Zoho Expense
The Zoho Expense connector lets AI agents create, submit, and approve expense claims and reports. It uses OAuth 2.0 so your credentials are stored encrypted in MCPGate's vault and are never exposed to the AI client.
Required scopes#
MCPGate requests the following OAuth scope when you connect a Zoho Expense account.
| Scope | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ZohoExpense.fullaccess.ALL | Full read and write access to all Zoho Expense data |
Tool reference#
The Zoho Expense connector exposes 10 tools. Use the MCP Apps page to enable or disable individual tools per app, and the Guardrails page to add fine-grained rules on top.
| Tool | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| zohoexpense_list_expenses | read | List expenses in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_get_expense | read | Get a specific expense by ID from Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_list_reports | read | List expense reports in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_list_categories | read | List expense categories in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_create_expense | write | Create a new expense in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_update_expense | write | Update an existing expense in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_submit_expense | write | Submit an expense for approval in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_create_report | write | Create a new expense report in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_submit_report | write | Submit an expense report for approval in Zoho Expense |
| zohoexpense_approve_report | write | Approve an expense report in Zoho Expense |
Report approval triggers reimbursement workflows
zohoexpense_approve_report marks the expense report as approved, which can automatically trigger reimbursement in connected payroll or accounting systems. Restrict this tool to finance manager apps only.Common guardrail recipes#
Read-only access#
Apply the read_only preset to enable the four read tools and deny all write tools. Suitable for finance analytics agents that review spend patterns and pending reports without submitting or approving anything.
Submit preset#
Use the submit preset to enable read tools plus create, update, and submit tools — but deny zohoexpense_approve_report. This lets employees use an agent to capture and file expenses while keeping approval in human hands.
Full access#
The full_access preset enables all 10 tools including approval. Apply a max_value guardrail to zohoexpense_create_expense targeting the amount field to cap how large an individual expense the agent may log.
Troubleshooting#
- Organisation ID— Zoho Expense is organisation-scoped. If the agent returns "no organisation found" errors, reconnect the connector and confirm the correct organisation is selected during OAuth.
- Category ID required —
zohoexpense_create_expenserequires a valid expense category ID. Usezohoexpense_list_categoriesto retrieve the IDs for your organisation's configured expense types. - Report must contain expenses before submission — Submitting an empty report via
zohoexpense_submit_reportwill fail. Ensure individual expenses are attached to the report before calling submit.