A business that trades through two entities in different countries, for example one in the UK and one in Ireland, often wants both in Zoho Books and both linked to a single Zoho CRM. This article explains how Zoho Books handles the two entities, what the connection to Zoho CRM allows, and the workaround Zoho suggests for the limitation.
The short answer
In brief: keep each entity in its own Zoho Books organisation. Both can be linked to the same Zoho CRM, but only one of them can have a two-way sync with the Zoho Finance module in CRM. The other receives data from CRM one way only.
Why two organisations
Entities in different regions have their own tax registrations, so they cannot share one Zoho Books organisation. Zoho Books has a dedicated UK edition with UK-specific tax features, and its Global edition is used for Ireland. Each entity therefore needs its own organisation, set up in the edition that matches its country.
How the connection to Zoho CRM works
| Zoho Books organisation |
Sync with Zoho CRM |
Zoho Finance module in CRM |
| First organisation | Two-way | Available |
| Second organisation | One-way, from Zoho CRM to Zoho Books only | Not available |
In practice that means the second organisation can receive data from CRM, but its invoices, payments, and other Zoho Books records do not flow back into CRM through the standard integration, and CRM has no Zoho Finance module for it.
The workaround
If you need the second organisation's Zoho Books data inside CRM, you can create a new custom module in Zoho CRM and bring the data across yourself, using either:
- The Zoho Books API, with your own code or script reading from Zoho Books and writing into the CRM module.
- Zoho Flow, building flows that move the data between the two without writing code.
Which one you choose is up to you. Zoho describes this as the possible solution at the moment, so it is a workaround and not a built-in feature.
Planning it
This section is our own advice, not Zoho's.
- Choose which entity gets the two-way link deliberately. Usually that is the one whose finance data the sales and account teams look at most often. Changing it later is more disruptive than choosing well at the start.
- Decide what you actually need to see in CRM for the second entity, such as invoice status or outstanding balances. A small custom module with a few fields may be enough, and is far simpler than mirroring everything.
- Choose between the API and Zoho Flow by who will maintain it. Flow is easier for a non-developer to change later, while the API gives more control for larger volumes.
- Plan for duplicates and currencies. A customer who trades with both entities will exist in both organisations, and the two may use different currencies, so decide how records are matched and labelled.
- Test with a few records first, in both directions, before connecting live data.
Check before you commit: Zoho's answer describes the position at the time it was given, and integration limits can change. Confirm the current behaviour for your editions before you design around it, and take your own tax and accounting advice on how the two entities should be set up.
Need help? As a Zoho Partner serving the UK and Ireland, we can set up Zoho Books for each entity, connect them to Zoho CRM, and build the custom module and sync for the second organisation. Email
zoho@1cloudconsultants.com or
raise a support request with 1 Cloud Consultants.