Batch Payments

The Batch Payments module allows you to make payments for bills of multiple vendors at once. You can create a batch, export it, and upload it into your bank portal to make the payment. Once done, you can mark the batch as processed in Zoho Books and update the status of the associated payments made.

Note: This feature is a part of the Zoho BillPay add-on for Zoho Books. Purchase the add-on to enable the feature for your organization.

Create a Batch

You need to create a batch to pay for bills of multiple vendors at once. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click + New in the top right corner of the page.

Fill in the following details.

Field Name	Description
Batch Name	A unique name to identify the batch.
Batch#	A unique number that is used to identify each batch. This will be auto-generated.
Paid Through	The bank through which you want to make the payment.
Payment Date	The date on which you’ll make the payment
Description	A short description explaining why you’re creating the batch.

Click Next to proceed. You’ll be redirected to the Add Bills page, where all your unpaid bills will be displayed.
Check the box towards the left side of the bills you want to include in the batch.
The bill amount will be auto-filled. If you want to update the amount to be paid, click Amount to Pay and enter the amount you want to pay for the bill.

Select the bills to be added to the batch

Click Next. You will be redirected to the Pay Bills page, where the details of the vendors and their bills added to the batch will be available.
Select the Bank Account in which each vendor will receive the payment.
Click Save.

Submit a Batch for Approval

After you’ve created a batch, you need to submit it for approval. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch that has to be submitted for approval.
Click Submit for Approval.
Click Yes in the pop-up that appears.

Click Submit for Approval to export the batch

Approve a Batch

Here’s how you can approve a batch submitted for approval:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch that has to be approved.
Click Approve.

Click Yes in the pop-up that appears.

Reject a Batch

To reject a batch:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch that has to be rejected.
Click Reject.

Enter the reason for rejecting the batch and click Reject again in the pop-up that appears.

Export a Batch

After a batch has been approved, you need to export it in order to make a payment from your bank. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch you want to export.
Click Export.

Select the Export File Format.
Enter a password to protect a file, if required, in the File Protection Password field.
Click Export again. A file will be exported to your device.

Now, you can upload the exported file to your bank’s portal and make a payment.

Mark a Batch as Processed

Once you’ve made payment for the bills included in a batch, you can mark the batch as processed in Zoho Books to update the payment status. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch for which you’ve made a payment.
Click Mark as Processed.
If the payment was successful, select Success as the Payment Status and enter the Reference Number of the payment.

If the payment was not successful, select Failed as the Payment Status. Click Add Reason and mention the reason the payment failed.

Click Save.

The batch will be marked as Processed, and the status of the payments made will be updated.

Add More Bills to a Batch

You can add more bills to a batch if you missed to add them when creating it. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch in which you want to add more bills.
Click Add Bills. Continue from step 5 of the Create a Batch section.

Click Add Bills to add more bills to the batch

Note: You can only add more bills to batches in the Draft status.

Delete a Batch

To delete a batch:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the batch you want to delete.
Click Delete.

Click Delete again in the pop-up that appears.

Note: You can only delete batches in the Draft status.

Enable Approvals

To enable Approvals for the Batch Payments module:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar.
Click Batch Payments.
Click the Approvals tab.
The default Approval Type will be No Approvals. Select the preferred approval type.

Approval Type	Description
No Approval	Further actions can be performed on batches without the need for approval.
Simple Approval	Any admin or approver can approve the batch. Further actions can be performed only after the batch is approved.