Items

Items in Zoho Billing represent the products and services your business sells to customers. With Zoho Billing, you can easily manage every aspect of your items, from creating them to setting default tax rates, and adding items to transactions. This ensures your sales processes are streamlined, while helping you stay compliant with tax regulations. Whether you’re selling goods, offering services, or managing stock, Zoho Billing helps you manage your items efficiently.

Create an Item

You can create items manually or import them in bulk if you’re switching from another billing management software. Creating items with accurate information makes it effortless to create transactions for customers quickly. To create an item:

• Log in to your Zoho Billing organisation.

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.

• Click + New in the top right corner.

• In the New Item page, fill in the following fields:

  • Type: Choose if it’s a physical good or service.
  Warning: You cannot change the Item Type once the item is included in a transaction.

  • Name: Enter the item name.
  • SKU: Provide the stock keeping unit.
  • Unit: Choose the item’s measurement unit (example: kg, dozen).
  • HS Code: Enter the 8-digit code for the item.
  • Tax Category: Click the Search icon next to the field. In the popup, search for the item’s tax category and select it based on the item type. The tax will be applied automatically based on the selected category.
  Note: GST rates (0%, 8%, 9%, or tax-exempt) are applied based on the selected tax category for the item. Refer to our help document to learn how a tax rate is assigned to an item and what to consider when applying tax rates.

  • Drag image(s) here or Browse images: Upload item images if any.

• Check Sales information and complete the following fields:

  • Selling Price: Enter the selling price.
  • Account: Select the sales account.
  • Description: Add a brief description if necessary.

You can now create transactions for the item.

Import Items

If you have existing items stored locally or you’re migrating to Zoho Billing from another billing management system, you can easily import items. To import them:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.

• Click the More icon in the top right corner and select Import Items from the dropdown.

• In the Import page, click Choose file to select the file you want to import.

  Note:

  • You can only import files in CSV, TSV, and XLS formats.
  • The file size must not exceed 25 MB.
  Pro Tip: You can download and use the sample file as a reference for the format, and if needed, fill in the data you want to import.

• After you select the file, under the Configure tab, complete the following fields:

  • Duplicate Handling: Select Skip Duplicates to ignore duplicate item entries from the import file that already exist in Zoho Billing, or Overwrite Items to update existing items with the details from the import file.
  • Character Encoding: The default is UTF-8 (Unicode). Ensure you select the correct encoding based on your file.
  • File Delimiter: The default is Comma(,). Modify it if needed based on the delimiter used in your import file.
  Pro Tip: If your file is in a different format, use an online or offline converter to convert it to one of the supported formats (CSV, TSV, or XLSX).

• Click Next >.

• In the Map Fields tab:

  • Default Date Format: The default Decimal Format will be 1234567.89. Click Edit to customize it if required.

• Map the fields based on your preference. Click Save these selections for use during future imports if you want to reuse the mapped fields for future imports.

• Next, on the Preview page, review the fields you mapped, and click Import.

Now, the file containing the items will be imported into Zoho Billing.

Items Operations

Manage Items

Edit an Item

To edit an item:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item you want to edit.
• In the Item Details page, click the Edit icon in the top right corner.
• After you make the required changes, click Save.

The item will now be updated with the details you’ve edited. When you create new transactions with this item, the updated information will be reflected in them.

View All Transactions Involving an Item

To view all transactions involving an item:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item for which you want to view transactions for.
• In the Item Details page, click the Transactions tab at the top.

You can now see all transactions involving the item. Use the Filter By option to filter transactions by transaction type and status.

View Item Action History

To view the actions performed on an item:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item for which you want to view the action history.
• In the Item Details page, click the History tab at the top.

You can now view the complete history of actions made to the item.

View Associated Price Lists for an Item

Price lists can be created for items. To view the associated price lists of an item:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item for which you view associated price lists.
• In the Item Details page, click the Associated Price Lists dropdown.

The price lists linked to the item will now appear in the dropdown.

Customize Columns in the List View Page

To customize columns in the List View page:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Click the Customize icon in the top left corner and choose Customize Columns from the dropdown.
• In the Customize Columns popup, select the columns you want to display.
• Click Save.

The selected columns will now be visible in the List View page.

Clone an Item

To clone an existing item into a new one with the same details:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item you want to clone.
• In the Item Details page, click More in the top right corner, and select Clone Item from the dropdown.
• In the New Items page, you’ll be shown the details of the existing item you cloned. Modify it if required, and click Save.

The existing item will now be cloned into a new one with the same details.

Mark an Item as Inactive

To mark an item as ianctive:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item you want to mark as inactive.
• In the Item Details page, click More in the top right corner, and select Mark as Inactive from the dropdown.

The selected item will now be marked as inactive.

Mark an Item as Active

To mark an item as active:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item you want to mark as active.
• In the Item Details page, click More in the top right corner, and select Mark as Active from the dropdown.

The selected item will now be marked as active.

Delete an Item

To delete an item:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the item you want to delete.
• In the Item Details page, click More in the top right corner, and select Delete from the dropdown.
• In the popup, click Delete to confirm.

The selected item will now be deleted.

Export Actions

Export Items

If you need to back up your data or migrate to another billing management system, you can export the items from Zoho Billing. Here’s how:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.

• Click the More icon in the top right corner, select Export, and choose Export Items from the dropdown.

• In the Export Items popup, complete the following fields:

  • Select Module: By default, the module will be Items.

  • All Items or a Specific Period: Choose All Items to include all your items in Zoho Billing in the export, or Specific Period to export items created within a specific date range. If you select Specific Period, set the Start Date and End Date to export items created during that time frame.

  • Export Template: Choose a template to customize the format and columns for your export. Select a template from the dropdown to export the file with your chosen fields. To create a new template, click + New Template from the dropdown.

    Note: When you create an export template, you must configure at least three fields.

  • Decimal Format: Choose how the currency for items is displayed.

  • Export File Format: Choose the format (CSV, XLS, or XLSX).

  • Include Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) while exporting: Check this to include sensitive details, such as custom fields if you’ve created and used any that contain sensitive information accessible only to admins of your organisation in the export.

  • File Protection Password: Enter a password to lock the file.

• Click Export.

The file will now be downloaded to your device, containing the items with your selected preferences.

Export the Current View of Items

You can export the items in the same order as they appear on the Items List View page by exporting the current view of items. Here’s how:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Click the More icon in the top right corner, select Export, and choose Export Current View from the dropdown.
• In the Export Current View popup, complete the following fields:
  • Decimal Format: Choose how the currency for item prices should be displayed.
  • Export File Format: Choose the format (CSV, XLS, or XLSX).
  • File Protection Password: Enter a password if you want to lock the file.
• Click Export.

The file will now be downloaded to your device, containing only the columns shown on the Items List View page in Zoho Billing.

Bulk Actions

Update Item Fields in Bulk

To update the fields in multiple items at once:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the items you want to update.
• Click Bulk Update at the top.
• In the popup, select a field you want to update from the dropdown, and enter the value to use in the field.
• Click Update.

The field value you entered will now be updated in all the items.

Update Tax Category for Items in Bulk

To update the tax category for items in bulk:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the items you want to update.
• Click Update Tax Category at the top.
• In the Search Tax Category popup, search and select the new tax category.
• In the next popup, click Update.

The selected fields in the item will now be updated with the new value.

Create a New Transaction for Selected Items

You can select multiple items at once and quickly create a sales transaction instead of adding items one by one on the transaction creation page. To create a new transaction for selected items:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.

• Select the items which you want to include in the transaction.

• Click the New Transaction dropdown at the top, and choose the sales transaction you want to create.

  Note: You can create the following sales transactions:

  • Quotes
  • Sales Orders
  • Invoices
  • Subscriptions

• You’ll be redirected to the New Transaction page with your selected items. Choose the customer and complete the other necessary fields.

• Click Save as Draft to save the transaction as a draft, or Save and Send to send the transaction to the customer.

The new transaction will now be created with the selected items.

Mark Items as Inactive in Bulk

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the items you want to mark as inactive.
• Click Mark as Inactive at the top.

The selected items will now be marked as inactive.

Mark Items as Active in Bulk

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the items you want to mark as active.
• Click Mark as Active at the top.

The selected items will now be marked as active.

Delete Items in Bulk

To delete multiple items at once:

• Go to Product Catalog on the left sidebar, and select Items.
• Select the items you want to delete.
• Click Bulk Actions in the top left corner, and select Delete from the dropdown.
• In the popup, click OK to confirm.

The selected items will now be deleted.