Using Zoho in France

Where your data is hosted

Accounts created in Europe are hosted in Zoho's data centres in the European Union, in Amsterdam and Dublin, and use a European domain. Zoho runs its own infrastructure and does not rely on advertising revenue, an argument that weighs with French buyers who are wary of American cloud providers.

Check the region at sign-up. An account created through the wrong site can land in another region, and moving it later is a project.

GDPR in practice

Zoho acts as your processor and provides a data processing agreement. Your company is the controller. You decide what you collect, on what legal basis and for how long.

In Zoho CRM, the GDPR settings let you record the legal basis for each contact, manage consent, limit what is done with a person's data and answer access, export and deletion requests. Zoho Campaigns handles double opt-in and unsubscribes, and SalesIQ can ask for consent before tracking visitors.

Switch these settings on during setup, not after the first complaint. Add retention rules so that old leads are deleted or anonymized on schedule.

Accounting and electronic invoicing

This is where to be careful. French accounting has specific requirements: the national chart of accounts, the accounting entries file that the tax authority can request, certified invoicing software rules and the move to mandatory electronic invoicing between companies through approved platforms.

Before you choose Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice for a French entity, note that Zoho lists a France edition of Zoho Books and itself advises checking local compliance before use. Check what the edition covers on each of these points, and ask your chartered accountant. Many French companies use Zoho for sales, support and operations and keep French accounting software, connected to Zoho CRM, for invoicing and the books.

Rather have a specialist do it? Talk to TECHMA

Language and local integrations

The main Zoho apps are available in French. Some newer features and parts of the documentation appear in English first. Test the apps your team will use daily.

Check the integrations you rely on: your telephony provider, your bank, your payment provider, your e-signature needs under the European eIDAS rules, and your accounting software. Where no ready-made connector exists, Zoho Flow or a custom integration can fill the gap.

What to check before you sign

• The data region, shown at sign-up.
• The data processing agreement, signed and filed.
• Accounting and electronic invoicing coverage for France, with your accountant.
• The French version of each app, and of your own templates.
• Connectors for your telephony, payments and accounting.

Getting help in France

Zoho has a presence in France, support in French and a network of partners. A partner sets up the apps around your process, migrates your data and trains your team.

TECHMA, which publishes this site, is a French-speaking firm based in Québec with an office in Cotonou. We work remotely with companies in France and across Europe.

Questions people ask

Guides for the apps on this page

• Zoho CRMSales CRMRead the guide
• Zoho CampaignsEmail marketingRead the guide
• Zoho DeskHelp deskRead the guide
• Zoho OneBusiness suiteRead the guide

Keep reading

• Zoho in CanadaZoho by countryRead
• Zoho in the United StatesZoho by countryRead
• Zoho in BeninZoho by countryRead