When your business receives USD, GBP, EUR, and AED from international clients, Zoho Books is one of the most practical tools for Indian businesses to track it all. This guide covers the setup and workflow.
Step 1: Enable Multi-Currency in Zoho Books
Settings → Currencies → Enable Multi-Currency
Your base currency is INR (default for Indian organizations in Zoho Books).
Add foreign currencies:
- +Add Currency → USD — United States Dollar
- +Add Currency → GBP — British Pound
- +Add Currency → EUR — Euro
- +Add Currency → AED — UAE Dirham For each currency, Zoho Books can auto-fetch exchange rates daily (from a connected rate source) or you can set manual rates per invoice.
Step 2: Create International Customers in Their Currency
Contacts → New Customer
For each international client:
- Customer name and email
- Currency: USD (or GBP/EUR/AED as appropriate)
- Country: USA / UK / etc.
- Payment terms: Net 14, Net 30, etc. Once a customer's currency is set, all invoices and transactions for that customer default to that currency.
Step 3: Create a Foreign Currency Bank Account
For each currency, create a corresponding bank account in Zoho Books to track receipts:
Banking → Add Account → Bank
- Account Name: "Playto Pay USD" (or "USD VBA Receipts")
- Account Type: Bank
- Currency: USD
- Opening Balance: 0 Repeat for GBP, EUR, AED if applicable.
Why this matters: When you record an international payment receipt, it goes into the foreign currency bank account first, then you record the INR conversion to your Indian bank.
Step 4: Create and Send International Invoices
Sales → Invoices → New Invoice
- Customer: [Select international customer]
- Currency: Automatically shows their currency (USD, GBP, etc.)
- Add line items in their currency
- Include your LUT reference in the notes: "Export of Services — IGST @ 0% (LUT No: [X] FY 2025-26)"
- Payment link: Add your Playto Pay card link or VBA details in the "Payment Instructions" field Send the invoice. Zoho Books stores it in the client's currency.
Step 5: Record Payment Receipt
When client pays via Playto Pay:
Invoices → [Invoice] → Record Payment
- Payment date: date of Playto Pay settlement
- Amount received: full invoice amount in USD/GBP/EUR
- Payment account: "Playto Pay USD" (the foreign currency account you created)
- Exchange rate: rate applied by Playto Pay on settlement date (find in FIRA) Zoho Books calculates the INR equivalent automatically.
Step 6: Record INR Transfer to Indian Bank
Playto Pay converts USD to INR and credits your Indian bank daily. Record this transfer:
Banking → Transfers → Add Transfer
- From Account: "Playto Pay USD"
- To Account: "[Your Indian Bank] Current Account"
- Amount: USD received
- Exchange rate: mid-market rate (from Playto Pay FIRA)
- Date: settlement date This moves the receipt from your foreign currency tracking account to your INR bank account in Zoho Books.
Step 7: Monthly Reconciliation
At month end:
- Download Playto Pay transaction export (CSV from dashboard)
- Compare each transaction to Zoho Books entries
- Verify INR equivalent matches bank statement credits
- Confirm all FIRAs downloaded and filed
- Run Zoho Books "Profit and Loss" in INR for month-end revenue view
Useful Zoho Books Reports for International Revenue
- Sales by Currency: See USD vs GBP vs EUR vs AED revenue breakdown
- Receivables by Customer: Which international clients owe money and in which currency
- Foreign Currency Gain/Loss: FX impact on your INR revenue when exchange rates move
- Export Sales Report: For GST export turnover documentation
FAQ
How do I set the exchange rate in Zoho Books for international payments? Zoho Books can auto-fetch rates or you can set manual rates. For FEMA compliance: use the actual rate applied by Playto Pay (from FIRA). Set this as the manual exchange rate when recording the receipt.
How does Zoho Books handle GST on international invoices? Set the tax treatment to "Export / Zero Rated" for international customers. Zoho Books will apply 0% IGST on their invoices automatically.
Can Zoho Books import Playto Pay transaction data? Not natively. You record transactions manually from the Playto Pay FIRA, or build an automation (n8n or Zapier) to push Playto Pay webhook data into Zoho Books via API.