Zoho Books

Access the Zoho Books API with managed OAuth authentication. Manage invoices, contacts, bills, expenses, sales orders, purchase orders, and other accounting data with full CRUD operations.

Quick Start

# List contacts
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/{endpoint}

The gateway proxies requests to www.zohoapis.com/books/v3 and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

1. Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
2. Go to maton.ai/settings
3. Copy your API key

Connection Management

Manage your Zoho Books OAuth connections at https://ctrl.maton.ai.

List Connections

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections?app=zoho-books&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'zoho-books'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "zoho-books",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Delete Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Zoho Books connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If omitted, the gateway uses the default (oldest) active connection.

API Reference

Available Modules

Zoho Books organizes data into modules. Key modules include:

Contacts

List Contacts

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "code": 0,
  "message": "success",
  "contacts": [...],
  "page_context": {
    "page": 1,
    "per_page": 200,
    "has_more_page": false,
    "sort_column": "contact_name",
    "sort_order": "A"
  }
}

Get Contact

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/{contact_id}

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/8527119000000099001')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Contact

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "contact_name": "Customer Name",
  "contact_type": "customer"
}

Required Fields:

• contact_name - Display name for the contact
• contact_type - Either customer or vendor

Optional Fields:

• company_name - Legal entity name
• email - Email address
• phone - Phone number
• billing_address - Address object
• payment_terms - Days for payment

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({
    "contact_name": "Acme Corporation",
    "contact_type": "customer",
    "company_name": "Acme Corp",
    "email": "billing@acme.com",
    "phone": "+1-555-1234"
}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "code": 0,
  "message": "The contact has been added.",
  "contact": {
    "contact_id": "8527119000000099001",
    "contact_name": "Acme Corporation",
    "company_name": "Acme Corp",
    "contact_type": "customer",
    ...
  }
}

Update Contact

PUT /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/{contact_id}
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "contact_name": "Updated Name",
  "phone": "+1-555-9999"
}

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({
    "contact_name": "Acme Corporation Updated",
    "phone": "+1-555-9999"
}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/8527119000000099001', data=data, method='PUT')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Delete Contact

DELETE /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/{contact_id}

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts/8527119000000099001', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "code": 0,
  "message": "The customer has been deleted."
}

Invoices

List Invoices

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/invoices')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Invoice

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}

Create Invoice

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "customer_id": "8527119000000099001",
  "line_items": [
    {
      "item_id": "8527119000000100001",
      "quantity": 1,
      "rate": 100.00
    }
  ]
}

Required Fields:

• customer_id - Customer identifier
• line_items - Array of items with item_id or manual entry

Optional Fields:

• invoice_number - Auto-generated if not specified
• date - Invoice date (yyyy-mm-dd format)
• due_date - Payment due date
• discount - Percentage or fixed amount
• payment_terms - Days until due

Update Invoice

PUT /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}

Delete Invoice

DELETE /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}

Invoice Actions

# Mark as sent
POST /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}/status/sent

# Void invoice
POST /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}/status/void

# Email invoice
POST /zoho-books/books/v3/invoices/{invoice_id}/email

Bills

List Bills

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/bills

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/bills')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Bill

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/bills
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "vendor_id": "8527119000000099002",
  "bill_number": "BILL-001",
  "date": "2026-02-06",
  "line_items": [
    {
      "account_id": "8527119000000100002",
      "description": "Office Supplies",
      "amount": 150.00
    }
  ]
}

Required Fields:

• vendor_id - Vendor identifier
• bill_number - Unique bill number
• date - Bill date (yyyy-mm-dd)

Update Bill

PUT /zoho-books/books/v3/bills/{bill_id}

Delete Bill

DELETE /zoho-books/books/v3/bills/{bill_id}

Expenses

List Expenses

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/expenses

Example:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/expenses')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Expense

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/expenses
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "account_id": "8527119000000100003",
  "date": "2026-02-06",
  "amount": 75.50,
  "paid_through_account_id": "8527119000000100004",
  "description": "Business lunch"
}

Required Fields:

• account_id - Expense account ID
• date - Expense date (yyyy-mm-dd)
• amount - Expense amount
• paid_through_account_id - Payment account ID

Optional Fields:

• description - Expense details
• customer_id - Billable customer ID
• is_billable - Boolean for billable expenses
• project_id - Associated project

Update Expense

PUT /zoho-books/books/v3/expenses/{expense_id}

Delete Expense

DELETE /zoho-books/books/v3/expenses/{expense_id}

Sales Orders

List Sales Orders

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/salesorders

Create Sales Order

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/salesorders

Purchase Orders

List Purchase Orders

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/purchaseorders

Create Purchase Order

POST /zoho-books/books/v3/purchaseorders

Credit Notes

List Credit Notes

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/creditnotes

Recurring Invoices

List Recurring Invoices

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/recurringinvoices

Recurring Bills

List Recurring Bills

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/recurringbills

Pagination

Zoho Books uses page-based pagination:

GET /zoho-books/books/v3/contacts?page=1&per_page=50

Response includes pagination info in page_context:

{
  "code": 0,
  "message": "success",
  "contacts": [...],
  "page_context": {
    "page": 1,
    "per_page": 50,
    "has_more_page": true,
    "sort_column": "contact_name",
    "sort_order": "A"
  }
}

Continue fetching while has_more_page is true, incrementing page each time.

Code Examples

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts',
  {
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
    }
  }
);
const data = await response.json();

Python

import os
import requests

response = requests.get(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/zoho-books/books/v3/contacts',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'}
)
data = response.json()

Notes

• All successful responses have code: 0 and a message field
• Dates should be in yyyy-mm-dd format
• Contact types are customer or vendor
• Some modules (items, chart of accounts, bank accounts, projects) may require additional OAuth scopes. If you receive a scope error, contact Maton support at support@maton.ai with the specific operations/APIs you need and your use-case
• Rate limits: 100 requests/minute per organization
• Daily limits vary by plan: Free (1,000), Standard (2,000), Professional (5,000), Paid (10,000)
• IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets to disable glob parsing
• IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments

Error Handling

Common Error Codes

Troubleshooting: Invalid API Key

When you receive a "Invalid API key" error, ALWAYS follow these steps before concluding there is an issue:

1. Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

1. Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Resources

• Zoho Books API v3 Introduction
• Zoho Books Invoices API
• Zoho Books Contacts API
• Zoho Books Bills API
• Zoho Books Expenses API