How to Set Up the Vendor Portal in Zoho Books

Managing vendor relationships through email works until you have more than 10 active vendors. Zoho Books accounting platform Vendor Portal gives each vendor a self-service login to view POs, submit invoices, track payment status, and upload documents without calling your accounts team.

What the Vendor Portal Does

Each vendor accesses a dedicated web interface with their own credentials to: view all Zoho Books purchase order managements, accept or decline POs, submit invoices against accepted POs, track payment status, view account statements, and upload supporting documents.

Enabling the Portal

Go to Settings > Preferences > Vendor Portal and enable it. Customise with your company logo. To invite vendors, open a vendor profile and click Enable Portal Access with the vendor’s contact email.

Vendor Invoice Submission

Submitted invoices appear in your Zoho Books inbox as vendor bills awaiting approval. Review, match against the PO, and approve or reject. This replaces the manual process of receiving invoice PDFs by email.

Payment Visibility

Vendors see real-time payment status: which invoices are approved, scheduled, or paid. This transparency reduces payment enquiry calls by 60% to 80%.

Document Management

Vendors upload delivery challans, test reports, warranty cards against specific POs. Documents are stored against the transaction, creating a complete procurement file for auditors.