Integrations / Accounting
Ask your Zoho Books anything from WhatsApp, by text or voice note
You keep your own books in Zoho Books, but most of your day happens on your phone. With Flann, you ask Zoho Books from WhatsApp, by text or voice note, and look-ups come back straight away. Changes are different.
264 actions in Zoho Books. 97 only look things up, and 167 create, update, send or delete. You connect with a one-click sign-in.
What you can ask Flann to do in Zoho Books
You do not need the exact wording. These are the kinds of messages Flann turns into Zoho Books actions.
“Look up the item in Zoho Books.”
“Show me my bills in Zoho Books.”
“Look up the contact in Zoho Books.”
“Create an item in Zoho Books.”
“Create a contact in Zoho Books.”
“Create a project in Zoho Books.”
For owners who run Zoho Books and the day from WhatsApp
This is for the owner who keeps their own books in Zoho Books and would rather ask WhatsApp about an invoice than walk back to the laptop.
Think of the moments that pull you back to the desk. A customer messages to ask what they still owe, and you can't answer without opening Zoho Books. A supplier hands you a receipt on site. A new client agrees a job over coffee, and their contact record won't exist until tonight. Those are the moments Flann is for. You ask in the chat you already have open, and the answer comes from your own books rather than from memory.
This isn't Zoho's WhatsApp feature, which sends notifications to your customers. Flann works for you. It reads your invoices and contacts when you ask, and prepares the changes you want made. Connecting it takes a one-click sign-in to your Zoho Books account. There's no API key to copy and no connector to build, and Zoho Books is included in every Flann plan.
What keeps Zoho Books work stuck at the desk
Checking an invoice or adding a contact needs the full Zoho Books screen, so small jobs collect until evening and your records fall behind.
The unpaid invoice check is the worst of it. You're mid-conversation with a customer, they ask about a balance, and the honest answer is that you'll look later. Later means the laptop. The same goes for the day's expenses: recording a receipt properly needs the full screen, so it waits in a pile until evening, along with the contacts you met on the road and the estimate whose terms you agreed by phone at lunchtime.
A connector tool rarely fixes this. It's another set-up job before anything happens, and sending a message out is not the same as answering a question about your own books. Meanwhile the week still ends every day with a desk session. The small jobs keep collecting, and the first invoice to a new customer still goes out later than it should.
How Flann works inside your Zoho Books
Message Flann on WhatsApp by text or voice note.
Start with a question. Ask whether a customer has paid last month's invoice, typed or spoken, and the answer comes back in the chat. Look-ups run straight away, and nothing in Zoho Books changes while Flann reads. That matters when your accounts feel sensitive, because asking is never a risk. Voice notes are transcribed first, and every reply arrives as written text you can scroll back to later.
Changes work differently. Flann can also create invoices from sales orders, apply credit notes to invoices, set up recurring expenses, record vendor payments, update estimates and import bank statements, so it covers far more than invoicing.
Once you trust it, you can hand over routine changes. Want every card back?
- Check which invoices are still unpaid
- Add a new customer as a contact from the road
- Record a receipt as an expense while you're on site
- Update an estimate after a call agrees new terms
- Apply a credit note to an open invoice
- Record a vendor payment
How Flann differs from Zoho's WhatsApp feature and Zoho's own AI
Zoho's WhatsApp feature sends notifications to customers and Zoho's own AI works inside Zoho Books. Flann lets you run Zoho Books from your own WhatsApp chat, alongside your other apps and customer messages.
Search for a Zoho Books WhatsApp integration and you'll mostly find Zoho's own feature. It sends notifications to your customers. That's a different job, and it doesn't let you ask your books anything. Zoho's own AI does its work inside Zoho Books, which still means opening Zoho. Flann sits in the WhatsApp chat you already use, so the question and the answer both happen on your phone.
The other difference is reach. Flann answers your customers on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Google reviews, and works inside more than 1,400 business apps alongside Zoho Books. A customer asks what they owe. You get one place for the money work and the conversations, rather than yet another Zoho screen to open on the laptop.
What Flann can work with in Zoho Books
Zoho Books gives Flann 264 actions across 100 kinds of record. These are the ones you are most likely to use.
| Record | What Flann can do | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Items | createdeletelook upmarkupdate | 8 |
| Contacts | createdeletelook upmarkupdate | 7 |
| Invoices | createdeletelook upmarkupdatevoid | 7 |
| Estimates | deletelook upmarkupdate | 5 |
| Locations | createdeletelook upmarkupdate | 5 |
| Reporting tags | createlook upmarkupdate | 5 |
| Users | createlook upmarkupdate | 5 |
| Bank accounts | createdeletelook up | 4 |
How the same contact job compares, in Zoho Books directly and through Flann.
| Compare | In Zoho Books yourselfYou click through each job | Flann on Zoho BooksYou ask, Flann does the clicking |
|---|---|---|
| Asking for something | Open the app and find the right page | A WhatsApp message, typed or spoken |
| Finding answers about contacts | Filters and searches you run yourself | 97 look-ups, answered straight away |
| Making changes | Typed in by hand | 167 changes, made from a message |
| Zoho Books records | All of them, one screen at a time | 100 kinds, from one chat |
| Getting connected | Nothing new to set up | One sign-in to Zoho Books |
YesPartlyNo
Step by step: Zoho Books jobs you can hand to Flann
How a request turns into real Zoho Books actions, one step at a time.
Create a contact from a voice note
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Create a contact in Zoho Books with these details.”
- Flann runs
List Contactsin Zoho Books and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Create Contactin Zoho Books. - Flann creates it in Zoho Books and confirms in the chat.
Fix an invoice without opening Zoho Books
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Change the invoice in Zoho Books: here is what is different.”
- Flann runs
List Invoicesin Zoho Books and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Update Invoicein Zoho Books. - Flann makes the change in Zoho Books and confirms in the chat.
Clean up items you no longer need
- You message Flann on WhatsApp: “Which items in Zoho Books are out of date? Remove the ones I confirm.”
- Flann runs
List Item Detailsin Zoho Books and shows you what it found. - Flann runs
Delete Itemin Zoho Books. - Each removal is confirmed in the chat.
Where Flann saves you time in Zoho Books
Small jobs, repeated often, are where the time goes. Here is how they change once Zoho Books is connected.
Matching payments to invoices
Today
Bank lines arrive in Zoho Books with vague references, and you match them against open invoices one at a time. A single partial payment can unravel the whole session.
With Flann
“Match this week’s bank payments to invoices in Zoho Books and flag anything that does not fit.”
Using amounts, names and references, Flann pairs each incoming payment in Zoho Books with the invoice it most likely settles. Partial payments and strays go on a separate list.
What you stop doing: No more scrolling bank lines hunting for the invoice they belong to.
Month-end tidy for your accountant
Today
Before the accountant asks, someone has to find the uncategorised transactions, missing receipts and invoices left in draft. That someone is usually you, late on the last day of the month.
With Flann
“What is still loose in Zoho Books before I send the month to my accountant?”
Across Zoho Books, Flann looks for uncategorised lines, expenses with no receipt, drafts never issued and anything that looks duplicated, then sends you the lot as one tidy list. Obvious fixes come with a suggestion.
What you stop doing: The accountant stops sending you the same questions every month.
More on this: how to hand repetitive tasks to an AI agent on WhatsApp.
How Flann connects to Zoho Books
- In Flann, go to Connectors and find Zoho Books.
- Sign in to your Zoho Books account on the secure page that opens and allow access. There is no developer account or API key to set up.
- From then on, message Flann on WhatsApp. It works in Zoho Books whenever a request needs it.
Of the 264 Zoho Books actions, 97 only read. The other 167 create, update, send or delete. Disconnect Zoho Books in Connectors whenever you like.
Ways to use Zoho Books with Flann
Chase what is owed
Ask Flann who still owes you. It checks Zoho Books, lists the open items and drafts a reminder for each customer.
Check before you promise
A customer asks for credit or a discount. Ask Flann what they have spent with you, straight from Zoho Books, before you answer.
Find the slow payers
Ask which customers pay late. Flann reads the history in Zoho Books and gives you the short list, so you decide who gets a nudge.
Everything Flann can do in Zoho Books
Every Zoho Books action Flann can run, split into what it reads and what it changes.
Looks up 97
- Convert Purchase Order To Bill
- Get Chart Of Account
- Get Contact
- Get Credit Note
- Get Estimate
- Get Expense
- Get Invoice
- Get Item
- Get Organization
- Get Recurring Invoice
- Get Sales Order
- Get User
- List Bank Transactions
- List Bills
- List Chart of Account Transactions
- List Contacts
- List Credit Notes
- List Estimates
- List Expenses
- List Invoices
- List Items
- List Organizations
- List Projects
- List Purchase Orders
- List Retainer Invoices
- List Sales Orders
- List Sales Receipts
- List Vendor Credits
- List Vendor Payments
- Bulk Export Estimates PDF
and 67 more
Changes 167
- Apply Credit Note to Invoice
- Apply Credits to Invoice
- Create Bank Account
- Create Bank Account Rule
- Create Bank Transaction
- Create Chart Of Account
- Create Contact
- Create Employee
- Create Expense
- Create Invoice From Sales Order
- Create Item
- Create Journal
- Create Location
- Create Project
- Create Recurring Expense
- Create Sales Receipt
- Create Time Entry
- Create User
- Create Vendor Credit
- Create Vendor Payment
- Delete Bank Transaction
- Import Bank Statements
- Update Contact
- Update Estimate
- Update Estimate Billing Address
- Update Invoice
- Update Item
- Update Journal
- Update Location
- Update Organization
and 137 more
More Accounting apps Flann works with
QuickBooksCommon questions
How do I connect Zoho Books to WhatsApp with Flann?
You sign in to your Zoho Books account with one click, and Flann is connected. There's no API key to copy and no connector to build. From then on you talk to Flann on WhatsApp or in the Flann app, by text or voice note, and ask about your invoices and contacts.
Do I need the Zoho Books WhatsApp API?
No. Flann connects through a one-click sign-in to your Zoho Books account, so there's no API key to manage and no WhatsApp API set-up on your side. You message Flann as you'd message anyone, and it works inside Zoho Books for you.
Does the Zoho Books integration cost extra?
No. Zoho Books is included in every Flann plan, so there's no separate add-on to buy for it. You connect it with a one-click sign-in and can start asking about your invoices straight away.
Can I send Flann a voice note instead of typing?
Yes. Send a voice note on WhatsApp and Flann transcribes it, then looks up the record or prepares the change you asked for. Every reply comes back as written text in the same chat, so you can read it whenever it suits you.
What can Flann do with items in Zoho Books?
Flann can create, delete, look up, mark and update items in Zoho Books, using 8 actions (Create Item, Delete Item, Get Item, List Item Details and more). Looking up runs straight away and changes nothing. The other actions create or change items in Zoho Books.
What can Flann do with contacts in Zoho Books?
Flann can create, delete, look up, mark and update contacts in Zoho Books, using 7 actions (Create Contact, Delete Contact, Get Contact, List Contacts and more). Looking up runs straight away and changes nothing. The other actions create or change contacts in Zoho Books.
How does Flann connect to Zoho Books?
Open Connectors in Flann, choose Zoho Books and sign in to your Zoho Books account on a secure page. There is no developer account or API key to set up. Once it is connected, Flann can use 264 actions in Zoho Books.
Do I need to open Zoho Books to use it with Flann?
No. Once Zoho Books is connected, you ask Flann on WhatsApp or in the Flann app, by text or voice note, and it does the work in Zoho Books.
Which Flann plan do I need for Zoho Books?
Any of them. Every Flann plan includes Zoho Books and every other app.