## Zoho Billing - Product, solutions, integrations, support, and resources Index

Access the complete documentation index at:
https://www.zoho.com/bh/billing/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available documentation pages before proceeding.

# Single Sign-On (SSO) for Portal

SSO is an authentication service that allows a user to use single login to access multiple applications. SSO uses Security Assertion Markup language (SAML) for exchanging authentication between the applications.

**Note:** This feature is available only for certain plans of Zoho Billing. Visit the [pricing page](/billing/pricing/) to check if it’s available in your current plan.

# SAML

Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) is an open-standard for exchanging authentication and authorization data between two parties ie., Service Provider (SP) and Indentity Provider (IdP). 

Service Provider agrees to trust the Identity Provider for authenticating the user. Identity Provider generates authenticating assertion for the user and communicate that with Service Provider. 

The most important use case that SAML addresses is web browsers single sign-on (SSO). Single sign-on can be established between different domains.

#### How SSO works?

SSO involves three parties

*   **User**
*   **Service Provider** (Ex: Zoho)
*   **Identity Provider** (Ex: OneLogin, Google etc.,)

Let’s look at the SSO workflow,

1.  User requests a service from the Service Provider. 
    
2.  Service Provider requests authentication assertion from the Identity Provider.
    
3.  Based on the assertion, Service Provider makes decision to the user’s request.
    
    ![SSO Transaction Steps](/billing/images/help/images/settings/customer-portal-sso/saml-transaction-steps.png)

#### To whom does this fit?

Merchants who maintain user accounts on their end and still require Zoho Billing’s Customer Portal for billing. 

**For Example:**

Let us consider, a merchant has an online book store (say, [www.zylker.com](https://www.zylker.com)). He maintains user accounts on their end. The user has to login to [www.zylker.com](https://www.zylker.com) to make a purchase. To ease the work, the merchant decides to use Zoho Billing’s Customer Portal for billing and payments, i.e., to make payment, update credit card and verify past transactions.

*   [www.zylker.com](https://www.zylker.com) is to **maintain their account and checkout**
*   [www.billing.zoho.com/portal/zylker](https://www.billing.zoho.com/portal/zylker) is for **billing and payments.**

But wait, should the user login to both the accounts?

That’s right. User needs to login both the servers.

```
Thus, the merchant's requirement is, 

1. Customer will be using both the accounts. 
2. Customer who logs in to www.zylker.com, will be automatically logged in to
www.billing.zoho.com/portal/zylker (Zoho Billing's Portal)
```

Well, enabling SSO between two systems can do that. 

### Enable SSO for the Customer portal

I. **Decide your IdP**

An Identity Provider (IdP) is a service that verifies and manages user identities for secure access to websites or applications. It can be:

*   Third party vendor (Ex: Google, OneLogin)
*   Your own application

II. **Configure SSO**

Here’s how you can enable SSO configuration:

*   Go to _Settings_ in the top-right corner of the page.
*   Select **General** under _Customer Portal_.
*   Go to _Portal Login_ and select **SSO(Single Sign-On)**
*   Click **Configure** and enter the required fields.

**Note:** The ACS URL will be shown in the SSO configuration popup. You can update this URL in your IdP.

Field

Description

Login URL

The URL of your Identity Provider (IdP) to which Zoho Billing will redirect your end users when they attempt to log in to the Customer Portal.

Logout URL

The URL where Zoho Billing will redirect end users when they initiate the logout process from the Customer Portal to ensure they are properly logged out of both the Customer Portal and the IdP.

Password Reset URL

The URL where Zoho Billing will redirect end users who want to change their portal account’s password. This allows users to securely update their password within the IdP’s system.

Public Key

Upload the Public X.509 certificate in text format. This certificate contains the public key that Zoho Billing uses to verify SAML authentication requests from your IdP, ensuring secure communication.

*   Click **Configure Now**.
*   Click **Save** at the bottom of the page. The SSO will be enabled. To complete the set up, copy the ACS URL from the _Portal SSO_ configuration page and configure it in your IdP.

### Disable SSO for the Customer portal

Here’s how you can disable the SSO configuration:

*   Go to _Settings_ in the top-right corner of the page.
*   Select **General** under _Customer Portal_.
*   Click the **More** icon next to _Portal SSO (Single Sign-On)_.
*   Select **Disable**.
*   Click **Disable SSO** to confirm.

Once disabled, your existing IdP’s configuration data will be removed and your customers will no longer be able to use a single set of credentials for signing in.