolled out new features and enhancements in Zoho Books. From the right sidebar where you can manage all your widgets, to integrating Zoho Payments feeds in Zoho Books, explore the updates designed to enhance your bookkeeping experience.

• Regex in Zoho Mail custom filters is not supported - but it works!

  I recently asked Zoho for help using regex in Zoho Mail custom filters and was told it was NOT supported. This was surprising (and frustrating) as regex in Zoho Mail certainly works, although it does have some quirks* To encourage others, here are 3 regex

• Feature Request: Assign Documents to Already Entered Bills, Expenses, Invoices, etc.

  Hi Zoho Team, We are regular users of the Documents module in Zoho Books and appreciate its ability to keep financial records well-organized. However, we’ve noticed a limitation: There is no way to attach a document from the "Documents > Files" section

• I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all

  Hi I manually imported my bank statement to Zoho books today and I am a complete newbie. I have been reading the knowledgebase but unable to fix this. I only see "Uncategorized 91 DEPOSIT transactions". I don't see any WITHDRAWL transaction at all. Also,

• Shared inbox unable to see replies

  Hi we are a small company me and someone else, we have a shared inbox for our sale@ and contact@ however we have this issue where by if i reply to an email or the other person reply to the email, it does not show it to them and therefore we end up replying

• Kaizen #136 - Zoho CRM Widgets using ReactJS

  Hey there! Welcome back to yet another insightful post in our Kaizen series! In this post, let's explore how to use ReactJS for Zoho CRM widgets. We will utilize the sample widget from one of our previous posts - Geocoding Leads' Addresses in ZOHO CRM

• 404 error at checkout

  Our customers are getting a 404 error at checkout. Anyone else with the same problem?

• FONT Sizing in Notebook

  Hi Kishore - What is the status of adding font sizing to the application? I have several things that I have pasted directly into Notebook and the fonts are HUGE! I would like the ability to highlight them and reduce the font to a legible size. Nothing

• Can managers Upload documents to their direct rapports?

  Admin employees have the ability to upload documents to employees' files; however, managers do not have add/manage button - is it possible for managers to upload their direct reports' documents, such as absence documents or 121 documents. Is there something

• Leave balance display for next year

  Is there a way to not have a rollover or not limit the leave balance depending on the date. For example an employee has 10 days leave balance and wants to apply for January leave in December. They cant because the rollover doesnt show the leave balance

• Please add an “Auto-Apply Unused Credits” toggle

  Hello — please add a simple org-level option to automatically apply unused credits (credit notes, excess payments, retainers) to new invoices and/or bills. An ON/OFF toggle with choices “invoices”, “bills”, or “both” would save lots of manual work for

• Zoho Books not working/loading

  Hi! I haven't been able to access/load Zoho Books for the past hours. I get a time out (and it is not due to my internet connection). Could you please check this asap? Thank you!

• Custom Fields with Data Types for Expense and Payments Received in Zoho Books

  Hi all, We are glad to present to you, the option to create Custom Fields for the Expense and Payments received modules in Zoho Books. This also comes with an icing on top of it - Yes, the custom fields can now be created with different data types. Types like Text, Number, Decimal, Amount, Auto Number and Check Box are supported as of now. Rush to the gear icon at the top right corner, select 'More Settings', choose 'Preferences' in the left pane. Click the Expense/Payment preferences where you can

• [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

• Zoho Cliq - Incident alert (Server outage - IN DC) | August 28

  We've received server down alerts and are currently investigating the issue (IN DC) to find the root cause. Our team is actively working to restore normal operations at the earliest. Status: Under investigation Start time: 09:44:21 AM IST Affected location:

• Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM Integration – AI-Powered Sales Automation

  Hello Zoho Community 👋 I’m excited to share a recent integration we’ve worked on at OfficehubTech: ✅ Claude + MCP Server + Zoho CRM This integration connects Zoho CRM with Claude AI through our custom MCP Server, enabling intelligent AI-driven responses

• How can I see content of system generated mails from zBooks?

  System generated mails for offers or invices appear in the mail tab of the designated customer. How can I view the content? It also doesn't appear in zMail sent folder.

• Limitations on editing a message in Cliq

  Hi I've checked the documentations and there's no mention of how many times a message can be edited. When trying with code, I get various numbers such as ~1000 edits or so. Please mention if there's a limit on how many times one can change a message via

• Narrative 10: Assignment Rules - Streamlining Ticket Management

  Behind the scenes of a successful ticketing system: BTS Series Narrative 10: Assignment Rules - Streamlining Ticket Management In the complex world of customer support, a flood of incoming tickets can hit the help desk in seconds. Businesses must do more

• Free webinar! Digitize recruitment and onboarding with Zoho Sign and Zoho Recruit

  Hello, Tired of being buried in onboarding paperwork? With the integration between Zoho Sign and Zoho Recruit, a powerful applicant tracking system, you can digitize and streamline the entire recruitment and onboarding process, all from one platform.

• Custom form - Duplicate Value Present

  I am new to Zoho People. I create a new form on Zoho People quite simple. A date (by default the current date) and a radio button with 3 options (Yes, No, Not applicable) I defined the date as ‘No duplicate’ as only one entry by date is allowed. I added:

• Zoho API connection issues

  Hi, Today at around 1930 GMT our application started experiencing intermittent timeouts from the Zoho API. These intermittent timeouts are not enabling our app to work properly. The API connection was working just fine before. HTTPSConnectionPool(host='www.zohoapis.com',

• Query Regarding our Partnership between AIC-JKLU and Zoho

  Dear Zoho Team, I am writing to raise a concern on behalf of AIC-JKLU, one of Zoho’s incubator partners. Recently, our startups have been facing difficulties while trying to get themselves onboarded on Zoho through our dedicated partner link. Unfortunately,

• Disputed Purchase Invoices

  We have recently moved to Zoho Books from Sage. In Sage we were able to post a purchase/vendor invoice but mark it as on dispute. This would usually be a pricing query or if something was damaged. It would show in their ledger, so we could agree their

• Getting events in the future

  Hi I am trying to get events in the future by calling this API Endpoint https://www.zohoapis.eu/crm/v8/Events?fields=Event_Title,Created_By,Created_Time,Start_DateTime But that gives me all events in the database. How do I make a query that returns all

• Next Page