At Orpheus Technologies, part of our commitment to our clients is keeping a close eye on Zoho’s development roadmap. As Zoho rolls out new features, we analyze exactly how these changes can benefit the unique workflows of UAE businesses.
This quarter brings several powerful updates across the Zoho ecosystem—particularly in areas of compliance, AI, and project management. Whether you’re a trading company in JAFZA or a real estate brokerage in Downtown Dubai, here are the core product updates you need to know about.
1. Zoho Books: Enhanced Corporate Tax & Audit Tools
With the 9% UAE Corporate Tax now fully integrated into the financial year for most SMEs, Zoho has focused heavily on making tax season frictionless.
What’s New:
- Advanced Tax Rule Engine: Zoho Books has introduced finer controls over tax-exempt and non-deductible expenses. You can now automate which expense categories automatically trigger corporate tax deductions, preventing manual reconciliation errors.
- FTA Audit Export Mode: In the event of an FTA audit, you can now generate a specialized, locked read-only format of your financial history that complies strictly with FTA data request standards.
- ZATCA Phase 2 Readiness: For UAE businesses expanding into Saudi Arabia, Zoho Books has bolstered its e-invoicing compliance to meet the strict requirements of ZATCA Phase 2.
2. Zoho People & Payroll: Smoother WPS Compliance
Managing employees in the UAE requires strict adherence to Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) guidelines. Zoho People continues to refine its Middle East localization.
What’s New:
- Dynamic SIF File Generation: The standard Salary Information File (SIF) generation used for the Wages Protection System (WPS) has been upgraded. It now automatically catches data errors (like missing IBANs or incorrect establishment IDs) before you export the file, saving you from bank rejections.
- Granular Gratuity Forecasters: End-of-service gratuity calculations can now project future liabilities based on salary tiers, giving HR and Finance teams better cash flow visibility.
3. Zoho CRM: Better AI and Regional Context
Your sales pipeline should speak your language. Zoho CRM’s AI assistant, Zia, has received regional upgrades.
What’s New:
- Enhanced Arabic Parsing: Zia’s ability to parse Arabic emails and automatically suggest CRM record updates (like updating a phone number from an Arabic email signature) has significantly improved.
- WhatsApp Business Integration Upgrades: Given that WhatsApp is the primary sales channel in the UAE, Zoho CRM has expanded its WhatsApp API features. You can now trigger more complex CRM workflows directly from WhatsApp replies, allowing real estate agents and sales reps to update lead statuses without opening the CRM app.
4. Zoho Projects & Creator: FSM and Construction Efficiency
For our clients in construction, contracting, and Field Service Management (FSM), resource allocation is everything.
What’s New:
- Resource Utilization Heatmaps in Projects: Project managers can now view real-time heatmaps to see which technicians or engineers are overbooked geographically, helping to optimize dispatching across emirates.
- Creator AI Prompts: Zoho Creator has introduced natural language AI prompts. While we still build the complex architectures, this feature allows your admin teams to easily generate simple, custom dashboard visualisations by simply typing what they want to see.
Get More Out of Your Zoho Setup
Are you maximizing these new features? Often, powerful updates fly under the radar because teams don’t have the time to re-configure their systems.
If your Zoho environment feels outdated, Orpheus Technologies is here to help. As UAE-based Zoho experts, we provide system audits and Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMC) to ensure your architecture is continually optimized.
Contact us today to schedule a system review