Zoho Invoice API Essential Guide

What type of API does Zoho Invoice provide?

Zoho Invoice provides a REST API. Here are the key points about Zoho Invoice's API:

Type of API

• Zoho Invoice uses a REST API

Key Features

• Built using REST principles for predictable URLs and easy application development
• Follows HTTP rules, enabling use of a wide range of HTTP clients
• Every resource is exposed as a URL
• Uses JSON for data exchange

Authentication

• Requires an Organization ID and Access token to be sent in the header of API requests

Multiple Data Centers

• Zoho Invoice is hosted at multiple data centers globally, with different API domains for each region
• There are 8 different domains for Zoho Invoice APIs (.com, .eu, .in, .com.au, .jp, .ca, .com.cn, .sa)
• You need to use the appropriate domain based on your region

API Versioning

• The current API version is v3

Best Practices

• Use the correct domain for your region when making API calls
• Include the organization_id parameter with every API request to identify the organization
• Send the JSON string as form-data in API requests

Code Example

Here's an example of how to make a basic API call to list organizations:

curl https://www.zohoapis.com/invoice/v3/organizations

This will return a JSON response with organization details.

Does the Zoho Invoice API have webhooks?

Availability of Webhooks

Yes, the official Zoho Invoice API (which is part of Zoho Billing) does have webhooks functionality.

Types of Events You Can Subscribe To

The Zoho Billing API supports various events that you can subscribe to with webhooks. Some of the key events include:

• Subscription status changes
• Transactions
• Invoice creation
• Customer-related events
• Payment-related events
• Quote-related events

Creating and Managing Webhooks

1. You can create webhooks through the Zoho Billing interface or API.
2. When creating a webhook, you need to specify:
   • The URL to be notified
   • The HTTP method (POST, PUT, or DELETE)
   • The events you want to subscribe to
   • Any additional parameters or headers
   • Authorization details
3. You can secure your webhooks using a secret token.
4. Zoho Billing provides options to edit, delete, and resend webhooks.

Webhook Payload and Validation

1. The webhook payload can be sent in different formats, including JSON and x-www-form-urlencoded.
2. Zoho Billing includes a signature (X-Zoho-Webhook-Signature) in the webhook headers for validation purposes.
3. You can validate incoming webhooks by computing a hash value using the HMAC-SHA256 algorithm with the secret token and comparing it to the signature provided by Zoho Billing.

Best Practices

1. Always validate incoming webhooks to ensure they are genuine and sent by Zoho Billing.
2. Use HTTPS URLs for better security when setting up webhooks.
3. Handle webhook events asynchronously to avoid timeouts and ensure reliable processing.
4. Implement proper error handling and logging for your webhook endpoints.

In summary, the Zoho Invoice API (as part of Zoho Billing) offers comprehensive webhook functionality, allowing you to subscribe to various events related to invoices, subscriptions, payments, and more. This enables real-time integration with external systems and automation of business processes based on events occurring within Zoho Billing.

Rate Limits and other limitations

Based on the search results provided, here are the key points about the API rate limits for Zoho Invoice:

API Credit System

• Zoho uses a credit system for API calls, where each call deducts credits from a daily limit.
• The credit deduction varies based on the type and complexity of the API call.

Daily Credit Limits

• The daily credit limits vary based on the Zoho plan.
• For example, in the Standard edition with 10 user licenses, the available credits would be 52,500 (50,000 base + 10 x 250 per user).
• There are maximum credit limits for each edition, regardless of the number of user licenses:
  • Free Edition: 5,000 credits
  • Standard/Starter Edition: 100,000 credits
  • Professional: 3,000,000 credits
  • Enterprise/Zoho One: 5,000,000 credits
  • Ultimate/CRM Plus: Unlimited

Concurrency Limits

• In addition to the credit system, Zoho also applies concurrency limits based on the number of simultaneous active calls.
• The concurrency limits vary by edition:
  • Free: 5 concurrent calls
  • Standard/Starter: 10 concurrent calls
  • Professional: 15 concurrent calls
  • Enterprise/Zoho One: 20 concurrent calls
  • Ultimate/CRM Plus: 25 concurrent calls

Sub-concurrency Limits

• There are additional sub-concurrency limits of 10 concurrent calls for specific API operations like bulk record operations, search, and queries.

Best Practices

• To optimize API usage, it's recommended to get a maximum of 200 records with each request and insert, update or delete a maximum of 100 records with each request.

Increasing API Limits

• If an organization requires more API credits, the super-admin can increase the credit limit from the API Dashboard.
• Additional credits are billed monthly on a pay-as-you-go model.

It's important to note that these limits are specific to Zoho CRM and may not directly apply to Zoho Invoice. However, they provide a general idea of how Zoho structures its API limits across its products. For specific Zoho Invoice API limits, it would be best to consult the Zoho Invoice documentation or contact Zoho support directly.

Latest API Version

Based on the search results provided, here is the answer to your question:

The most recent version of the Zoho Invoice API is version 3 (v3).

Key points:

• The current API root endpoint is https://www.zohoapis.com/invoice/v3

• Zoho Invoice API is built using REST principles

• The API follows HTTP rules and can be used with a wide range of HTTP clients

• The Organization ID and Access token must be sent as headers in the API requests

• JSON strings should be sent as form-data in the requests

Best practices:

• Use the latest version (v3) of the API for the most up-to-date features and functionality
• Ensure you include the required headers (Organization ID and Access token) in your API requests
• Follow REST principles and HTTP rules when interacting with the API
• Use appropriate HTTP clients to make requests to the API

It's worth noting that Zoho regularly updates its products and APIs, so it's always a good idea to check the official Zoho Invoice API documentation for the most current information and any recent changes or updates.

How to get a Zoho Invoice developer account and API Keys?

To get a developer account for Zoho Invoice and create an API integration, follow these steps:

1. Register your application

1. Go to the Zoho Developer Console at https://accounts.zoho.com/developerconsole.

2. Click on "Add Client ID".

3. Provide the required details to register your application, including:

   • Client Name
   • Homepage URL
   • Authorized redirect URI

4. If you don't have a domain or redirect URL, you can select "Self Client" to generate an authorization code.

5. Upon successful registration, you will receive a Client ID and Client Secret. Keep these credentials confidential.

2. Generate a Grant Token

1. Redirect to the authorization URL with the following parameters:

   • scope (required): Specify the required scopes (e.g., ZohoInvoice.invoices.CREATE,ZohoInvoice.invoices.READ)
   • client_id (required): Your Client ID
   • state: An opaque string for round-trip verification
   • response_type (required): Set to "code"
   • redirect_uri (required): One of the redirect URIs you provided during registration
   • access_type: Set to "offline" to receive a refresh token

2. The user will be shown a consent page. Upon accepting, Zoho will redirect to the given redirect_uri with a "code" parameter.

3. Obtain Access and Refresh Tokens

1. Use the received code to request access and refresh tokens.

2. Make a POST request to the token endpoint with the following parameters:

   • code: The code received in the previous step
   • client_id: Your Client ID
   • client_secret: Your Client Secret
   • redirect_uri: The same redirect URI used in step 2
   • grant_type: Set to "authorization_code"

3. You will receive an access token and a refresh token in the response.

4. Make API Calls

1. Use the access token in the "Authorization" header of your API requests:

   • Header name: Authorization
   • Header value: Zoho-oauthtoken {access_token}

2. Include the organization_id in your API requests to identify the specific Zoho Invoice organization.

3. Use the appropriate base API URI for your data center (e.g., https://www.zohoapis.com/invoice/v3 for the US).

What can you do with the Zoho Invoice API?

Based on the search results provided, here is a list of data models you can interact with using the Zoho Invoice API, along with what is possible for each:

Customers

• Create, read, update, and delete customer information
• Manage customer contact details

Credit Notes

• Create and manage credit notes
• Handle credit note items
• Process credit note refunds

Payments

• Record and manage customer payments
• Process payment refunds

Delivery Challans

• Create and manage delivery challans
• Handle delivery challan items

Estimates

• Create, read, update, and delete estimates
• Manage estimate items

Expenses

• Record and manage expenses
• Handle expense items
• Create and manage recurring expenses

Invoices

• Create, read, update, and delete invoices
• Manage invoice items
• Handle recurring invoices and their items

Items

• Manage product and service items

Projects

• Create and manage projects
• Handle project users

Sales Persons

• Manage sales person information

Taxes

• Configure and manage tax rates and structures

Timesheets

• Record and manage timesheets

Tasks

• Create and manage tasks related to projects

Users

• Manage user accounts and permissions

Key points to consider:

• The API follows REST principles, ensuring predictable URLs for easy application development.
• You need to include the Organization ID and Access token in the API header for authentication.
• The API is available on multiple domains for different data centers, so you must use the appropriate domain for your region.
• You cannot add or modify data directly in the Zoho Invoice data tables within Zoho Analytics, but you can create reports and dashboards using the synchronized data.

Best practices:

• Use the appropriate domain for your region when making API calls.
• Leverage the ability to create custom reports and dashboards by combining data from Zoho Invoice with other data sources.
• Utilize the advanced formula engine and SQL querying capabilities for powerful data preparation and report creation.
• Take advantage of the data alerts feature to track important changes in your key business metrics.

By using the Zoho Invoice API, you can automate various processes, integrate with other systems, and build custom solutions tailored to your business needs.