Arfa Case Study: Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects and Zoho Inventory

At a glance

Estimates built from structured BOQs

Materials and labour costed per project

Site progress recorded and certified

Milestone invoices issued from progress

The challenge

What Arfa needed to fix

Arfa is a Saudi engineering and MEP construction contractor delivering specialised systems. Each project runs from a client RFQ and site survey to a BOQ, procurement, site work and progress-based invoicing.

BOQ costingEstimates had to be built from detailed BOQs.
Materials to siteMaterial issues needed to post to the right project cost.
Labour allocationCrews and timesheets had to be charged to project phases.
Progress billingInvoices followed certified site progress.

Electricians wiring an industrial control cabinet. Photo credit

Before and after

What changed for the team

BeforeAfter

Estimates prepared without a structured, detailed BOQ behind them

Estimates built from structured BOQs costed line by line in Creator

Material issues hard to post to the correct project

Every site material issue posts directly to its project cost

Crew hours not charged clearly to project phases

Timesheet hours costed per phase in Zoho Projects

Invoices prepared apart from the certified site progress records

Milestone invoices issued from certified progress as ZATCA e-invoices

How it works

The business process, step by step

01
Client RFQ
Each client request for quotation is logged in Zoho CRM against the client account, giving the sales and estimating team one record to work from for the survey, estimate and project.
02
Site survey
Engineers visit the site and capture the scope of work. Survey details are recorded in the Zoho Creator site log, so the estimator builds the BOQ from what was actually found on site.
03
BOQ and estimate
The estimating team builds a detailed BOQ in Zoho Creator and costs it line by line. The costed BOQ becomes the estimate issued to the client against the original RFQ.
04
Procurement
Once the project goes ahead, BOQ lines become purchase orders in Zoho Inventory. Materials are received and then issued to site, with each issue posting to the right project cost.
05
Project phases
The project runs in Zoho Projects by phase. Crews are allocated to phases and log timesheets, and labour hours are costed per phase alongside the materials issued from Zoho Inventory.
06
Milestone invoice
Site progress is recorded and certified, and finance raises the milestone invoice from certified progress in Zoho Books, issued as a ZATCA e-invoice in the Fatoora format.

The solution

What we built for Arfa

Shyphan delivered the project on Zoho CRM, Zoho Projects, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Books and Zoho Creator, covering a 6-step process with 4 integration points.

RFQs and client accounts

Zoho CRM interface — Zoho CRM product screenshot, for illustration

BOQ estimating and site logs

Zoho Creator interface — Zoho Creator product screenshot, for illustration

Phases, labour allocation and timesheets

Zoho Projects interface — Zoho Projects product screenshot, for illustration

Material purchasing and site issues

Zoho Inventory interface — Zoho Inventory product screenshot, for illustration

Milestone invoicing with ZATCA e-invoices

Who uses it

Sales and estimating

Log RFQs and client accounts in Zoho CRM and build costed BOQ estimates in Zoho Creator.

Site engineers

Record survey scope and site logs in Zoho Creator and report site progress for certification.

Project managers

Plan phases, allocate crews and review timesheets in Zoho Projects so labour is costed per phase.

Procurement and stores

Turn BOQ lines into purchase orders and issue materials to site in Zoho Inventory against the right project.

Finance

Raise milestone invoices from certified progress in Zoho Books, issued as ZATCA Fatoora-format e-invoices.

Architecture

How the systems connect

InputsClient RFQsSite surveys

Delivered by Shyphan

OutputsSupplier purchase ordersZATCA Fatoora

Integrations

BOQ to purchases
BOQ lines become purchase orders.
Site issue to project cost
Material issues post to the project.
Timesheet to job cost
Labour hours costed per phase.
ZATCA invoices
Fatoora-format milestone invoices.

Reports and dashboards

RFQ and estimate pipeline

Client RFQs in Zoho CRM with the survey and BOQ estimate status for each.

Project cost by phase

Labour hours and material issues costed against each project phase.

Procurement against BOQ

Purchase orders raised from BOQ lines and materials issued to each site.

Milestone billing

Certified progress per project and the milestone invoices issued from it in Zoho Books.

The results

What the system does now

Estimates built from structured BOQs
Materials and labour costed per project
Site progress recorded and certified
Milestone invoices issued from progress

Delivery

Five phases, discovery to support

01
Discovery
Process mapping, documents and data reviewed with each team.
02
Design
Target flow agreed across 5 apps and 4 integration points.
03
Build
Apps configured, custom logic built and integrations connected.
04
Test and train
User acceptance testing with real scenarios and role-based training.
05
Go-live and support
Cut-over, hypercare and ongoing improvements.

Local rules built in

ZATCA e-invoicing

Fatoora-format tax invoices with XML and QR, cleared or reported as required.

15% VAT

Standard, zero-rated and exempt supplies mapped, with return-ready reports.

Saudi PDPL

Personal data kept to what the process needs, with role-based access.

Arabic and English

Bilingual documents where customers and authorities expect them.

FAQ

Questions about this project

How do BOQ lines become purchase orders?

The BOQ built in Zoho Creator is the source for procurement. Its lines become purchase orders in Zoho Inventory, so the materials bought follow what was estimated, and materials issued to site then post to the same project cost.

How is labour charged to a project?

Crews are allocated to project phases in Zoho Projects and record their hours on timesheets. Those hours are costed per phase, so each phase shows its labour cost next to the materials issued to it from Zoho Inventory.

How are milestone invoices made ZATCA compliant?

Milestone invoices are raised in Zoho Books from certified site progress and issued in the ZATCA Fatoora e-invoice format. Zoho Books supports Saudi e-invoicing, so the compliant invoice is produced from the same record finance uses for billing.

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Arfa

What Arfa needed to fix

What changed for the team

The business process, step by step

Client RFQ

Site survey

BOQ and estimate

Procurement

Project phases

Milestone invoice