Zoho books logo Help Docs
/

Back to Custom Fields

Custom Field Data Types

The following are the data types available for Custom Fields in Zoho Books. They are categorised into Standard Fields and AI Fields.

Standard Fields

Standard Fields are custom fields used to capture structured, user-defined data using predefined data types. They are best used for capturing values that are explicitly provided and consistently used across records.

Text Box (Single Line)

Select the Text Box (Single Line) data type to record any additional information. You can enter a short text, numerical value, or a combination of both up to 255 characters. Only A-Z, 0-9, and special characters are supported.

Email

You can record additional email addresses using this field. For example, brandon.taylor@zylker.com.

URL

You can record and save website URLs using this field. For example, https://www.example.com/books

Fill in the following additional fields:

  • Hyperlink Label: Instead of simply displaying the URL, you can provide a label which will be hyperlinked using the URL and displayed. For example, if the URL is www.example.com and the Hyperlink Label is Visit the Example Website, then it’ll be displayed as Visit the Example Website.

Phone

You can use the Phone data type to store additional phone numbers. For example, (123)-456-7890.

Number

The Number field can be used to store whole numbers and negative numbers. For example, 7 or -7.

Decimal

This field allows you to record decimal values that are positive or negative. For example, 12.90 or -94.53.

Amount

This field allows you to record the amount along with the default currency code set for your organisation. For example, USD50, GBP76, and AUD30.

Percent

You can use this data type to record values in percentage.

Date

In this field, you can record custom as well as relative date values. For example, Custom Date: 19 Jun 2019, Relative Date: Today, Tomorrow, and Starting Date of Month.

Date and Time

The Date and Time data type is used when you have to display both the date and time values. It displays the value in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM format.

Check Box

Using the Check Box data type, you can confirm an action or a fact, or enable an option. Here, you can also choose to have the checkbox ticked by default, if required.

Auto-Generate Number

Using this data type, you can auto-generate values with prefixes or suffixes of your choice. Also, you can associate the custom field to existing invoices and auto-generate this number in all of them.

Fill in the following additional fields:

  • Starting Number: Enter the starting number of the series (for example, 00001). The first record will use this starting number, and the subsequent records will increase by 1.
  • Prefix: Enter the text or number to place at the beginning of each value in the series. This field is optional.
  • Suffix: Enter the text or number to appear at the end of each value in the series. This field is optional.
  • Add to existing records: Check Add this custom field to all the existing records and auto-generate the number in all of them if you want the numbers to be generated for all existing invoices as well. This is a one-time setup, and this setting cannot be changed later.

You can use the Dropdown data type in scenarios where you have to select one option from the list of options provided.

Fill in the following additional fields:

  • Dropdown Options: Add the required options in the text boxes in this section. The following are the methods by which you can add more options.
    • Add Individual Options: Hover over an option and click the + icon.
    • Add Options in Bulk: Click + Add Options and select Add options in bulk. Enter the required options. Each line will be considered as a separate option. Click Add Options.
    • Add Predefined Options: Click + Add Options and select Use Predefined Options. You can choose from Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and Countries. Click Add Options.

Note: You can delete or mark an option as active or inactive by hovering over it, clicking the More icon, and selecting the required action.

  • Add color to Options: Enable this option to add color to the dropdown options. Once enabled, you can choose a color for each option from the dropdown next to it.
  • Color Placement: Choose how the color should appear. You can select Next to Option or Wrap Option.

Multi-select

The Multi-select data type is similar to the dropdown data type. Using multi-select, you can select up to 30 options from the list of options available.

Fill in the following additional fields:

  • Dropdown Options: Add the required options in the text boxes in this section. The following are the methods by which you can add more options.
    • Add Individual Options: Hover over an option and click the + icon.
    • Add Options in Bulk: Click + Add Options and select Add options in bulk. Enter the required options. Each line will be considered as a separate option. Click Add Options.
    • Add Predefined Options: Click + Add Options and select Use Predefined Options. You can choose from Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and Countries. Click Add Options.

Note: You can delete or mark an option as active or inactive by hovering over it, clicking the More icon, and selecting the required action.

  • Add color to Options: Enable this option to add color to the dropdown options. Once enabled, you can choose a color for each option from the dropdown next to it.
  • Color Placement: Choose how the color should appear. You can select Next to Option or Wrap Option.

Lookup

The Lookup data type allows you to pull data from one module and display it inside another module. Learn more about the Lookup data type.

Multi-Select Lookup

The Multi-Select Lookup data type works similarly to the Lookup data type, but supports a many-to-many relationship between modules. Unlike the Lookup field where only one record can be linked, this field allows you to associate multiple records from another module to a single record. Both pop-up and dropdown views are supported for selecting records.

Scenario 1: Zylker Furniture sources raw materials from multiple vendors. Patricia, the CEO of Zylker Furniture, wants to track which vendors supply each item. She creates a Multi-Select Lookup field called Preferred Vendors in the Items module and links it to the Vendors module. Now, when she adds an item such as Oak Wood Panels, she can associate multiple vendors with it. To view all the items linked to a particular vendor, she goes to the Vendors module, selects the vendor, and checks the Related List tab on the vendor’s Details page.

Scenario 2: Zylker Furniture assigns multiple projects to each customer. Patricia wants to track which projects are associated with a customer. She creates a Multi-Select Lookup field called Assigned Projects in the Customers module and links it to the Projects module. When she creates or edits a customer record, she can select multiple projects for that customer. To view all the customers linked to a particular project, she goes to the Projects module, selects the project, and checks the Related List tab on the project’s Details page.

The linked records can be saved and managed from the record’s Details page. The Related List with the multi-select lookup details will be available in the corresponding modules. To access the related list, go to the module in which you have set up the multi-select lookup field and select the Related List tab from the Details page.

Text Box (Multi-line)

The Text Box (Multi-line) data type also lets you record any additional information of your choice. You can enter text, numerical value, or a combination of both up to 36000 characters (excluding rich-text formatting). Only A-Z, 0-9, and special characters are supported.

Attachment

You can use the Attachment data type to add files such as documents, PDFs, and images. Select the required types from the File Type field.

The formats supported for each file type are listed below:

  • Images: GIF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, BMP, TIF, and TIFF types.
  • Documents: XLS, XLSX, DOC, DOCX, XML, CSV, PDF and TXT types.

You can attach one file whose size limit is less than 7 MB.

  • Display in Portal: If you’re using the Attachment custom field in the Invoices and Quotes modules, you can choose whether the attached files should be visible to your customers in the Invoices and Quotes modules of their portal. Choose Yes to display the field in the portal, or No to hide it.

Formula

The Formula data type enables you to build a formula that performs calculations using predefined functions, fields, and operators. Learn more about the Formula data type.

External Lookup

Select one of the available Zoho apps and look up data from one of its fields.

Fill in the following additional fields:

  • Service: Click the text box next to External Field to view this field. Next, select one of the available Zoho apps from the dropdown.

Image

Use the Image data type to upload an image to a record.

  • Maximum Size: 5 MB.
  • Supported Formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, and BMP.

To display the Image custom field in PDFs, you need to add the placeholder for the custom field in the required section of the PDF template. For example, if you are sharing an invoice with your customer and have added the QR code for payment in the Image type custom field, you can add the QR code to the footer of the PDF. To do this, open the required PDF template, navigate to the Header & Footer section, expand the Footer tab, click Customise your footer content, and then click Insert Placeholders. Select the Image custom field’s name from the dropdown and click Preview.

Note: Unlike the Attachment data type, an image added using the Image data type will be visible directly on the record’s Details page. In the Attachment data type, only the file name is displayed, and you must click the file name to view the image.

AI Fields

AI Fields are custom fields that automatically derive values from another custom field’s input data using built-in intelligence. They are suited for extracting information and generating insights from unstructured data with minimal manual input.

Note:

  • This feature is available only for certain plans of Zoho Books. Visit the pricing page to check if it’s available in your current plan.
  • The data in AI custom fields is generated based on the selected input custom field and is updated only after you create or update records. The generated data will be available on the record’s Details page.

Enable AI Custom Fields

By default, all AI features are disabled in Zoho Books. To enable the required AI custom fields:

  • Go to Settings in the top right corner.
  • Click AI Preferences under Organisation.
  • Enable the toggle next to the required AI feature and select the required AI Provider and Model. Currently, only Zia and Internal LLM are supported.
  • Click Save.

Keyword Extraction

Automatically identifies and extracts relevant keywords from text to help categorise and organize records. Select a Text Box (Single Line) or Text Box (Multi Line) custom field as the Input Custom Field, and choose whether the Output Custom Field should be a Text Box (Single Line) or Text Box (Multi Line) custom field. The extracted keywords are displayed in the custom field on the record’s Details page.

Sentiment Analysis

Analyze text input to identify its emotional tone and return a sentiment score such as positive, negative, or neutral. Select a Text Box (Single Line) or Text Box (Multi Line) custom field as the Input Custom Field. Based on the tone of the user’s input, Positive, Negative, or Neutral is displayed in the custom field to describe the user’s sentiment on the record’s Details page.

Image to Text

Extract structured text, descriptions, and insights from uploaded images using AI, based on the prompt provided. Select an Image custom field as the Input Custom Field, specify the required action in Enter Your Prompt, and choose whether the Output Custom Field should be a Text Box (Single Line) or Text Box (Multi Line) custom field. When a user uploads an image in the Image custom field, the AI processes the image based on the prompt provided in Enter Your Prompt, and the extracted content is displayed in the custom field on the record’s Details page.

Was this document helpful?
Yes
No

Thank you for your feedback!

ON THIS PAGE