Zoho Books for Indian Exporters: LUT, Forex and Shipping Bills

Indian exporters face a different set of accounting problems from businesses that only sell at home. Invoices are raised in dollars, euros or dirhams, GST is zero-rated rather than charged, shipping bill details have to match the GST return, and the money arrives weeks or months later at a different exchange rate. Many exporters still manage this with a mix of Tally, Excel and the bank's forex statements. Zoho Books can handle most of it in one place, if it is set up with exports in mind from the start.

This guide explains how export invoicing works in Zoho Books for Indian businesses, what to set up, and what still needs your CA's judgement.

Quick answer: Zoho Books supports overseas and SEZ customers, export invoices with or without payment of IGST, invoices in foreign currency, shipping bill records and exchange gain or loss on receipt. You still need a valid LUT on the GST portal each financial year if you export without paying IGST, and your e-invoicing, GSTR-1 reporting and forex realisation tracking need to be configured and checked, not assumed.

What makes export accounting different under GST?

Exports of goods and services are zero-rated supplies under GST. In practice, an Indian exporter has two routes:

• Export under LUT (without payment of IGST). You file a Letter of Undertaking in Form GST RFD-11 on the GST portal for the financial year, invoice without IGST, and claim a refund of unused input tax credit if you need it.
• Export with payment of IGST. You charge IGST on the export invoice and claim a refund of that IGST. For goods, the shipping bill generally acts as the refund claim once the GST return and customs data match.

Most service exporters and many goods exporters use the LUT route because it avoids blocking working capital in IGST. Which route suits you is a tax decision for your CA, not a software setting, but Zoho Books has to be told which one you are using on every export invoice.

Three other things make exports different:

How do you set up Zoho Books for export invoices?

Setup starts in the GST settings and the customer records. The main steps are:

1. Turn on overseas trading. In Zoho Books India, the GST settings include an option for overseas trading and an account to track it. This is what allows shipping bills for overseas and SEZ customers (checked November 2026).
2. Create overseas customers correctly. Set the GST treatment to Overseas (or SEZ for SEZ units), with the place of supply outside India and the customer's currency. Getting this wrong is the most common reason export invoices show domestic tax.
3. Enable the currencies you bill in. Add each foreign currency and decide how exchange rates are maintained: automatic feeds, or manual rates from your bank or the rate your CA prefers for customs and GST.
4. Create zero-rated tax handling. Export invoices under LUT use a zero rate. If you export with payment of IGST, Zoho Books needs the setting that allows IGST on export invoices, otherwise it flags the invoice.
5. Record your LUT details. Keep the LUT reference for the current financial year where your team and invoice template can show it. Export invoices under LUT normally carry a declaration that the supply is meant for export under LUT without payment of IGST; agree the exact wording with your CA.
6. Use HSN or SAC codes on every item. Export e-invoices need detailed HSN codes, so clean your item master before go-live.

If you are also moving from Tally at the same time, plan the migration of open foreign currency receivables carefully. Our Tally to Zoho Books migration guide covers how to bring over opening balances.

How do shipping bills work in Zoho Books?

For goods exports, the shipping bill links the invoice to customs. In Zoho Books, you open the export invoice, choose More, then Create Shipping Bill, and enter the shipping bill details along with customs duty and any other charges. The shipping bill number then shows on the invoice (checked November 2026).

What matters most is matching. The invoice number, value and shipping bill details in your GST return need to agree with what customs holds. When they do not, IGST refunds on goods exports can get stuck. A simple rule helps: one person owns the shipping bill entry for each shipment, and nobody edits an export invoice after the shipping bill is filed without telling that person.

Service exporters do not have shipping bills. Their key evidence is the foreign inward remittance record from the bank, which should be attached to the customer payment in Zoho Books.

How does Zoho Books handle foreign currency and exchange differences?

An export invoice in USD is recorded in Zoho Books at the exchange rate on the invoice date. When the customer pays, the rate is usually different. Zoho Books records the difference as an exchange gain or loss when you record the payment in INR against the foreign currency invoice.

A few practical points:

• Bank charges. Foreign remittances often arrive short because of intermediary and conversion charges. Record the charge as bank charges on the payment, not as a discount or write-off, so the customer balance closes cleanly.
• EEFC accounts. If you keep part of your receipts in an Exchange Earners' Foreign Currency account, set it up as a foreign currency bank account in Zoho Books so balances stay in the original currency.
• Bank feeds and reconciliation. Connecting your bank and matching remittances is where most time is saved. See our Zoho Books bank reconciliation guide.
• Period-end revaluation. Open foreign currency balances may need revaluation at month or year end. Agree the method with your CA and run it the same way every period.

What about e-invoicing and GSTR-1 for exports?

If your business is above the e-invoicing threshold, export invoices also need an IRN. As of November 2026, e-invoicing applies to businesses with aggregate annual turnover above ₹5 crore, and businesses with turnover of ₹10 crore or more must report invoices to the IRP within 30 days of the invoice date. Zoho Books can generate e-invoices for export invoices once e-invoicing is enabled; our Zoho Books GST setup guide explains the e-invoicing connection.

In GSTR-1, exports are reported separately from domestic sales, with shipping bill details for goods. Zoho Books prepares GSTR-1 from your transactions, so the quality of the return depends on the customer GST treatment, tax choice and shipping bill entries being right on each invoice. Review the export section of the return before filing every month, rather than trusting it blindly.

How do you track export realisation?

Under FEMA, export proceeds must be realised and repatriated within a set period. In November 2025 the RBI extended this period for goods and services exports from nine months to fifteen months from the date of export (checked November 2026; confirm the current rule with your bank or CA, as it may change).

Zoho Books does not track FEMA compliance by itself, but it holds the data you need:

• An ageing report of foreign currency receivables, filtered by customer currency, shows which export invoices are approaching the limit.
• A custom field on the invoice for shipping bill date or export date makes the ageing more accurate where it differs from the invoice date.
• A scheduled report or a simple workflow can email the finance owner a list of export invoices older than a chosen number of days.

This is one of the areas where a little automation pays for itself, because missing a realisation deadline creates far more work than tracking it.

Common mistakes exporters make in Zoho Books

• Creating overseas customers as domestic. The invoice then carries CGST and SGST or the wrong place of supply.
• Forgetting to renew the LUT. The LUT is filed for each financial year. Exports invoiced without IGST when no valid LUT is in place create a tax problem that software cannot fix.
• Editing invoices after the shipping bill is filed. This breaks the match between GST and customs data.
• Recording bank charges as discounts. Your sales and margins then look lower than they are.
• Mixing exchange rates. Using one rate in Zoho Books and another in customs documents without a policy makes reconciliation painful.
• No link to sales. If quotes and orders live in a CRM that does not talk to Zoho Books, export orders get re-keyed. Our quote-to-cash guide shows how to connect them.

Frequently asked questions

Can Zoho Books create invoices in foreign currency for Indian companies?

Yes. You can enable foreign currencies, assign a currency to each overseas customer and raise invoices in that currency. Zoho Books converts them to INR for your books and GST returns using the exchange rate on the invoice, and records any exchange gain or loss when payment is received.

Does Zoho Books file the LUT on the GST portal?

No. The LUT is filed by you or your CA in Form GST RFD-11 on the GST portal for each financial year. Zoho Books only needs to know whether each export invoice is with or without payment of IGST, and you can show the LUT reference on your invoice template.

Do export invoices need e-invoicing?

If your business is above the e-invoicing turnover threshold, yes, export invoices need an IRN like other B2B invoices. As of November 2026 the threshold is ₹5 crore aggregate annual turnover. Zoho Books can generate e-invoices for exports once e-invoicing is set up.

Can Zoho Books handle SEZ supplies as well as exports?

Yes. SEZ units and developers are treated as zero-rated supplies, and Zoho Books has a separate SEZ GST treatment for customers, with or without payment of IGST. Shipping bills can also be created for SEZ customers.

Is Zoho Books enough for a large exporter?

For many small and mid-sized exporters, Zoho Books with Zoho Inventory covers invoicing, stock, GST and forex well. Exporters with complex costing, letters of credit or export incentive tracking may need custom fields, Zoho Creator apps or integrations alongside it. See our Zoho Books implementation guide for how we scope this.

Need Zoho Books set up for your export business?

OHO Solutions is a Zoho Premium Partner, founded in 2019, with 25 Zoho-certified consultants in Kochi and Dubai. We set up Zoho Books for Indian exporters, from overseas customers and currencies to shipping bills, e-invoicing and receivable tracking, working alongside your CA on the tax decisions. Engagements can be fixed-price, time-and-material or project-based. Book a consultation to review your export process.