Connected Banking with ICICI Bank
Zoho Books now partners with ICICI Bank - one of the largest banks in India to let you make payments directly from Zoho Books. Let’s take a scenario to explain this better:
Scenario: Peter runs a retail business. He makes and receives payments online for all his sales and purchases. Logging into his bank’s internet banking portal every time to make a payment makes it inconvenient and time consuming. He immediately integrates his Zoho Books organisation with his ICICI Bank Corporate account. He now settles bills and even makes advance payments–all without logging into the ICICI Bank CIB (Corporate Internet Banking) Portal.
IN THIS PAGE…
Benefits of the Integration
- Make online payments to your vendors directly from Zoho Books without logging into ICICI Bank CIB (Corporate Internet Banking) Portal.
- Make advance payments and even bulk bill payments to a vendor.
- Make your GST payments directly from Zoho Books.
- Reconcile bank statements in a jiffy with direct feeds from the bank.
- Set up approval workflows (bill approval in Zoho Books and payment approval in the CIB Portal) to keep an eye on all payments made.
Watch this video to learn how the integration works!
Connect to ICICI Bank
Connect your corporate bank account to Zoho Books by following these simple steps:
1. Setup
- Go to Zoho Books > Settings > Online Payments.
- Navigate to the Vendor Payments tab and you will be able to find ICICI Bank listed under it.
- Click the Set up Now button to begin setup.
Note: This is a user level integration and only the user who had set up the integration will be able to access/make payments using it. Deleting the user will delete the integration automatically.
You will be prompted to fill in the necessary details to complete your setup.
If you are a new user to ICICI Bank:
- Request for a new current account by clicking Request for a New Account (You can also request for a new account directly from the Vendor Payments page).
- Enter your Name and contact details in the screen that follows.
- Read and agree to the terms and click Proceed.
You will be redirected to ICICI Bank to complete the set up. (Sometimes the bank executives might get in touch with you to help you open an account.) Once that’s done, you can log in using your User ID and Corporate ID.
If you are an existing user of ICICI Bank:
- Click the Set up Now button and a pop-up appears.
- Enter your CIB Portal Login ID if you’ve created one in the portal. If you haven’t created one earlier, type your CorporateID.UserID in the field.
- Enter your Corporate ID and User ID.
Insight: Your Corporate ID and User ID will be populated if your CIB Portal’s Login ID format is CorporateID.UserID.
- Click Save and a pop-up appears.
- Read the instructions and click Proceed to approve the integration in your ICICI Bank CIB Portal.
Warning: Once you have set up the integration with these credentials, you will not be able to edit them in Zoho Books. You must disable the integration and set it up once again with the new credentials.
2. Approval
After initiating the integration, you need to approve it in the CIB Portal. Until then, your Account Status will be Pending.
To approve the integration:
- Click Proceed in the pop-up that appears after the integration setup to approve the integration.
or
Click Cancel to approve the integration later. You will be able to find the option Approve in ICICI Bank CIB Portal under the Pending Activities section for the integration.
- Click Proceed or Approve in ICICI Bank CIB Portal and you’ll be redirected to the login page.
- Enter your ICICI Bank CIB Login ID and Password.
Insight: If you haven’t created a Login ID for your CIB Portal, enter your CorporateID.UserID in the given field.
- Click Proceed to login.
- Go to Connected Banking > Connected Banking Approvals tab.
- Check the box near the Corporate ID and User ID that you would like to approve.
- Read the Terms and Conditions and click Approve.
- In the screen that follows, enter the One Time Password sent to your registered mobile number.
- Complete the integration by clicking Confirm.
- Check the status of the integration in Zoho Books by clicking Check Status (Available in the Vendor Payments tab).
Once the integration is active, you will receive a notification in Zoho Books and your account status will be Active.
3. Add Bank Account
Once your integration is active, select your primary account to make payments under the Pending Activities section in the Vendor Payments tab.
- Click Select an Account under ICICI Bank.
- Click the dropdown in the Bank Account to Make Payment field and click + Add New to include a new account (or choose your existing ICICI Bank account).
- Enter your bank account details in the pop-up and click Save and Select.
This account will be your default account while initiating payments.
Add Vendor’s Bank Account Details
Once you have integrated your bank account, you can add your vendor’s bank account details to start making payments from Zoho Books. To do so:
- Log in to Zoho Books.
- Navigate to the Purchases > Vendors.
- Click the More dropdown and select Add Bank Account.
Insight: By default, only the admins will be able to add vendor’s bank account details. You can edit a role (Go to Settings > Users and Roles > Roles > Edit Role) and provide permissions for other users to add, edit and delete vendor’s bank account details.
- Enter the vendor’s bank account details in the pop-up that appears.
Insight: The IFSC you enter will be validated immediately so you can verify the code and then save your vendor’s bank account details.
- Click Save.
Make Payments via Zoho Books
Once you have added your vendor’s bank account details, you can start making payments. In Zoho Books, you can:
Make Individual Bill Payment
Make quick payments to your vendors when a bill is received and settle dues. To start making payments:
- Navigate to Bills under the Purchases module in the left side bar.
- Choose/ create a new bill that you’ve received from your vendor.
- Mark the bill as Open if it is in the draft status to start making payments.
- Click the Pay via ICICI Bank button and a pop-up appears. Enter the following details:
Fields | Description |
---|---|
Balance Due | The total sum of money due for payment. |
Amount | The Amount you would like to pay. You can choose to make complete or partial payments towards the bill. View the fund transfer limits. |
From Account | The account from which you want to make the payment. Choose one from the list of bank accounts linked to Zoho Books or add a new bank account. You can also view your account balance and make it your primary account to make payments by checking the Make this primary option. |
To Account | The account to which you would like to make the payment. |
Transaction Type | The Transaction Type from the available fund transfer options such as ICICI Bank Fund Transfer, IMPS, RTGS, and NEFT. |
The transfer types are:
- ICICI Fund Transfer: Transfers funds immediately to ICICI Bank accounts (24⁄7).
- IMPS: Transfers funds instantly to all bank accounts (24⁄7).
- NEFT: Transfers funds to all bank accounts in batches during bank working hours.
- RTGS: Transfers funds exceeding ₹2 lakhs instantly to all bank accounts during bank working hours.
- Click Proceed and in the screen that follows, enter the One Time Password(OTP) sent to your registered mobile number.
- Click Submit to make your payment.
The status of your payment will be either Cleared or Uncleared in the Payments Made tab based on the transaction type and the approval workflow you’ve chosen.
Insight: A transaction is in the Cleared status when the payment has been processed by ICICI Bank and will be deposited in the vendor’s account soon (based on the transaction type chosen).
A transaction is in the Uncleared status when the payment has been initiated from Zoho Books but is yet to be processed at ICICI Bank. A few reasons for this include the approval workflow in the portal, the checker not approving the transaction, a bank holiday or transaction was initiated outside bank timings for NEFT/IMPS.
If you have enabled an approval workflow in your CIB portal,
- Login to your ICICI Bank CIB Portal.
- Navigate to the Transfers and Bill Payments module in the left sidebar page.
- Go to Transaction Approvals from the menu and click Pending on Me/Pending on Others.
- You will be able to find the transactions Pending for Approval listed under it.
- Click the Actions dropdown to Approve or Reject the transaction.
Insight: By default, the transactions initiated from Zoho Books will have to be approved by the approver with the privileges to approve the maximum amount.
Make Multiple Bill Payments
You will be able to make payments for multiple bills at once to a single vendor using this integration. Here’s how:
- Go to the Purchases > Payments Made module from the left navigation page of Zoho Books.
- Click + New and go to the Bill Payment tab to initiate a new payment.
- Choose the vendor for whom you would like to make payment and select the option Initiate Payment via ICICI Bank.
- Enter the Amount. You can also click Pay Full Amount and make payment for all the bills at once.
- Select the From Account from which you want to initiate payment for all the bills.
- Select the To Account and the Transaction Type.
- Enter the split-up of the amount you’ll be paying towards each bill in the Payment column.
- Verify your details and click Initiate Payment.
- Enter the One Time Password(OTP) sent to your registered mobile number on the screen that follows.
- Click Submit and your payment will be initiated.
Make Advance Payments
You will be able to make advance payments for your vendors once you add their bank account details.
Note: This feature is available only for organisations that have enabled GST.
To make advance payments:
- Go to the Payments Made module from the left navigation pane of Zoho Books.
- Click + New and go to the Vendor Advance tab.
- Choose the vendor for whom you would like to make payment and select the option Initiate Payment via ICICI Bank.
- Enter all the tax related details such as the Source and Destination of Supply, Reverse Charge and TDS.
- Enter the Amount to be paid.
- Select the account from which you want to make the payment in the From Account option.
- Select the To Account and the Transaction Type.
- Verify your details and click Initiate Payment.
- Enter the One Time Password(OTP) sent to your registered mobile number.
- Click Submit and your payment will be initiated.
Make GST Payments
When you’ve integrated Zoho Books with ICICI Bank, you will be able to make payments for your GSTR-3B.
Fetch Direct Feeds and Reconcile Bank Statements
This integration allows you to set up Direct Feeds to fetch feeds (bank account statements) directly from your bank account to your Zoho Books organisation. This allows you to reconcile your bank transactions with those in Zoho Books. Once you have finished setting up the ICICI Bank integration, you will be able to add your account to configure direct feeds. To receive direct feeds:
- Go to Zoho Books > Settings > Online Payments.
- Navigate to the Vendor Payments tab and you will be able to find ICICI Bank listed under it.
- Select the option Add Account for Bank Statement.
- Select the bank account for which you would like to receive direct feeds in the pop-up that appears.
- Select the date from which you would like to fetch your feeds and click Add.
- Click Add and Next to add a new bank account.
Insight: You can also add your bank account by navigating to Banking > Add Bank or Credit Card > ICICI Bank under Partner Banks.
Once you have set up direct feeds, Zoho Books will fetch your bank feeds and you will be able to reconcile bank statements. To reconcile transactions:
- Navigate to the Banking module and select an ICICI Bank account.
- Bank feeds will be refreshed automatically on login.
- Go to the Uncategorised Transactions tab and the bank statements will be listed below.
Note: The fetched bank feeds will not include today’s data. If you refresh your feeds today (say, 2/9/2020), you will be able to fetch the bank feeds only till yesterday (1/9/2020).
- Select a transaction and Zoho Books automatically prompts the Exact Match for you.
- Click the Match button to match a transaction.
Learn more about the Banking module.
Note: If you have not migrated to ICICI Bank Direct Feeds, you will be prompted to switch your bank feeds to the direct feed integration. Direct feed integration helps you to receive feeds quickly without any third party interference and find exact matches for your transactions.
Disable the Integration
If you ever want to stop making payments via your ICICI Bank account from Zoho Books or change your account details, you can disable the integration.
Warning: Disabling the integration in Zoho Books will disable it from other integrated Zoho Finance applications as well. Once disabled, you will not be able to track the status of any uncleared transactions. The direct feed integration will also be deactivated along with the payments integration.
To disable:
- Go to Zoho Books > Settings > Online Payments.
- Navigate to the Vendor Payments tab and you will be able to find ICICI Bank listed under it.
- Click the Disable button.
- Read the terms and click the option I understand, disable my integration.
Note: Deleting your Zoho Books organisation or removing the user who set up the integration, will delete the integration.
Pro Tip: You can receive online payments from customers by integrating Zoho Books with ICICI Bank eazypay.
Bring banking and accounting under one roof with the ICICI Bank integration.