Back to Settings Overview

Preferences

The Preferences section under Settings allows you to customise certain functions of Zoho Invoice. This section is broadly divided into General, Contacts, Items, Sales, Purchases and Timesheet.

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General

To configure General Settings, click on the Gear Icon found on the top right hand side corner of the screen and click on More Settings. You will be taken to the Preferences section.

Through the General Settings, you can customise your Zoho Invoice account by selecting your preferences for the various options provided below.

• Select the modules you would like to enable: Check the modules to enable them. Estimates, Timesheet & Retainer Invoice modules can be enabled from here. After enabling the module, you will be able to use those modules in your Zoho Invoice account. Once Timesheet module is enabled, the options from Timesheet is shown.

• Rounding time: This will adjust the time to the nearest, above or below value. This will appear on invoices and reports.

• Set max hours/day: This will be the max hours you define as a day in your business.

• Attach PDF file with the link while emailing the invoice & estimate?: Check this option if you wish to attach a PDF copy of your invoice & estimate while emailing, leave it unchecked if you wish not to include the PDF file.

• Would you like to encrypt the PDF files that you send?: Checking this option will prevent the user from
  
  1. editing the PDF files and
  2. converting them into other file formats.

• Transaction Approval: This allows you to verify and approve the transactions that your employees create. Check the box to enable transaction approval for Sales Transactions.
  Once enabled, you can enable or disable the following preferences by checking the box:

  • Notify when transactions are submitted for approval: Sends an email notification whenever a transaction is submitted for approval. You can send the notification for all approvers or only to one approver based on your preferences.
  • Notify the submitter when a transaction is approved: Sends an email notification whenever a transaction approved.

• Do you give discounts?: If you offer discounts to your customers, choose whether you offer discount At Individual Item level or At invoice level. Selecting At invoice level will have options from the drop down for Discount Before Tax and Discount After Tax. If you do not offer any discounts, choose I don’t give discounts.

• Select any additional charges you’ll like to add: If you wish to add charges related to shipping in the sales modules, check the Shipping Charges option. If there are any other adjustment you like to add, check on the Adjustments option. Leave them unchecked if you wish not to add any.

• Do you sell your items at rates inclusive of Tax? Checking this option will let you mark your sales transactions as ‘Tax Exclusive’ or ‘Tax Inclusive.’

• I want to add a field for sales person: Check this option, if you would like to have a field for sales person operating your sales modules. Leave it unchecked if you wish not to have any field for the sales person.

• Organisation Address Format: Set the address formats for your organisation from the placeholders provided. These will be displayed in the PDF only.

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Branding

Personalize your Zoho Invoice account to go with your brand.

The Branding section has three tabs:

• General
• Portal Settings

General

Under this tab, you can:

• Upload your organisation logo that will be visible on all your documents. (Estimates, Invoices, etc.)

• Upload the favicon of your choice.

• You can choose and apply themes to your Zoho Invoice organisation. If you have multiple organisations, you can differentiate between them by setting a theme for each organisation.

• Would you like to keep Zoho branding on your Invoices and Estimates?: You can enable this option if you wish to have Zoho branding on your invoices & estimates.

Note: The option to upload favicon will be available only if you’d configured a custom domain for your organisation.

Portal Settings

This tab allows you to configure your client portal.

• Once you’re in the tab, start with entering a name for your client portal.

• You can enter a welcome message in the space provided for Banner Message. This message will be shown to your clients when they log in to the portal for the first time.

• Click on the check-box against Send me email notification for every activity that takes place in the portal if you wish to receive email notifications for every activity that your client does in the portal.

• Click on the check-box against Allow customers to forward documents from portal if you wish to let your clients forward documents. Please note, the people whom they forward the document to will be added as contact persons in the contact information for that client.

• Click on the check-box against Send an email notification to customers when I comment on Invoices/Estimates if you wish to have an email sent to your customers whenever you add a comment for any transaction.

• Click on Enable customer review for my services if you wish to receive review from your customers to know how happy they are with your organisation’s services.

• Click on the check-box Allow customers to view projects and timesheets if you want to give your clients access to the time logged for each project/task.

• Click on the check-box Allow customers to edit their information to permit your customers to edit their billing/shipping address and contact details.

• Once done, click on Save.

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Contacts

Configure preferences related to the contacts module. Learn more.

Items

Configure preferences related to the Items module. Learn more.

Estimates

Configure preferences related to the Estimates module. Learn more.

Invoices

Configure preferences related to the Invoices module. Learn more.

Recurring Invoices

Configure preferences related to the recurring invoices module. Learn more.

Credit Notes

Configure preferences related to Credit Notes. Learn more.

Delivery Note Settings

If you ship or deliver the products you sell to your customers, then you can configure your Delivery Note settings here. A Delivery Note lists the contents of the package, what the recipient has ordered and what has been sent to them. Typically, a Delivery Note includes description and quantity of the items delivered. In some cases, a copy of the Delivery Note is signed by the recipient and then returned to the seller or consignor as a proof that the items have been delivered.

To configure Delivery Note settings, click on the Gear Icon found on the top right hand side corner of the screen and click on More Settings. Click on Preferences and select the Delivery Note Settings tab.

• Document Title: By default, the document title will be given as Delivery Note. You can change the name of this field as per your preference.

• Transaction Number: This field displays the Transaction Number related to a specific delivery. You can change the name of the field as per your preference.

• Date Field: By default, the field where the date is displayed will be shown as Date Field. You may customise it as per your preference.

• Item: The field which shows the items which are being delivered will be displayed as Item. You can customise the name of this field as per your preference.

• Description: The description of the items being delivered will be provided in this field. You can change the name of this field, as per your preference.

• Quantity: The quantity field will display the quantity of the items being delivered. You can change the name of the field as per your preferene.

• Reference Field: This field displays the reference number or code for the Delivery Note. By default the preference to display this field in the Delivery Note will be selected. Enter the name under which this field should be displayed. Uncheck the check box next to this field, to exclude it from the Delivery Note.

• Bill To: This field will display the name of the person to whom the items are billed. By default this field will be selected and you can change the name of this field. If you wish to exclude this from the Delivery Note, you can uncheck the check box next to this field.

• Delivery To: You can enter the name of the person to whom the items will be delivered, in this field. By default this field will be selected and you can change the name of this field. You can exclude this field from the Delivery Note, if you wish, by unchecking the check box next to this field.

• Signature: In case you require a signature from the customer on the Delivery Note, as a proof of receipt of the items, you can include this field. You can change the name of this signature field, if you prefer. If you wish to exclude this field in the Delivery Note, uncheck the check box next to this field.

• Balance Due: This field displays the balance due from the customer. You can change the name of this field as per your preference. If you wish to exclude this from the Delivery Note, uncheck this field.

• Show Customer Notes: If you wish to display the customer notes from the invoice, which is related to a specific Delivery Note, you can select this option.

• Click Save once you are done configuring.

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Packing Slip Settings

A packing slip will include details of the contents in a package you deliver. The purpose of a packing slip is to inform all the parties, i.e. transport agencies, government authorities and customers, about the contents of the package which is being delivered.

To configure Package Slip settings, click on the Gear Icon found on the top right hand side corner of the screen and click on More Settings. Click on Preferences and select Packing Slip Settings tab.

• Document Title: By default, the document title will be given as Packing Slip, you can change this as per your preference.

• Transaction Number: This field displays the Transaction Number related to a specific delivery. You can change the name of the field as per your preference.

• Date Field: By default, the field where the date is displayed will be shown as Date Field. You may customise the name of this field as per your preference, if you wish.

• Item: This field shows the items which are in the package and will be displayed as Item. You can customise the name of this field as per your preference, if you wish.

• Description: The description of the items will be under this field. You can change this as per your preference.

• Quantity: This field will display the quantity of the items. You may change the name of this field as per your preference.

• Reference Field: This field displays the reference number or code. By default the preference to display this field in the Packing Slip will be selected. Enter the name under which this field should be displayed. Uncheck the check box next to this field to exclude it from the Packing Slip.

• Bill To: This field will display the name of the person to whom the items are billed. By default this field will be selected and you can change the name of this field. If you wish to exclude this from the Packing Slip, you can uncheck the check box next to this field.

• Delivery To: You can enter the name of the person to whom the items will be delivered, in this field. By default this field will be selected and you can change the name of this field. You can exclude this field from the Packing Slip, if you wish, by unchecking the check box next to this field.

• Signature: In case you require a signature from the customer on the Packing Slip, as a proof of receiving the items ordered, you can include a signature field. You can change the name of this signature field, if you prefer. If you wish to exclude this field in the Packing Slip, uncheck the check box next to this field.

• Balance Due: This field displays the balance due from the customer. You can change the name of this field as per your preference. If you wish to exclude this from the Packing Slip, uncheck this field.

• Show Customer Notes: If you wish to display the customer notes from the invoice, which is related to a specific Packing Slip, you can select this option.

• Click Save once you are done configuring.

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Field Customization

Let us ruffle through the following topics on custom fields:

• Custom fields - Overview
• Custom fields - Actions
• Custom fields - Labels
• Custom Fields - Limitations

Custom fields - Overview

Custom Fields in Zoho Invoice allow you to quickly and easily add data against fields created by you. For example, let us consider that you are the owner of a bakery. You will have to buy 50 Kgs of flour every month for baking cakes. You might want to have a custom field called ‘Quantity’ against which you can enter the value “50 Kgs”. In this case, the Label Name will be ‘Quantity’ and the Data Type will be ‘Text’.

Note:

• Custom fields for all supported modules will only be available for organisations created after 22nd November 2015.
• For the older organisations, this feature will only be available for the Expenses and Payments Received modules. If you wish to have custom fields with data type enabled for all the modules, send in an email to support[at]zohoinvoice[dot]com, to check if it is feasible for your organisation.

Taking the Expenses module as an example, this is the method by which you can create custom fields from the Preferences section:

• Click on the Gear icon and navigate to Preferences -> Expenses -> Custom Fields -> +New Custom Field.

Custom fields - Actions

Custom fields can also be marked as “Inactive” by hovering your cursor over the custom field in the Preferences section, and clicking on Mark as Inactive.

You can also mark a custom field as a mandatory field, by checking the option “Is Mandatory field” as Yes, in the custom field editing or creation page.

The custom fields can be made to appear on all of your PDFs by selecting the Show in all PDF option as Yes in the custom field creation or editing page.

Custom fields - Labels

• Label Name: Enter a name for your new custom field.

• Data Type: A data type is simply the type of data you enter into a system. It can be a integer(number), string(text), float(decimal) and so on.

• Is Mandatory: Mark this option as Yes, if you want the custom field to be a mandatory one, i.e, it shouldn’t be left blank.

• Show in all PDF: By checking this option as Yes, the custom field will appear in all PDFs of the concerned module (invoice, sales order, etc.).

The 12 data types supported by Zoho Invoice are:

Data Type Name	Description
Text	Enter a word or a short phrase against the field name.
Email	Enter an email address against the field name.
URL	Enter a URL to a file or a website against the field name.
Phone	Enter a contact number against the field name.
Number	Enter any positive or negative number against the field name.
Decimal	Enter any positive or negative decimal number against the field name.
Amount	The amount you enter will be displayed along with the currency you wish to display. It may be your organisation’s base currency or the currency for that particular transaction.
Percent	Enter a value to denote a percentage against the field name.
Date	Select a date from the calendar for this field.
Checkbox	You can add a checkbox with a small text or description to tell what it is for. For example, it may be used to confirm an action or make a choice. If it is selected, the value ‘true’ is passed, if not ‘false’ is passed.
Auto-Generate Number	While creating transactions, you can create a custom field with this data type if you wish to automatically generate the data. For example, you can create a custom field called ‘Expense Reference’ and enter the values as shown in the image below, Henceforth, for every expense you create, this field will be generated automatically.
Drop-down	Enter a set of options for a field and select them from a drop-down.

• Default Value: The value entered in this field will be displayed by default for this field. You can always change it while creating the transaction.

• Preview: You will be able to see how the custom field will look like, when creating a transaction.

Finally click on Save to save the custom field.

Custom Fields - Limitations

Kindly note that adding custom fields of different data types have some limitations. The maximum number of custom fields that can be created for each data type is mentioned below inside the ( ):

For easy understanding let’s split the datatypes into four sections.

Section 1

• String (20)
• Auto-Generate Number (1)
• Email (2)
• URL (2)
• Phone (2)
• Dropdown (5)

Note: Sum of the custom fields created for the above mentioned datatypes should not exceed 20.

Section 2

• Number (8)
• Date (4)

Note: Sum of the custom fields created for the above mentioned datatypes should not exceed 12.

Section 3

• Amount (4)
• Decimal (4)
• Percent (2)

Note: Sum of the custom fields created for the above mentioned datatypes should not exceed 4.

Section 4

• Checkbox (3)

Note: Sum of the custom fields created for the above mentioned datatypes should not exceed 3.

Adding Custom fields to Items

The default input fields you come across while creating an item such as the item name, price, etc. is designed to capture information that is common to all businesses. But, apart from the available fields, you would want to store additional information that is unique to your business. Custom fields for items will allow you to do that.

With custom fields, you can receive input in different forms such as number, text, email, etc.

You can also choose whether you want your custom field to be one of the following:

• Drop-down
• Checkbox
  
• Date selector
• Automatic number generator
  

Let’s take an example where you supply printing paper to small and medium businesses. You sell different types of paper based on your customer’s requirements.

You would usually want to enter more information about your items apart from item name and price. You would want to display information such as Net weight, Quality of the paper, no.of.sheets per pack, etc.

You can create custom field with drop-down datatype and enter all the available options for Net. Weight, Quality of paper, etc. So, while creating an item, you can choose the net weight or quality of the paper from the drop-down menu. This will save you time and will also reduce the margin or error during input.

Note: As of now, you can display only a maximum of 5 custom fields in an invoice.

Creating item custom fields

To create custom fields for items,

• Click on Settings, head to Preferences and click on Items.
• Click on the + New Custom Field link present under the Additional information section.

• A pop-up will appear on the screen.
• Enter the name of the custom field in the Label Name field and choose appropriate datatype (Number, Text, etc.)

• Now, choose whether you want this input field to be made mandatory while creating a transaction, by configuring the “Is Mandatory” field.
• Once done, you can choose whether you wish to display the custom field and its value by configuring the Show in all PDF section.
• Click Save to add your newly created custom field.

Adding information to custom fields

Adding additional information to your items can be done in two ways:

While creating an item

• Click on the Items tab from the left sidebar and click on + New item.
• Enter the item name and unit.
• You can edit the data for the custom field under the custom field textbox.

• Enter the rate for the item and choose a tax to be associated with this item and hit Save.

Now, when you include the item in your estimate/invoice, you will see the custom field and the related value displayed as a column in the item table.

While creating an invoice

• Click on Sales tab on the navigation pane and choose Invoices.
• Click on + New Invoice and enter the customer name and add items which you wish to invoice.
• The custom field will be displayed in your invoice creation page, as shown in image below:

Editing an item custom field

An item custom field can be edited in two ways:

• You can edit an item field by clicking on it. Clicking on the item field will open a pop-up window, where you can edit the name of your custom field, data type, make it mandatory, and add your preference to show/hide the custom field in all PDFs.

Deleting an item custom field

To delete an item custom field,

• Go to the Items section under Preferences and click on the custom field which you wish to delete.
• A pop-up window will appear on the screen.

• Click on the Delete this Custom Field option from the bottom corner of the window.

Note: A custom field cannot be deleted if it is used while creating a transaction.

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Validation Rules

Validation Rules in Zoho Invoice help you create new rules that set restrictions for the data being recorded. So, when a user tries to enter data in a field that you have set a restriction for, it passes through the validation rule. If the value you enter in the field violates the condition you’ve set, an alert message is displayed and the transaction is not created. The user will also be able to set multiple criteria for a single validation rule.

Currently, Validation Rules are available only for the Estimates module.

Note: This feature is available only for the users in the Premium Plan (India) and Professional Plan (all other editions) of Zoho Invoice.

Let us understand how validation rules work with the help of few scenarios.

In this section:

• Create Validation Rule
• Multiple Criteria and Subrules
• Execute Validation Rules
• Other Actions for Validation Rules

Create Validation Rule

You can create a validation rule by setting certain criteria for the fields in a transaction. Here’s how:

• Go to Settings > Preferences.
• Select the module for which you would like to create a validation rule (for example, Estimates).
• Go to the Validation Rules tab and click + New Validation Rule.

• Choose the field for which you want to create a validation rule. This can either be a custom field or any of the default fields in a transaction.
• Add the condition to be met in the adjacent drop-down menus.
• Enter the Alert Message to be displayed when the transaction violates the validation rule.

• Click Continue and in the page that follows, click Save.

If you want to create a new validation rule for the same field:

• Select the field for which you had created a validation rule (from the list page).
• Click + Add Another Validation and repeat the steps mentioned above.

Multiple Criteria and Subrules

A validation rule is applicable for all transactions. However, if you would like to apply it for specific transactions based on multiple criteria, or create a new rule with the same condition, refer the following:

• Adding Multiple Criteria
• Adding Subrules

Adding Multiple Criteria

When you create a validation rule, it will be applicable for all transactions by default. You can also choose the rule to be applied to transactions based on specific criteria.

Here’s how you can add multiple criteria:

• Go to Settings > Preferences.
• Select the particular module and go to the Validation Rules tab.
• For new rules: While creating a validation rule, enter the details and click Continue. In the page that follows, click the Pencil icon near the rule.
  For existing rules: Click the Edit option in the validation rules list page and in the details page, click the Pencil icon near the rule.
• Click the option Based on specific criteria in the pop-up that appears.
• Set the criteria using the options provided.

• Click + Add Criteria for more options and use the - sign to remove criteria.
• Click Edit Pattern to change the criteria pattern based on your preferences and click Save.
• Click Done.

Adding Subrules

If you would like to include an additional rule to your existing condition, you can add Subrules. This is applicable only when you’ve chosen to apply the rule to transactions based on specific criteria.

Here’s how you can create subrules:

• Go to Settings > Preferences.
• Select the particular module and go to the Validation Rules tab.
• Select the field for which you have created a validation rule.
• Click + Add Subrule and a pop-up appears.

• Enter the Criteria and the Alert Message.
• Click Done.
• Verify the subrule you had created and click Save for the changes to reflect.

Execute Validation Rules

Once a Validation Rule is created and saved, it will be applicable for all transactions created henceforth. When any new transaction violates a validation rule, an alert message will be displayed to the users.

Other Actions for Validation Rules

Once you’ve created a validation rule you will be able to edit, mark it as inactive or delete them. Here’s how:

• Go to Settings > Preferences.
• Select the module for which you’ve enabled validation rules.
• Hover over the validation field to perform the following actions:
  • Edit: Change the message or the criteria of a validation rule.
  • Mark as Inactive: Temporarily disable the validation rule. You can enable it again by clicking Mark as Active.
  • Delete: Permanently delete a validation rule by clicking the Trash icon.

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Custom Buttons

Zoho Invoice allows you to create new button actions with the help of an advanced feature called Custom Buttons.

Users can create new buttons and define a set of actions based on their requirements.

For example, You wish to apply a discount of 10% to your regular customers, on their monthly purchase amount. You can define this action in a function and create a button Discount10. Likewise, you can create new buttons and define a set of actions based on your necessity.

Create Custom Button

To create a custom button:

• Go to Preferences by clicking the gear icon on the top-right of your screen.
• Select Invoices tab under the preferences section.
• Click the Custom Buttons tab.
• Click + New Custom Button

• In the following screen, you need to:

  • Enter the name of the button. The button name should not exceed 25 characters.
  • Select an option for Who can view this button?
  • Write a custom function to trigger an action when a user clicks the custom button.
  • Click Save.

Note:

• Custom Buttons are restricted based on user permissions. User creating the custom button can share each custom button with everyone or restrict it to self alone.
• Custom Button is currently available only for the Invoice Module.
• You can view the custom button in the invoice details page, under the More dropdown.

• A maximum of 10 custom buttons can be added.
• Custom Button feature is available only for users under the professional plan.

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