Darbpay’s direct integration with Zoho Books lets you move card spend and reimbursements into your accounting system with almost no manual work. Once Zoho Books is connected, Darbpay uses your Zoho tax rates and chart of accounts to create clean, audit-ready expenses.

This article covers:

• What the Zoho Books integration page looks like in Darbpay

• How transactions appear in Zoho Books

• FAQs about vendors, tax rates, custom fields, and sync behaviour

What does the Zoho Books integration look like in Darbpay?

When you connect Zoho Books, you’ll see a dedicated Zoho Books card under:

Settings → Accounting integrations → Zoho Books

On this page you’ll see:

• Connection status

  • Connected / Not connected / Action required (reconnect)

• Zoho organization

  • Name and base currency of the Zoho Books org you’ve linked

• Sync summary

  • Last sync time

  • Number of expenses exported

  • Any recent errors

Below the summary, Darbpay shows a simple configuration panel:

1. Tax rates

   • Button to Import tax rates from Zoho Books

   • A list of enabled VAT codes that Darbpay can use when posting expenses

2. Accounts & wallets

   • Mapping of Darbpay wallet / card → “Paid through” account in Zoho Books

   • Default expense accounts (GL) used for different types of spend

3. Sync settings

   • Automatic sync (for example, daily) or manual Sync now

   • Toggle to attach receipts and (optionally) ZATCA XML to expenses

The intent is that accountants can quickly see whether Zoho is connected, when it last synced, and which rules govern how Darbpay sends expenses into Zoho Books.

How do Darbpay transactions appear in Zoho Books?

Card transactions

Darbpay card transactions appear in Zoho Books as Expenses, not Bills.

Each expense created by Darbpay will typically include:

• Date – the transaction date from Darbpay

• Amount – the full amount in SAR

• Expense account – chosen based on your Darbpay posting rules (for example, Office Supplies, Fuel Expense, Travel)

• Paid through – your mapped Darbpay wallet account in Zoho (rather than “Undeposited funds”)

• Tax – one of the tax rates imported from Zoho Books (15% VAT, zero-rated, etc.)

• Vendor (Paid to) – if vendor sync is enabled, the Zoho vendor you selected or mapped in Darbpay

• Reference – Darbpay transaction ID or receipt/invoice number

• Description – a structured description that includes key Darbpay metadata such as:

  • Merchant name

  • Merchant VAT / TRN (where available)

  • Cardholder / employee

  • Wallet or card reference

  • Any other Darbpay metadata needed for reporting

• Status – non-billable

If you enable attachments, each expense will also include:

• The receipt image from Darbpay

• Optional ZATCA XML file (where available)

From an accounting perspective, each card transaction creates a simple journal:

• Debit your chosen expense account

• Credit the Darbpay wallet / card liability account (the “Paid through” account)

This keeps your Zoho Books ledgers aligned with your actual Darbpay balance and makes reconciliation against statements straightforward.

FAQs

Does Darbpay sync vendors from Zoho Books?

Yes. Darbpay imports your vendors from Zoho Books so that expenses can be posted against the correct “Paid to” vendor.

• When you connect Zoho Books (and whenever you refresh vendors), Darbpay pulls in your current vendor list from Zoho.

• Inside Darbpay, you can use this list to choose or map the right vendor for each transaction or rule set.

• When Darbpay creates an Expense in Zoho Books, it uses the vendor you selected so the Paid to field in Zoho is populated correctly.

Vendor data flows one way: Zoho Books → Darbpay. You still maintain and edit your vendor master data directly in Zoho; Darbpay does not create or modify vendors on your behalf.

Does Darbpay map to custom fields in Zoho Books?

No. The current Zoho integration does not use custom field mapping.

Instead, Darbpay enriches the standard Description (and, where relevant, Reference) field on each Zoho expense with structured text that contains:

• Merchant name

• Merchant VAT / TRN (where available)

• Cardholder / employee

• Wallet or card reference

• Other relevant Darbpay metadata

This approach keeps the integration simple and robust while still giving you all the information you need inside Zoho for search, review, and audit.

Do I need to set up VAT / tax rates in Darbpay manually?

No. Darbpay imports tax rates directly from Zoho Books.

During setup, you’ll:

1. Connect your Zoho Books organization.

2. Click Import tax rates on the Zoho Books integration page in Darbpay.

3. Choose which Zoho tax codes Darbpay is allowed to use.

Those imported codes are then available when Darbpay posts expenses (for example 15% VAT, zero-rated, exempt). If you later add or change tax rates in Zoho, you simply re-import them from the same screen. Zoho Books remains your single source of truth for VAT.

Can I control which accounts Darbpay uses in Zoho Books?

Yes.

On the Zoho integration page in Darbpay, you can:

• Map your Darbpay wallet / card to the correct Paid through account in Zoho (usually a bank or clearing/liability account).

• Choose the expense accounts (GL) you want Darbpay to use for different types of spend (for example Office Supplies, Fuel, Travel).

Any changes you make to these mappings will only affect future syncs; existing exported expenses in Zoho Books are not modified.

How often does Darbpay sync with Zoho Books?

You can choose:

• Automatic sync on a schedule (for example, once per day), and/or

• Manual sync by clicking Sync now on the Zoho Books integration page.

Only transactions that are cleared, approved, and fully mapped in Darbpay will be sent to Zoho. Once exported, they are locked for editing in Darbpay to keep Zoho and Darbpay in sync.