Automation Series: Auto-update Budget When Time is Logged

In Zoho Projects, Summary fields enable instant budget sync by capturing Actual Cost and showcases it at project-level when a time log is added. This allows real-time budget visibility and helps teams stay within financial thresholds.

Consider an event management firm planning to conduct a global summit on a fixed budget spread across venue deposits, speaker fees, Audio/Video production, and catering. Costs add up from different teams throughout the day and the available budget shifts with every time log. In this case, an outdated balance can lead to cost overrun.

With Summary field, whenever a team member logs time against a task, the Actual Cost updates the total spend automatically. This triggers the Workflow Rule, and executes the associated Custom Function. The function reads the updated Actual Cost Summary field, subtracts it from the Installation Cost, and writes the remaining balance back to the Project Balance Cost field. This keeps the team informed of the latest budget updates.

To configure this flow in your Zoho Projects portal,

      1. Navigate to the upper-right corner of the page.

      2. Click  in the upper-right corner of the top navigation bar.

      3. Navigate to Customization → Layouts and Fields → Projects.

      4. Click the required layout, and create a Custom Summary Field as shown below.

      5. Click  → Developer Space → Connections.

      6. Click Create Connection, choose Zoho Projects as the service, and add the following scope: ZohoProjects.projects.UPDATE

      7. Navigate to Custom Functions under Developer Space.

      8. Click the Projects tab in the upper navigation panel.

      9. Create a new custom function and add the following Deluge script.

Ensure that the portal URL aligns with your data centre. If not, the function may not execute as expected.

1. projectBalanceCostAPIName = "project_balance_cost";
2. projectBalanceCost = installationCost.toDecimal().round(2) - summaryActualCost.toDecimal().round(2);
3. params = Map();
4. params.put(projectBalanceCostAPIName,projectBalanceCost);
5. updateProject = invokeurl
6. [
7. url :"https://projects.zoho.in/api/v3/portal/" + portalId + "/projects/" + projectId
8. type :PATCH
9. parameters:params.toString()
10. connection:"connectionprojects"
11. ];
12. return "success";

Line 1: Add API name for "Project Balance Cost" field from Layouts

Line 4: Modify the data centre URL to match your Zoho Projects portal. Replace https://projects.zoho.in with the appropriate domain for your region.

Line 10: Replace "connectionprojects" with your Zoho Projects connection name.

      10. Add the following arguments during configuration.

      11. Click Save.

      12. Navigate to  → Automation → Workflow Rules.

      13. Click the Projects tab in the upper navigation panel and click New Workflow Rule.

      14. Select Based on User Action as the execution condition when the Summary Field is Updated. Choose the relevant Summary field from the dropdown.

      15. Associate the previously created Custom Function.

      16. Click Add Criteria+ and set the trigger as Actual Cost is Updated.

      17. Click +Add Action and select Associate Custom Function. Select the custom function created in the previous step.

      18. Click Save Rule.

      19. Toggle the Workflow Rule Status on to enable it.

With this automation in place, the project balance reflects actual spend as entries come in throughout the day.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below or reach out to us at support@zohoprojects.com.

• Topic Participants

• Ritula S

  

• Sticky Posts

• Collaborate Visually with Whiteboard in Zoho Projects

  Whiteboard in Zoho Projects allows you to collaborate visually by creating diagrams, annotating designs, and sketching project workflows using shapes, text, and images within project modules. Team members can work simultaneously, improving productivity

• Create Flexible Layouts with Layout Rules

  In a project, when a work moves from planning to execution, the information teams need can change at every stage. A project can need one set of details, a phase can need another, and a custom process may require an entirely different set of information.

• Introducing the Zoho Projects Learning Space

  Every product has its learning curve, and sometimes having a guided path makes the learning experience smoother. With that goal, we introduce a dedicated learning space for Zoho Projects, a platform where you can explore lessons, learn at your own pace,

• Improve User Onboarding in Zoho Projects with Zoho DAP

  Rolling out new processes or onboarding new users in the tool comes with a familiar challenge: the employees need guidance at the moment they are doing the work. Traditional training sessions and knowledge sharing often require users to leave the application.

• Create Custom Module Using AI in Zoho Projects

  Every team has its own way of managing work. While standard modules support common project management needs, many business processes require their own structure, fields, and terminology. With AI-powered Custom Modules in Zoho Projects, users can create

• Recent Topics

• How to add custom lookup-type field to meeting module form in Zoho CRM

  We need to have a lookup field to a custom module's record in Zoho CRM. But it appears that look-up fields are not enabled in Meetings/Events module in Zoho CRM. How do I design/implement a custom look-up type field that will lookup records from custom

• AI-Powered Automation for Repetitive Tasks

  Incorporating AI into Zoho People can streamline and automate repetitive administrative tasks, boosting productivity and efficiency. Automate Data Entry: Use AI to auto-capture and input data from emails and forms, reducing errors. Schedule Management:

• Rotate an Image in Workdrive Image Editor

  I don't know if I'm just missing something, but my team needs a way to rotate images in Workdrive and save them at that new orientation. For example one of our ground crew members will take photos of job sites vertically (9:16) on his phone and upload

• [IDEA] Bring Layout - Conditional Rules and Client Scripts to Zoho Books

  The problem We run Zoho Books with two e-invoicing integrations: myData (Greek tax authority, AADE) and PEPPOL (EU e-invoicing). Between the two, our Invoice form carries a large number of custom fields — document type codes, VAT exemption categories,

• Last four Digit field in Zoho Payment Received

  One of our client's payment received doc has Notes, Last four digit and Transaction ID fields set, I couldn't find api parameter for these fields in the documentation... when I checked the site, it's not custom fields as well. where do i find it, any

• Automatically remove commas

  Team, Please be consistent in Zoho Books. In Payments, you have commas here: But when we copy and paste the amount in the Payments Made field, it does not accept it because the default setting is no commas. Please have Zoho Books remove commas autom

• Show my cost or profit while creating estimate

  Hi, While creating estimate it becomes very important to know exact profit or purchased price of the products at one side just for our reference so we can decide whether we can offer better disc or not .

• Admin Logging in as another User

  How can a Super Admin login as another user. For example, I have a sales rep that is having issues with their Accounts and I want to view their Zoho Account with out having to do a GTM and sharing screens. Latest Update (27th April 2026): With the early

• Zoho CRM Layout Rules: Nine New Actions, Profile-Based Execution, and Interactive Preview

  Hello everyone, Availability: This feature is now available for all users. We’re excited to announce powerful new enhancements to Layout Rules in Zoho CRM - a feature built to guide our teams through form-filling by showing the right information to the

• Previewing attachments in email composer (Zoho CRM)

  When I am sending an email from a contact's record, when I am in the compose email screen, if I add an attachment to the email, I cannot then click on the attachment to view it to see if it is in fact the correct attachment before sending. In Outlook I can do this. Can you please look into incorporating this into future updates?   Thank you, Bianca.

• Lookups and Custom Modules

  I created a Custom Module that I'm calling "Item Purchasing Group". This module will store information for groups of Items that must be purchased together (including minimum overall quantities and/or values, etc.). This will have a one-to-many relationship

• can't access zoho account

  I can't log in to my zoho account, can you help me

• Auto sync Photo storage

  Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks

• Has anyone integrated Zoho with Go High Level (GHL)? Looking for guidance

  Hi everyone, I’m exploring the possibility of integrating Zoho applications with Go High Level (GHL) and wanted to check if anyone in the community has experience with this. Specifically, I’m interested in understanding: Whether a direct integration is

• Updating Unit Code for New Item Creation, Quote and Invoicing is so inconvenient

  The Zoho Team has implemented many updates, but these updates should be optional. Before rolling out any new feature, they should already have a solution in place that allows users to remove or disable it if they choose not to use it. Just yesterday,

• Item/service subtotal

  Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

• The reason I switched away from Zoho Notebook

  My main reason for switching to Zoho was driven by three core principles: moving away from US-based products, keeping my data within India as much as possible, and supporting Indian companies. With that intent, I’ve been actively de-Googling my digital

• I want to prefill CRM Account information using the GSTIN of the Customer

  Currently i need to add account details manually in zoho crm and when it syncs in zoho books manual working needs to be done. Whereas in zoho books i can prefill the customer details using the GSTIN which is great feature. Can the same be enabled for

• #5 Is This Actually The Right Tool For Me?

  Day 5: Before Meera brought six months of business history into Zoho Invoice, she stopped and asked herself a very sensible question: Is this actually the right tool for me? It is much easier to ask that now than after moving all your data. The Usual

• Timesheet entry and comment on the actual timesheet

  Dear madam/sir, It would be really helpful if we could add an option to comment on a specific timesheet entry, after the employee logs a time-log. Would that be possible in the future? Or can you suggest another way to do this?

• OpenAI Is Moving to the Responses API: Here's What It Means for SalesIQ

  OpenAI has deprecated its Assistants API and is moving to the Responses API. If you're using OpenAI Assistants with SalesIQ, you may be wondering if you need to make any changes to your existing setup. You don't. SalesIQ has already taken care of the

• GEO and Zoho Desk

  Has anyone done anything with GEO (generative engine optimization) and zoho desk KB? Are there any plans from Zoho on adding the ability in inject GEO scripts in KB Articles?

• Need Native Support for docx files in Zoho Writer

  Absolutely love Zoho Writer, but often need to share files by email with people who are in the Office ecosystem. Downloading a file as docx, then sending it by email, getting the comments back, converting it to Zoho format, editing it, then converting

• CRM integration issues

  hi Just start testing Campaigns. Read up on up on these issues but can not find an answer. I am super admin. 1) its only showing 1002 contacts, I have a 2500 plan which is confirmed in dashboard. I says it sync'd 1400. I've looked at missing contacts,

• What's New in Zoho Expense: Integrated Business Travel and AI-Powered Expense Management

  This release brings a wide range of updates across Zoho Expense, including new AI-powered capabilities, enhancements to corporate cards, expense management, audits, and more. Keep reading to know how the new updates can transform your travel and expense

• ChatGPT Plugin / MCP Server auth error

  Hi all I'm trying to connect the ChatGPT plugin for Zoho CRM but after username stage of the auth process, I get this error from the URL https://mcp.zoho.eu/mcp-client/ {"error_description":"Invalid request url, Request is not as per defined in oauth

• Project Management Platforms for AI Agents: What Matters Most?

  Zoho Projects is already going beyond basic AI assistance with MCP, AI Bridge, and integrations that let AI models access project data and perform actions. That raises an interesting question: what should a project management platform for AI agents actually

• Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

  Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards

• Sync workdrive feature inside ZohoCRM

  Hi, I'm exploring the new workdrive/ZohoCRM connector released by Zoho to replace the free extension workdriveforCRM which is decomissioned https://marketplace.zoho.com/app/crm/zoho-workdrive-for-zoho-crm I'm rather upset with this long awaited feature,

• Adding Custom Status Options in Work Order Action Menu

  Hello FSM Team, We would like to inquire if it is possible to add more custom options in the Work Order action/status dropdown (e.g., Cancel, Terminate, Non-Billable, Void, etc.). Currently, the available options are limited, and we are unable to customize

• Timesheet Task Icons

  In the image below which shows the task field drop down when creating a timesheet against a project and task. What do the icons mean the the right side column against each task? I can't find any documentation or guide that explains what the no entry sign,

• Open Records in a New Browser Tab

  Hi FSM Team, Just a suggestion: It would be helpful to have a right-click → Open in New Tab option in FSM, similar to CRM. This should ideally work for any clickable record or module, allowing users to open multiple records in separate tabs without losing

• Facturation électronique 2026 - obligation dès le 1er septembre 2026

  Bonjour, Je me permets de réagir à divers posts publiés ici et là concernant le projet de E-Invoicing, dans le cadre de la facturation électronique prévue très prochainement. Dans le cadre du passage à la facturation électronique pour les entreprises,

• Marketing Tip #18: Make your online store mobile-friendly to improve traffic

  Most online shoppers browse on their phones first. If your store is hard to read, slow to load, or tricky to navigate on mobile, they’ll bounce fast. A mobile-friendly store doesn’t just look nice; it improves engagement, reduces drop-offs, and helps

• Cannot add note to record on mobile

  In the latest version of the mobile app - if a record already has notes associated with it - you can add a note via the mobile app - if a record does not have previous notes there is no way to add a new one - it allows me only to send email

• Dashboards for Customers

  Is it possible to build dashboards for each customers in the community for their tickets?

• Custom color coding for your entities

  Our brains are fine tuned to recognize colors before any text or shapes, making color coding a powerful tool to organize data and find items quickly. Color coding of our day-to-day work help with quickly processing the information, reducing cognitive

• The Social Wall: August 2026

  Hello everyone. Welcome to the August 2026 edition of The Social Wall. This month, we're bringing you updates that make it easier to reach your audience, manage more channels, and streamline your publishing workflow. Here’s what’s new. WhatsApp bulk messaging

• Check out in Meetings

  Why there is no check out in Meetings of Zoho CRM, very difficult to track

• How do I get to "Admin Panel"

  I just started a Cliq account. I am the sole administrator. As I read the documentation, I keep seeing reference to an "Admin Panel". I see no way to access this from my Cliq account. How do I access this panel?

• Next Page