Accountant Preferences

IN THIS PAGE…

Set the Account Code as Mandatory and Unique

You can make account codes mandatory for new accounts and ensure each account code is unique. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
In the General tab, under Chart of Accounts, check the following options:
- Make Account Code mandatory for new accounts: This ensures an account code is required for every new account. If you edit an existing account, you must fill in the account code as required if this is enabled.
- Enter a unique Account Code for accounts created: This ensures that each new account has a unique code, helping you distinguish one account from another.
Click Save.

Now, every time you create a new account or edit an existing account, you must enter a unique account code.

Configure Default Accounts Used in Transactions

Note:This feature is available only in early access. To enable this feature, contact our support team at support@zohobooks.com.

You can configure default accounts for different accounting entries. For example, you can assign a default account for Accounts Receivable to track customer payments and outstanding balances. Similarly, you can configure default accounts for Accounts Payable, Shipping Charges, Adjustments, Discounts, Bad Debt, Vendor Advances, and Customer Advances. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
In the General tab, under Select a default account to track, choose the default account for:
- Accounts Receivable: Track amounts customers owe your business.
- Accounts Payable: Track amounts your business owes vendors.
- Shipping Charge: Track shipping fees.
- Adjustments: Track transaction adjustments.
- Discount: Track discounts applied to items or transactions.
- Bad Debt: Track uncollectable amounts.
- Vendor Advance: Track advance payments to vendors.
- Customer Advance: Track advance payments from customers.
Click Save.

Now, the accounting entries will be tracked under the configured default accounts.

Set Preferences for Recurring Journal Entries

Recurring journals are automated journal entries for repetitive transactions like rent or depreciation. You can save them as drafts or publish them immediately. To set your preference on how the child journals must be saved:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
In the General tab, under Recurring Journals, choose one of the following options:
- Create manual journals in the Draft state: Creates journal entries as drafts for later review and publishing.
- Create manual journals in the Published state: Creates journal entries directly in the published state.
Click Save.

All recurring journals will now follow your selected preference.

Journal Custom Fields

In Zoho Books, you can create custom fields for journal entries to capture additional information. For example, you can create a journal custom field to track transaction references, audit notes, or even tax details.

Create a Journal Custom Field

To create a journal custom field:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
Click the Journal Custom Fields tab at the top.
Click + New Custom Field in the top right corner.
In the New Custom Fields - Journals page, fill in the following details:
- Label Name: Enter the custom field label name.
- Data Type: Select the type of data you want to collect using this custom field, like text, number, date, or link.
- Help Text: Add a brief description to explain the purpose of this custom field to users. It will appear below the custom field on the Journal Creation page.
- Data Privacy: If the information collected using this field is sensitive, select the appropriate options:
  - PII (Personally Identifiable Information): Allows users with protected data access to view the custom field details. You can then select one of the following options:
    - Sensitive Data. Encrypt and store it. : Choose this if you don’t want the field to be used in an advanced search.
    - Not sensitive data. Store it without encryption. : Choose this if you want the field to be used in an advanced search.
  - ePHI: Choose this if the field’s data contains sensitive health information. The data will be stored with encryption, and only users with protected data access will be able to view it.
- Prevent Duplicate Values: Select Yes if you want the value to be unique and not used again.
Note: If you choose to prevent duplicate values, the custom field will not be available for recurring journals.
- Input Format: Choose the format for the data entered in the custom field. Click Configure Custom Format to enter your preferred format. You can choose one of the following default options:
  - Numbers: Accepts only numbers (0-9).
  - Alphanumeric Characters Without Spaces: Accepts Lowercase Characters (a-z), Uppercase Characters (A-Z), and Numbers (0-9).
  - Alphanumeric Characters With Spaces: Accepts Lowercase Characters (a-z), Uppercase Characters (A-Z), Numbers (0-9), and Spaces.
- Is Mandatory: Choose Yes if you want this custom field to be required when creating the manual journal.
- Show in All PDFs: Choose Yes if you want this custom field to appear in all manual journal PDFs.

Pro Tip: To modify this preference for the custom field later, go to Settings > Preferences > Accountant > Journal Custom Fields tab. Hover over the custom field, click the dropdown on the right, and select Show in All PDFs. To hide it again, follow the same steps and click Hide in All PDFs from the dropdown.

Click Save.

The custom field will now appear on the New Journal page for manual or recurring journals.

Other Actions in Journal Custom Fields

Edit a Journal Custom Field

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
Click the Journal Custom Fields tab at the top.
Hover over the custom field, click the dropdown to the right, and select Edit.
In the Edit Custom Field - Journals page, make the necessary changes, and click Save.

Mark a Journal Custom Field as Inactive

Warning: When you mark a custom field as inactive, it will no longer be shown in any journals.

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
Click the Journal Custom Fields tab at the top.
Hover over the custom field, click the dropdown to the right, and select Mark as Inactive.

The custom field is now inactive and removed from all existing journals. It will not appear when creating a new journal entry.

Note: To mark a custom field as active again, follow the same steps as above, and click Mark as Active from the dropdown.

Set Access Permissions for the Journal Custom Field

You can control who in your organization can access a specific custom field you added in the journal. Here’s how:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
Click the Journal Custom Fields tab at the top.
Hover over the custom field, click the dropdown to the right, and select Configure Access.
In the Read/Write for %custom_field% popup, set the required access for your organization, and click Save.

Users with the set permissions can now access the custom field information.

Delete a Journal Custom Field

Warning: Deleting a journal custom field permanently removes it from all existing journals. Click Force Delete to proceed.

Insight: If you’re not using a custom field temporarily, you can simply mark it as inactive instead of deleting it.

To delete a journal custom field:

Log in to your Zoho Books organization.
Go to Settings.
Select Accountant under Preferences.
Click the Journal Custom Fields tab at the top.
Hover over the custom field, click the dropdown to the right, and select Delete.
In the popup, click Yes to confirm the deletion.

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