You can create projects for Accounts, Contacts and Deals in Zoho CRM. The users in your CRM account can create or associate projects if they have permission to do so.

Note

• The user should have Create Project permission in Zoho Projects for creating a project in CRM.
  
• The user must have Add User permission in Zoho Projects to add user(s) in a particular project.
  
• In case you are creating a project from the Contacts module, the contact in question must have an email address associated with it.
  

To create a new project from a record's details page in Zoho CRM

1. Click Accounts, Contacts or Deals modules and select a record.
   
2. In the [Record Details] page, go to Zoho Projects in the Related List.
   
3. Click New Project.
   You will be alerted, if you do not have the permission to create project.
   
   
   
   
4. In the  Project Details section, do the following:
   
   • Enter the Project Name.
     
   • Choose an already created Template from the drop-down list.
     
   • Choose a Project Owner from the drop-down list.
     
   • Enter the Start date and End date of the project.
     
   • Select a Project Group that the project belongs to. (See also: Create Project Groups)
     
   • Enter a Project Overview for the Project.
     
     
     
     
   • To add further project related details click  Show more fields and do the following:
     
     • Choose the Billing Status of your project from the drop-down list. 
       
     • Select the Billing Method and Project Budget (Based on Amount / Based on Hours) from the respective drop-down lists.
       Note that these two fields will appear only if the projects are integrated with Zoho Books. When custom fields are added in Zoho Projects the same will be listed when you click Show More Fields.
       You can capture additional information from within Zoho CRM with these custom fields.
       
       
     
     
     
   • Under the Project Users section, click Add user(s).
     
   • Select the users from the list. 
     Only Zoho CRM users will be listed. 
   • Select a Role and Profile from the drop-down list, if you want to change the current role and profile of the user.
     
     
     
     
5. In the  Client Details section, select the  Client Users.
   
   Only the selected user will have access to the project.
   
   • For Contacts: The contact under which you add the project will be the client user. You can add multiple contacts as Client Users but a contact cannot be added under two Clients.
     
   • For Accounts & Deals: All Zoho CRM contacts associated to the Account or Deal will be listed to be added as Client Users.
     
     
6. Click Save.
   

Associate Project

In Zoho CRM, you can also associate the already created projects to the accounts, contacts and deals. The user should have Edit Project Permission in Zoho Projects to edit/associate the project for his profile.

To associate an existing project

1. Click Accounts, Contacts or Deals modules and select a record.
   
2. In the [Record Details] page of the Accounts, Contacts or Deals modules, click Associate Project.
   You will be alerted, if you do not have the permission to Associate Project.
   
   
   
   
3. In the  Associate Projects section, do the following:
   
   • Select the required project from the  Project Name drop-down list.
     
     • Only the projects for which the user has edit/associate permission will be listed here. 
       
     • Projects that are already associated to the record will not be listed. The Description and the Project Users for the selected Project will be added.
       
   • Modify the Project Overview, if required.
     
   • Assign Project Owner and Project Group from the drop-down list.
     
   • Click the Show more fields link to add or change the project related details.
     You can add or edit the Billing Status, Billing Method, Project Budget and the other custom fields.  
     
     
     
     
   • Click the Add User(s) link and select the checkboxes to add users.
     Only Zoho CRM users will be listed with their corresponding Role and Profile in projects.
     You can select a Role and Profile from the drop-down list, if required.
     
     
     
     
4. In the  Client Details section, select the  Client Users.
   
   The selected user will have access to the project.
   
   • For Contacts: The contact under which you add the project will be the client user. You can add multiple contacts as Client Users but a contact cannot be added under two Clients.
     
   • For Accounts & Deals: All Zoho CRM contacts associated to the Account or Deal will be listed to be added as Client Users.
     
     
5. Click Save.
   

Note 

The Portal Owner will automatically be added as one of the users, provided the owner is also part of Zoho CRM account.

Remove Associated Projects from Zoho CRM

When a project is complete and if you do not want it listed under a record, you can remove the project. When a project is removed, it is not deleted from Zoho Projects. The project is only removed from Zoho CRM.

To remove projects

1. Click Accounts, Contacts or Deals modules and select a record.
   
2. In the [Record Details] page of the Accounts, Contacts or Deals modules, go to the Zoho Projects Related List.
   The associated projects with Project Name, Project Status, Project Description and Project Completion details will be listed.
3. Click the Delete link for the corresponding project.
   

Create Project Groups

A Project group can be created while creating a new project or editing an existing project. A Project group is created in Zoho CRM from the Projects tab.

To create a Project group in Zoho CRM

1. Click the Projects tab.
   
2. Click Projects on the left panel.
   
3. Click New Project.
   
4. In the Group Name field, click the Add (+) icon.
   Enter the name of the new Project group.
5. Click AddGroup.
   A new Project group has now been created. This can be associated to existing as well as new projects.
   
   

Create Project For Contacts

In Zoho CRM, you can create projects for the Contacts module even if the contact is not associated to an account. That is, it is not mandatory for the contact to have an account associated to it for creating a project. While creating a project for the contact, you will be prompted whether to proceed creating a project without an account. However, you must note the following points while creating a project:

• Once the project is created, the Contact will be considered as the Client in Zoho Projects.
  
• The Contact will be created as a dummy client under Zoho Projects and all the projects will be associated to this client. However, no Account will be created inside Zoho CRM. For example, if the contact has an email address patricia@zylker.com, a dummy client named "Patricia" will be created in Zoho Projects. All the projects created for this contact will be directly moved under the client "Patricia". 
  
• In future if the contact is associated to an account, the account will be merged with the client's company in Zoho Projects and the client's company name will be updated with the new account name. For example, if Patricia is associated to an account named "Zylker". In Projects, the client name "Patricia" will be replaced with "Zylker".
  
• You will not be allowed to create projects for account that is associated to more than one contact, as there will be discrepancy in merging the clients in Projects. 
  
• If an account is already a client company is Projects and is also associated to a contact, there will be an error if a project is created due to discrepancy in merging the clients.
  

To create a new project for Contacts 

1. Go to the Contacts Module and select a Record.
   
2. In the record's related list, go to Zoho Projects > click New Project.
   
3. Click Yes Proceed, in the popup. 
   
4. Enter the project details in the form.
   
5. Click Save.
   
   

Access Projects Tab

The integration of Zoho Projects with Zoho CRM intends to make it easier for you to create and assign projects to your CRM users after a deal is won. The complete Project details from Zoho Projects are pushed inside Zoho CRM and presented under the Projects Tab. The functionalities are the same as in Projects. You can perform all tasks and activities you would in Zoho Projects from Zoho CRM. See Also Zoho Projects Help

• When you click on the Projects Tab, you are taken to an iFrame window where the details from Zoho Projects are loaded. You are taken to the Feeds section of the respective Zoho Projects account.
  
  
  
  
• When you click on a project from the Record Details page of Accounts, Contacts or Deals, you are taken to the Dashboard of the particular project.
  

Create a New Task for a Project from Zoho CRM

You can quickly create a new task for a project of a contact, account or deal. This task created in Zoho CRM can be synced with Zoho Projects. Users with Add Task permission in Zoho Projects can only create/sync tasks from CRM.

To create a new task

1. In the Records Details page of the selected module, click the New Task in the Open Activities Related List.
   
2. Enter the required details and click Save & Add to Zoho Projects. 
   
   
   
   If you do not see the Save & Add to Zoho Projects button, it means that there are no projects listed for the selected record.
3. In the  Add to Zoho Projects pop-up, select the project to which you want to add the task.
   
   The projects to which the user belongs, will only be listed.
   
   
   
   
   
   You can also sync the tasks with your Projects account or directly add a task to Projects. A sync icon will be displayed along with your open activities list that ensures the tasks created in Zoho CRM are in sync with your Projects account.
   
   
   
4. The task fields will me mapped and the notes related to the task will also be in sync.
   
   
   Field Mapping
   
   

   CRM Fields	Projects Fields
   Subject	Task Title
   Task Owner	Task Assignee
   Due Date	- Start Date (Current Date) - End Date (End date will only be synced with CRM)
   Status - Completed - Not Started	Completion - Completed will be mapped as 100% in your Zoho Projects. - Other status (Not Started) will be set to 0% in Projects.
   Notes	Comment (Notes content of CRM will be mapped as comments in your Projects account and Notes title will not be synced)
   Description	Description
   Priority - High, Highest - Low, Lowest - Normal	Priority - High - Low - Medium

5. Click Save.
   Now the task will be added under the selected project.

Note

• You cannot associate a task to a project when the record in question is not related to any project.
  
• If you comment from Zoho Projects on a task created originally in Zoho CRM, this comment will be added as a note to the associated contact/account/potential in Zoho CRM.
  
• If the task owner assigned from Projects is not a Zoho CRM user, then the one who creates that task in CRM will be assigned as owner automatically. However, if the task owner assigned from CRM is not a user in Zoho Projects, then the task will be left unassigned in your Projects account.
  
• Restored tasks from Recycle Bin in CRM will be treated as a New Task in Projects, since Projects doesn't support Recycle Bin.
  
• If the projects integration is deactivated from CRM, the sync of all the tasks and notes will also be removed.
  
• End date (end date of your task in CRM) field will only be in sync with CRM.
  
• Notes title will not be in sync with Projects.
  
• Reminders and Attachments fields will not be in sync because CRM and Projects will have their own Reminders and Attachments.
  
• Recurring tasks will not be pushed to Projects.
  

View Tasks, Milestones and Bugs

Tasks, Milestones and Bugs associated with a project are pushed from Zoho Projects to Zoho CRM. In Zoho CRM, you can view these in the [Records Details] page of Accounts, Contacts or Deals module. You can also add a task and a milestone from Zoho CRM.

To view tasks, milestones and bugs

1. Go to the [Records Details] page of the required module.
   
2. Under the Zoho Projects section, click the completion bar under Task or Issues depending on what you wish to add to the project.
   
   
   
   
3. In the popup window that appears, add a new task or a bug.
   See Also Zoho Projects Help
   
   
   
   
   
4. Click Project Completion to view important metrics like tasks planned vs. actual, project status etc.,