Connecting...
Tags: crm

Zoho CRM Integration

Keep your CRM and document collection aligned. When you connect Zoho CRM, FolioReady imports contacts in two clicks and writes folio data directly onto your Zoho Deal and Contact records. Your team always sees the latest status without leaving Zoho.

Why Connect Zoho CRM?

Stop retyping contact details

Without the integration, you manually enter names and emails into FolioReady, even though the same contacts already exist in Zoho. With the connection, search your Zoho contacts and import them in two clicks.

Folio data lives on the Zoho record

FolioReady writes collected field values directly onto your Zoho Deal or Contact: status, reference numbers, whatever you've mapped. Your team sees it right inside Zoho.

The documents land there too

Set Store Files to Zoho CRM under Settings > Integrations, and every document a client uploads is attached directly onto the same Zoho Deal or Contact your folio data already writes to. The file itself sits on the record your team already opens.

The file lives on the record

There's no separate FolioReady original. Once a document is stored to Zoho, the attachment on your Zoho record is where it lives.

Zoho caps a single file at 20 MB, and every document stored this way counts toward your org's own Zoho file storage, the same allotment your team already shares for everything else kept on your records.

Works across Contacts and Deals

Link a client to a Zoho Contact for the primary relationship, or file a template's folios against a Deal instead, whichever answers "what are we working on?" for your team.

Works wherever your Zoho org lives

Zoho hosts organizations in several regional data centers. FolioReady detects which one your account uses at connect time and talks to that data center for every call afterward. There's nothing to configure.

What You Can Do

Import Zoho contacts as FolioReady clients

Search your Zoho contacts by name or email and import them as FolioReady clients. Contact details are pre-filled from Zoho.

No duplicates

If a client with the same Zoho contact ID or email already exists, FolioReady links the existing client instead of creating a duplicate.

Write folio data onto Zoho fields

In the FolioReady template builder, assign any canvas field to a field on the Zoho Deal or Contact. When a folio is completed, FolioReady writes the collected value onto the linked record.

You can pick an existing Zoho field, or click "Create field" to have FolioReady create a new custom field for you.

Post document summaries as notes

FolioReady's AI reads each collected document and writes a short summary. That summary is posted as a note on the folio's linked Zoho record, so your team can see what each file contains straight from the Zoho timeline.

Prerequisites

  • A Zoho CRM account with permission to authorize third-party apps and create custom fields
  • A FolioReady account on any plan
Custom field limits are set by your Zoho plan

Zoho caps how many custom fields you can create per module, and the cap scales with your plan. If your template maps many fields and you're on Zoho's entry-level plan, you may need to map onto existing fields instead of creating new ones, or move to a higher Zoho plan.

Connecting Your Account

  1. Navigate to Settings > Integrations in FolioReady
  2. Find Zoho CRM and click Connect
  3. You'll be redirected to Zoho's authorization screen
  4. Select the Zoho organization you want to connect, then authorize FolioReady
  5. You'll be redirected back to FolioReady and the integration is now active. The confirmation names the organization you connected
Grant FolioReady access to your Zoho organization
Double-check the organization

Zoho lets you pick which organization to authorize on its own screen, and FolioReady can't see or change that choice. After connecting, check the organization name in the confirmation message. If it's the wrong one, disconnect and reconnect, picking the correct organization from Zoho's account switcher.

Once connected, FolioReady automatically sets Zoho CRM as your CRM service. New contact imports and folio field syncs flow from that point forward.

Importing Contacts

Once connected, an Import from Zoho CRM button appears on the Clients page.

Step 1: Search for a Contact

Click Import from Zoho CRM to open the import page. It opens on your existing Zoho contacts, so there's no need to type first. Searching by name or email narrows the list.

Import from Zoho CRM, on the Clients page

Step 2: Client Created

Press Link to Zoho CRM on their row. The contact becomes a FolioReady client with their name and email pre-filled from Zoho, and their record opens. Pressing it on someone already in FolioReady opens the client you already have rather than creating a second. A client you added by hand under the same email address is linked the same way, so nothing is duplicated.

Mapping Folio Fields to Zoho Fields

In the template builder, every canvas field can be mapped to a field on the Zoho Deal or Contact. When a client completes a folio, FolioReady writes the collected values onto the linked Zoho record.

Using an existing field

Open a template in the builder and set the Document Target under Settings to Contact or Deal. That choice covers the whole template. Then, on any canvas field, open the sync settings: FolioReady loads that record's fields from Zoho, and you pick the one to write to.

Creating a new field from FolioReady

If you need a field that doesn't exist yet, click Create field inline. FolioReady creates a new custom field on the selected module in Zoho and selects it for you. No need to leave the template builder.

Send a Folio to a Deal

A Contact answers "who is this?". A Deal answers "what are we working on?", and for a lot of teams that's where the paperwork belongs. In the template builder, open Settings and set the Document Target to either Contact or Deal. It starts on No CRM sync, so a template writes nothing to Zoho until you choose where its folios should land.

Set it to Deal and every folio from that template files against a Deal instead of the Contact: its field values and its document summaries both land on the same Deal record.

Choosing the Deal

FolioReady never creates a Deal, and never guesses which one. When you create a folio, it looks at the Deals already associated with that Contact in Zoho:

  • One Deal: it's selected automatically, and you'll see it named on the folio's Target step.
  • Several Deals: you pick the right one before the folio goes out.
  • None: the request is refused, and the Target step says so. A Deal-targeted folio for a Contact with no Deals could only ever collect documents and sync them nowhere, so FolioReady stops rather than creating one. Create the Deal in Zoho, or pick a template that files against the Contact.

A Contact target needs none of this: the client is the Contact, so there's nothing to choose and the folio goes straight out.

Once the Deal is linked

The folio names the Deal it files against on the folio's detail page, and in the CRM column of your folio lists, so you can tell at a glance what each request is filed against.

A folio that names no Deal doesn't sync. Its field values and summaries stay in FolioReady, so nothing is written to the wrong record. They stay there for good: the Deal can't be chosen from the folio's page afterwards, so nothing reaches Zoho retroactively. The Target step when you send the request is where the Deal is decided.

Document Summaries

When a client uploads a document, FolioReady's AI reads it and writes a short plain-language summary. That summary is posted as a note on the folio's linked Zoho record: the Contact, or the Deal if the folio targets one. Your team can see what each file contains straight from the Zoho timeline.

Summaries post automatically once the AI finishes reading a document; a file that's still processing, or that couldn't be summarized, is skipped until its summary is ready.

How It Works

Zoho CRM                             FolioReady                         Zoho CRM
─────────                           ───────────                        ─────────
Search contacts    ◄────────────    Import from Zoho CRM
Contact selected   ──────────────►   Client created/linked

                                     Template builder:
                                     Pick Zoho field         ──────────►  Read field metadata
                                     Or create new field     ──────────►  Custom field created

                                     Folio completed          ──────────►  Deal/Contact field
                                                                          values updated

                                     Document read            ──────────►  Note posted on record

All sync happens in the background. Events are processed automatically as they occur, with no extra steps in your workflow.

FolioReady automatically refreshes your Zoho access tokens before they expire. You do not need to reconnect under normal circumstances.

Disconnecting

To disconnect Zoho CRM:

  1. Go to Settings > Integrations
  2. Click Delete Connection on the Zoho CRM integration
  3. Confirm the disconnection

After disconnecting, no more folio data writes to Zoho. Custom fields already created in Zoho remain there. Disconnecting only stops future sync.

Troubleshooting

"Import from Zoho CRM" button not showing

The import button only appears when your company has Zoho CRM connected as the CRM service. Check Settings > Integrations > Zoho CRM. The status should read Available.

Wrong organization connected

Zoho picks up which organization to authorize entirely on its own consent screen, before FolioReady is involved. If the confirmation after connecting names the wrong organization, click Delete Connection, then Connect again, and choose the correct organization from Zoho's account switcher on the consent screen.

Field creation is rejected

Zoho limits how many custom fields you can create per module, and the limit is set by your Zoho plan. If you're on an entry-level plan and hit the limit, map onto an existing field instead, or upgrade your Zoho plan to raise the cap.

Sync pauses, or a batch of syncs stops together

Zoho throttles requests when an account sends a lot of traffic in a short time. FolioReady retries automatically, and a short burst clears well within that window without anything needed on your end.

Zoho separately caps how much an organization can do in a 24-hour period. That one outlasts the retries: if your org exhausts its daily allowance, the syncs waiting at that moment stop rather than retrying against a door Zoho has already shut. They aren't lost. Contact support to re-run them once the allowance resets the next day.

Sync fails after revoked access

If your connection status turns red, FolioReady was unable to refresh your access token. This can happen if you revoke access from your Zoho settings.

Click Reconnect on the integration page to re-authorize.

Related