Zuora Release 2024.07.R1

Zuora Business Automation Dashboard available in production environments

The Zuora Business Automation Dashboard will be available in production environments in this release.

In production environments, users whose billing role with the Admin permission can enable this dashboard from Billing > Manage Features > Business Automation Dashboard. After the admin enables the feature, a request will be sent to us for approval. When the request is approved, the tenant users can see the Opt-In To The Business Automation Dashboard button available at the top right of the homepage, and they can click the button to opt in.

For more information, see Zuora Business Automation Dashboard.

salesPrice field available in Rate Plan Charge data source

We add thesalesPricefield to the Rate Plan Charge data source. For more information, see Rate Plan Charge Data Source. 

Deprecation of one option of Batch Price Update

The End of Last Invoice Period, after date option is deprecated. We have removed this option from the Subscription Price Update Effective Policy section of the Batch Price Update.

For more information, see Batch price update.

orderId field available on Subscription object

We add the orderId field to the Subscription object. You can now view this field when retrieving subscriptions through the Data Query and Object Query.

UI enhancement on selecting e-invoice file templates

We enhance the process of selecting e-invoice file templates through the UI. 

When you create an e-invoice file template and select a service provider, available sample templates are listed for that service provider. Then, if you specify a pre-integrated country for the service provider, the country default template is highlighted for you. You can view the default template before saving it as a new template. 

Enhanced alphabetical sorting in SortBy function

The SortBy function, which can be used to create HTML templates (Settings > Billing > Manage Billing Document Configuration), is now enhanced to support alphabetical sorting. The new sorting order is as follows:

Ascending order: Digits first → Lowercase letters → Uppercase letters → Alphabetical order from A to Z.  For instance, in the sequence 0123 > 9aAbBcC > zZ. When sorting the list {123 abc, example, Abc, Example, EXAMPLE, abc 123}, the order would be:

• 123 abc
• Abc
• abc 123
• example
• Example
• EXAMPLE

The table-related components such as Charge Details, Data Table, and so on have also been enhanced with the new sorting order.

OneSource Indirect Tax Determination V2 integration with Zuora Billing

Zuora’s tax app now supports the OneSource Indirect Tax Determination V2 App, which is built on a new tax platform and integrates with the latest OneSource Indirect Tax Determination product. Migrating from the existing OneSource SOAP configuration to REST has several key improvements and benefits such as improved security, built-in void functionality, API version support, customization flexibility, and so on. For more information, see ONESOURCE Indirect Tax Determination App V2.

Debug Option Added to Preview Screen

A new Debug option is added to the Preview screen (Zuora Billing > Settings > Billing > Manage Billing Document Configuration > Add New HTML Template) to inspect errors or issues within the template and observe how it renders into a PDF.

Previously, users had to append '&debug=true' to the address bar to access the Debug button. This required users to reselect the account number and invoice to view the PDF again and click Debug to initiate viewing. For more information, see Debug HTML Templates.

Optimizing Table Layouts for Invoice PDFs

The maximum number of items that can be displayed in a table is 25,000. If there are multiple tables in the template, the total number of records across all tables should not exceed 25,000. The ability to support 25,000 rows depends on the number of pages in the invoice PDF. To minimize the number of pages, consider the following recommendations:

• Use a smaller font size for the table data (for example, 8px).
• Reduce the padding for the row cells in the table (for example, 3px).
• Minimize the number of columns in the table (preferably fewer than 5 columns).
• Maintain the top and bottom margins as low as possible.

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Payment Form available for early adopters

The Payment Form feature is now available for selected payment gateways and payment method types. Payment Form is designed to modernize the payment integration experience, providing a seamless, scalable, and user-friendly hosted payment form solution. It offers the following key advantages:

• Minimal code experience in managing payment methods and payment information on the hosted form
• Dynamic presence of payment method options and information to buyers for a higher conversion rate
• Elimination of the need for managing multiple iframes thus reducing complexity

BillDesk payment gateway integration available for early adopters

A new payment gateway integration called BillDesk is now available in Zuora for payment processing in India. It integrates with the BillDesk payment solution to handle the following Credit Card transactions in Indian Rupees (INR):

• RuPay
• Visa
• MasterCard
• American Express
• Diners Club
• JCB

The following operations are supported:

• Payment method validation
• Payment
• Referenced refund

For more information, see Overview of BillDesk payment gateway integration.

Support for Elo and Hipercard card brands on Ebanx

We have now improved the Ebanx payment gateway integration to support the following additional card brands in Brazil:

• Elo
• Hipercard

For more information, see Overview of Ebanx payment gateway integration.

Support for passing gateway options fields during order creation and update

You can now pass in the gateway options fields through the processingOptions > electronicPaymentOptions > gatewayOptions field in any of the following REST API operations:

• Create an order
• Create an order asynchronously
• Update an order

New gateway options field available on Chase integration for passing surcharge amount

For credit card payment transactions, you can now submit the surcharge amount information in your request through the Chase Paymentech Orbital Gateway integrations by using the TxnSurchargeAmt gateway options field.

For more information about the supported gateway options fields, see Gateway Options Fields Supported by Orbital Gateway Integration.

Support for passing payment descriptions through Stripe for Credit Card and Credit Card Reference transactions

To comply with recent changes to India's export regulations, we have enhanced the Stripe v2 payment gateway integration to support passing the payment description information for Credit Card and Credit Card Reference transactions. A new Payment Description field is now available on the gateway instance configuration page for Stripe v2. You can enter the payment description and it will be passed to the gateway when making Credit Card and Credit Card Reference payments.

For more information, see Set up and configure a Stripe payment gateway instance.

Enhancement to canceling authorization

We have now enhanced the payment gateway handling for the Cancel authorization REST API operation. 

Previous system behavior:

• If accountId and accountNumber were specified, the default payment gateway for the account was used.
• If accountId and accountNumber were not specified but paymentGatewayId was, the specified gateway was used only if it was a Worldline Global Collect gateway; otherwise, an error was returned.

Updated system behavior:

• If paymentGatewayId is specified and it is a Worldline Global Collect gateway, the specified gateway is used.
• If paymentGatewayId is not specified or is not a Worldline Global Collect gateway, the cancellation operation uses the payment gateway originally used for the authorization operation to ensure consistency and avoid errors.

Enhancements to Create a payment session API

We have now made the following enhancements to the Create a payment session REST API operation:

• You can define any of the following payment flow modes:
  • Create and save a payment method.
  • Process a one-time payment without saving the payment method.
  • Process the first payment and save the payment method.
• You can handle payment processing with specified invoices.

Invoice Settlement Harmonization Auto enablement for Sandbox tenants

Starting in July 2024, Zuora will automatically enable Invoice settlement harmonization for customers using legacy AR functionality (Invoice Adjustments/Invoice Item Adjustments/Credit Balance Adjustments/Invoice Payment) in sandbox environments, excluding Central Sandbox environments. Production environments are not included in this update. This auto-enablement will allow you to experience Invoice settlement capabilities and plan your move to full Invoice settlement.

For more information, see Invoice Settlement Harmonization.

Self-enablement for Payment Gateway Routing

You can now enable the Payment Gateway Routing feature through a self-service configuration. Previously, you had to submit a request at Zuora Global Support to enable this feature.

For more information, see Enable Payment Gateway Routing.

Revenue recognition capability in Zuora Finance

Zuora is currently evaluating placing Zuora Finance-based Revenue Recognition capabilities in maintenance and support mode only. Further official announcements will be made regarding how this will impact existing and new Zuora customers.

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Callout templates available for notification definitions

We have now introduced callout templates to streamline and simplify the configuration of callout settings in notification definitions.

The benefits of callout templates are as follows:

• Reusability across events
• Editable payloads that support advanced merge fields
• Adding entire objects with one click
• Extensible headers
• Built-in preview
• Reorganized event list

You can create callout templates for all event types through the Zuora UI or REST API and select a callout template when creating or editing notification definitions, eliminating the need to configure callout settings individually.

Update on default content alignment for email templates

The Content Alignment setting for email templates now defaults to Left.

Previously, the default content alignment was Center, which affected email rendering in Microsoft Outlook on Windows because it rendered emails in Microsoft WORD mode instead of browser mode.

Applying left justification to email templates can ensure that notification emails are rendered consistently across different applications and browsers.

Note that the content alignment settings for the existing email templates you created with the new email template editor before this release will not be updated automatically. To resolve the above issue, you can manually update the content alignment setting for these templates from Center to Left. For more information, see Manage email templates.

Billing connector for Salesforce CPQ available for early adopters

The CPQ Connector seamlessly integrates Salesforce CPQ with Zuora's backend, optimizing sales-to-billing-to-revenue workflows and enhancing operational efficiency. Synchronizing Salesforce CPQ data seamlessly integrates Accounts, Orders, Subscriptions, Contracts, and Quotes with Zuora objects, ensuring smooth downstream processes.

Support for customer account hierarchy

The Billing connector for Salesforce CPQ now supports rolling up accounts to parent accounts. The Parent Account ID field on accounts in Salesforce is mapped to parent accounts in Zuora. If the parent account does not exist in Zuora, the connector will automatically create it. 

Product catalog sync with taxation and accounting code support

Previously, the connector synchronized products from Salesforce CPQ to Zuora during order creation by verifying the product using SKU and product ID, creating it in Zuora if necessary. Now, it also supports syncing tax codes, tax modes, and accounting codes via custom fields in Salesforce CPQ, ensuring that changes in Zuora are reflected correspondingly. For more information, see Syncing Products between Salesforce CPQ and Zuora.

Account and contact update operations

The connector now supports updating corresponding accounts in Zuora, along with updating relevant contacts associated with orders or designated as bill-to or sold-to contacts on the accounts.

Enhanced user interface and expanded configuration options

The Billing connector for Salesforce CPQ now lets you configure various connector fields, including SFDC Host, Zuora REST endpoint, Zuora tenant ID, and more. Support field options include syncing opportunity fields, using a list price base, mapping subscription start dates, amending subscriptions, and receiving email notifications for sync failures. For more information, see Connector setup.

Asynchronous order API for large orders

The connector now creates orders using the asynchronous order API, enabling the syncing of large orders without exceeding the order action limits in Zuora.

Trust Status Feature is now available in Command Center

Zuora introduces Trust Status feature within Command Center on one.zuora.com, providing a centralized platform for real-time monitoring of service availability, incident management, and performance metrics. All the information you had access to in the trust.zuora.com page will now also be available through the Command Center. Optimize your Zuora experience with transparent and updated information on platform status and the availability of your services.

Multi-Org support for Secure Share

Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake now supports Multi-Org. This enhancement lets you view your Zuora tenant data in Snowflake tables and associate it with Organization IDs, facilitating accurate data segmentation and control according to organizational boundaries. To know more about this enhancement, see Use Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake to access Zuora data

Support for FX Data Tables in Snowflake Secure Share

With the Reporting Currency FX Data feature enabled, FX data tables will be generated for the following transaction types. All the tables FX gain/loss and functional currency reporting are listed in Use Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake to access Zuora data. To learn more about FX Data in data source exports, refer to Fx Data in data source exports. 

New field updates to Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake objects

We have updated the Object definitions for Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake for better alignment with the latest data query object definitions. This update addresses discrepancies identified in the past including missing tables and fields in the Snowflake object definitions.

The new field updates to Zuora Secure Data Share for Snowflake objects are listed below:
 

Introducing Templates  in the Data Query UI

The Templates tab is now available in the Data Query UI to enhance your data querying experience. This feature allows you to access, view, and customize predefined data query templates categorized by booking, billing, cash, revenue, finance, and audit logs. See Data Query Templates for more information

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