DSL Telecom - Blog #DSL TelecomDSL Telecom - Blog #DSL Telecomhttps://www.dsltelecom.co.za/blogs/tag/dsl-telecomMon, 07 Sep 2026 17:18:25 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[How South African Payment Gateways Work With Zoho Books]]>https://www.dsltelecom.co.za/blogs/post/how-south-african-payment-gateways-work-with-zoho-booksRead this blog to find out how PayFast, PayGate, Paystack, and AddPay work with Zoho Books, and how to set them up in South Africa.]]>

When a customer can tap a "Pay Now" button and settle their invoice in under a minute, you get paid faster. Zoho Books makes that happen by connecting to the payment gateways South Africans already use, like PayFast, PayGate, Paystack and AddPay. Here's how it works, and how to get it set up properly.

DSL Telecom and Zoho Books banner showing invoice statuses and receivables in South African Rand.

Getting paid shouldn't be the hardest part of running your business. Yet for a lot of South African businesses, it still is. Invoices sit unpaid, EFT proof-of-payment emails get lost, and finance teams spend hours matching bank statements to invoices that should've reconciled themselves.

Zoho Books fixes this by plugging directly into the payment gateways your customers already use. It's worth remembering that Zoho Books' South African edition is already built for local business from the ground up with VAT201 Return reporting to SARS specifications, VAT Audit Report downloads, and Domestic Reverse Charge support for qualifying transactions. Payment gateways are the natural extension of that: getting the money in as smoothly as the SA edition already handles the compliance side of it. 

Here's how it actually works, and which gateways make sense if you're invoicing in Rand.

Why the payment gateway matters more than you think

An invoice with a "Pay Now" button gets paid faster than one without. When a customer can settle an invoice with a card, an EFT, or a mobile payment in under a minute, you cut the time between "invoice sent" and "invoice paid." Every gateway you connect to Zoho Books turns your invoice from a request into a transaction.


Once a customer pays, Zoho Books marks that invoice as paid automatically. No manual reconciliation, no guessing whose EFT just landed in the business account, no chasing.

The gateways that work with Zoho Books in South Africa

Zoho Books natively supports global providers like PayPal and 2Checkout, which is useful if you've got customers paying from overseas. But for Rand-denominated transactions, the gateways that actually matter run as extensions through the Zoho Marketplace:

PayGate payment gateway for Zoho Books

One of the longest-standing gateways in South Africa, trusted by major retailers and banks. The PayGate extension for Zoho Books lets you send invoices with an embedded payment link. Once your customer pays, the invoice status flips to "Paid" without anyone lifting a finger.

PayFast payment gateway for Zoho Books

A gateway built for South African card and EFT payments, with strong adoption among SMEs. It connects to Zoho Books via its own Marketplace extension and supports the same invoice-link-to-auto-reconciliation flow, along with recurring billing and local debit card support.

Paystack payment gateway for Zoho Books

Now part of the Stripe family, Paystack has a strong footprint across Africa, including South Africa, covering cards, bank transfers, and mobile money.

AddPay payment gateway for Zoho Books

The newest entrant, and the broadest in terms of payment methods: cards, USSD, bank transfers, direct debit, and POS, across African markets. Worth a look if your customers pay in more ways than just card or EFT.

What happens behind the scenes

Once a gateway is connected and payment methods are enabled on your invoices:

  1. Your customer receives the invoice and clicks the integrated “Pay Now” link.
  2. They’re taken to a secure payment page hosted by the gateway, not by Zoho, and not by your business. Customer card details never touch your systems directly.
  3. The gateway processes the payment and sends confirmation back to Zoho Books.
  4. Zoho Books updates the invoice status to “Paid,” logs the transaction, and files it against the right customer ledger, ready for reconciliation against your bank feed.

That’s the whole point of a payment gateway: it does the compliance-heavy lifting (PCI DSS, card data handling, fraud checks) so your accounting platform doesn’t have to.

It also matters for POPIA: since payment gateways handle the card data and Zoho Books only stores the last four digits and expiry date, your business carries far less sensitive customer data than if you were processing payments manually.

Getting it set up right, the first time

Connecting a payment gateway is rarely as simple as the Marketplace “Install” button suggests. API credentials, card verification rules, and invoice template settings all need to be configured correctly before that “Pay Now” button actually does its job.



DSL Telecom is South Africa’s longest-standing Zoho Premium Partner, and Zoho Partner of the Year for three consecutive years. With 17 years in business, 50+ specialists, and 16 Zoho certifications across the team, including Zoho Books, we’ve set up payment gateways for South African businesses across just about every industry there is.

Our support covers every stage of getting paid through Zoho Books:

  • Gateway selection based on how your customers actually want to pay
  • Extension installation and API credential setup for PayGate, PayFast, Paystack, and AddPay
  • Card verification and invoice template configuration, so the “Pay Now” link shows up correctly every time
  • Reconciliation checks, so payments land against the right invoice, customer ledger, and, come tax season, your VAT201 Return
  • Ongoing support if a gateway connection breaks, a payment fails, or your requirements change
Zoho Premium Partner · Partner of the Year

Let’s get your Zoho Books payments working the way they’re supposed to.

Whether you’re connecting your first gateway or fixing one that never worked quite right, we’ll set it up correctly the first time. Payment gateway setup is simpler when you’ve done it before.

Contact us →☎ 087 802 0917

Frequently asked questions

Which payment gateways work with Zoho Books in South Africa?
For Rand-denominated transactions, PayGate, PayFast, Paystack and AddPay connect to Zoho Books as extensions through the Zoho Marketplace. Zoho Books also natively supports global providers like PayPal and 2Checkout for customers paying from overseas.
Is PayFast compatible with Zoho Books?
Yes. PayFast connects to Zoho Books via its own Zoho Marketplace extension and supports the invoice-link-to-auto-reconciliation flow, along with recurring billing and local debit card support.
Can Zoho Books reconcile payments automatically?
Yes. Once a customer pays a gateway-linked invoice, Zoho Books marks that invoice as paid automatically, logs the transaction and files it against the right customer ledger, with no manual reconciliation required.
How do I set up a payment gateway in Zoho Books?
Install the gateway’s extension from the Zoho Marketplace, then configure your API credentials, card verification rules and invoice template settings so the “Pay Now” link works. DSL Telecom sets this up for South African businesses across PayGate, PayFast, Paystack and AddPay.
Does using a payment gateway help with POPIA compliance?
Yes. The gateway handles card data and PCI DSS obligations, and Zoho Books only stores the last four digits and expiry date, so your business carries far less sensitive customer data than if you processed payments manually.
Does Zoho Books support South African VAT and SARS reporting?
Yes. The South African edition of Zoho Books is built for local business with VAT201 Return reporting to SARS specifications, VAT Audit Report downloads and Domestic Reverse Charge support for qualifying transactions.
]]>Mon, 13 Jul 2026 16:21:09 +0200<![CDATA[DSL Telecom Is Proudly Certified In Zoho Desk]]>https://www.dsltelecom.co.za/blogs/post/DSL-Telecoms-Team-Achieves-Zoho-Desk-CertificationRead this blog to learn about our Zoho Desk certification, what the application is about and how it can maximise your business to collaborate with a certified consultant]]>

We're thrilled to share that our team is now officially certified Associates in Zoho Desk. This certification highlights our commitment to providing excellent support solutions that are backed by a skilled team with in-depth expertise in Zoho Desk.

At DSL Telecom, our team members have a proven track record of achieving multiple Zoho certifications. Therefore, businesses can have full confidence in our ability to stay ahead of software industry developments. Why is this so important you ask? In the blog below, we look at the skills we learned from the Zoho Desk certification and how it can benefit your business.
DSL Telecom is now certified Zoho Desk Associates
DSL Telecom is now certified Zoho Desk Associates

What Is Zoho Desk?

Zoho Desk is a cloud based customer services software solution that can help you simplify your customer service processes, improve help desk agent productivity and manage customer support operations. It allows businesses to organise and resolve customer inquiries, automate customer support processes, and makes receiving support easier for your customers.

About The Zoho Desk Associate Certification:

This certification has taught our team all the advanced functions and capabilities of an admin within Zoho Desk. To achieve the Zoho Desk Associate Certification, our team had to pass an exam to demonstrate their technical know-how and expertise in Zoho Desk on the following topics:
  • Setup business processes
  • Data security configuration
  • Automation
  • Advanced customisations
  • Developer tools
  • Integrations
DSL Telecom's Zoho Desk Associate Badge as Zoho Certified Partners

​How DSL Telecom Can Help You Improve Your Customer Service 
​With Zoho Desk

Our Zoho Desk certification allows us to confidently provide tailored Zoho Desk solutions to our customers. Through application of the knowledge and expertise gained in the certification, we can more accurately address customer-specific needs and help you maximise the power available in Zoho Desk to dramatically improve your customer service levels and streamline support operations. 

Here are just a few of our Zoho Desk customers:

Logos of DSL Telecom's Zoho Desk Clients

Conclusion

Now that we've achieved our Zoho Desk Certification, we're more prepared than ever to help you revolutionise your customer service with Zoho Desk. If you're ready to enhance your customer support operations and harness the full potential of Zoho Desk for your business, choose DSL Telecom as your trusted Zoho Premium Partner. Contact us today for a free consultation, and let us implement and customise Zoho Desk to align with your unique business needs.

Get your free consultation
DSL Telecom is a certified premium partner

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]]>Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:47:31 +0200<![CDATA[DSL Telecom's Team Is Now Certified In Zoho Creator]]>https://www.dsltelecom.co.za/blogs/post/DSL-Telecoms-Team-Is-Now-Certified-In-Zoho-CreatorRead this blog post to learn about our recent Zoho Creator Certification, its advantages, and how teaming up with a Zoho Creator Certified Expert can benefit your business.]]>

At DSL Telecom, we take pride in staying on top of industry knowledge and expertise through certifications. Today, we are thrilled to announce that we have achieved yet another milestone in our journey to better serve our clients – our team is now officially certified in Zoho Creator.

Just as we have done in the past with Zoho CRM, Zoho Desk and Zoho Campaigns, we believe that staying up-to-date with the latest certifications is essential to ensure our customers receive the best possible service. That's why our dedicated Zoho team recently undertook the Zoho Creator certification course, and we are excited to share the success they've achieved.

DSL Telecom's certified Zoho Creator team

What Is Zoho Creator?

Zoho Creator is a low-code/no-code application builder that allows you to create apps for your business's unique needs. Zoho Creator was created to make application development more accessible, cost-effective and efficient. This low-code/no-code software aims to enable users without programming skills to design and build custom applications for a wide range of use cases across different industries and departments.

The 3 Levels Of The Zoho Creator Certification:

Having completed the first 2 of 3 levels in the Zoho Creator certification, our team is certified Zoho Creator Developer Associates. The 3 certification levels for the Zoho Creator certification are:

1. Certified Business User: This level involves a detailed exam that goes through the fundamental no-code concepts in Zoho Creator, including data modeling, workflow creation, customer portals, and more.

2. Certified Developer Associate: This level focuses on a thorough examination of our team's knowledge of Deluge scripting features, such as data types, built-in functions, and integrations. It has taught the team to use advanced and customised solutions in Zoho Creator.

3. Certified Developer-Professional: To reach this level, our team must first gain at least one year of experience as a Zoho Creator Certified Developer Associate. Once that milestone is reached, they can pursue this advanced course to further enhance their skills and knowledge in Zoho app development.

DSL Telecom is Certified as a Zoho Business User and Developer Associate

Why You Should Partner With DSL Telecom To Create Your Custom Business App:

When working with DSL Telecom, you will be collaborating with a team of certified Zoho Creator consultants who have an in-depth knowledge of the Zoho Creator app features and functionality. Save time and effort by leveraging a team experienced in creating custom apps for a wide range of businesses in different sectors. We offer comprehensive services, including Zoho Creator consulting, implementation, ongoing support, and training. 


Here are just a few examples of our Zoho Creator clients who we have built custom apps for:

DSL Customers using a custom business app called Zoho Creator

Conclusion 

If you're ready to create a custom app for your business, choose DSL Telecom as your trusted Zoho Creator Partner. Get your free consultation today, and let us create your unique business app tailored to your goals.

Get your free consultation
DSL Telecom are certified Zoho Creator Consultants

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