Zoho Books is a cloud-based accounting software designed to streamline mundane tasks involving bookkeeping, project management, inventory tracking, and more. It offers a pack of powerful features, such as automated bank feeds, project time tracking, and a collaborative client portal. Zoho Books offers three pricing plans with monthly prices that range from $9 to $29 per organization.
What We Recommend Zoho Books For
After careful research, I am convinced that Zoho Books is an ideal full-featured accounting app for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) when it comes to recording sales orders, managing customers, and automating business transactions. It is also good for freelancers looking to track hours and add them to client invoices.
You can explore Zoho Books’ full-featured Professional plan for 14 days before signing up for a paid plan. You may also open and explore a demo account with limited features.
Who Zoho Books Is Good For
- Businesses seeking a more affordable option to QuickBooks: At a starting price of $9 per organization per month, Zoho Books is a less-expensive option than QuickBooks for small and growing businesses with limited budgets. If you’re looking for a more affordable alternative to QuickBooks, check out our article on the best QuickBooks alternatives.
- Freelancers and self-employed businesses: Create and send professional invoices, track time and project expenses to include on invoices, and manage all your clients in one place. If you’re looking for an efficient accounting program for your project-based or hourly freelance business, our guide on the best accounting software for freelancers can help.
- Businesses seeking comprehensive business management software: Zoho Books is a part of Zoho’s suite of productivity tools. Together, Zoho’s integrated platform of apps can be used to manage and automate various business processes, including marketing, email and collaboration, project management, and customer relationship management (CRM).
Who Zoho Books Is Not a Good Fit For
- Users keeping the books for multiple companies: One of the drawbacks to using Zoho Books is that you can’t set up and manage multiple companies in a single account. If you’re managing two or more companies, check out our review of the best multicompany accounting software.
- Ecommerce retailers: Unlike QuickBooks, Zoho Books can’t calculate the sales tax rate automatically based on the customer address. Also, the stock tracking feature is available only in the highest-priced plan. If you are in an ecommerce business and need software to manage your accounting tasks, check out our review of the best ecommerce accounting software.
- Businesses looking for free software: While it’s inexpensive accounting software, Zoho Books doesn’t offer a free plan like Sunrise. If your business is on a tight budget and you’re willing to give up a few features, read our review of the best free accounting software.
Are you looking for something different? Read our guide to the best small business accounting software and check out our top picks.
Zoho Books Overview
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Integrates with a large suite of Zoho applications | Inventory management is available only in the highest-priced plan |
More affordable than most other leading accounting software | Receipt scanning is limited to 50 scans and is an additional charge |
Professional plan includes a portal for vendors | Integrated payroll is only available in California, New York, and Texas |
Extensive list of customizable reports | Can't set up multiple companies in a single account |
Zoho Books Pricing
Zoho Books offers three pricing plans with monthly fees that range from $9 to $29 per organization. Each plan imposes certain restrictions on the number of users, contacts, and automated workflows included within your account. Advanced features, such as inventory management and a vendor portal, are available in the highest-priced plan.
Features & Pricing | Basic | Standard | Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
Pricing ($/Month) | $9 | $19 | $29 |
Pricing ($/Year) | $90 | $190 | $290 |
Maximum Number of Contacts | 50 | 500 | 500+ |
Maximum Number of Users | 2 | 3 | 10 |
Number of Automated Workflows | 5 | 10 | 10 |
Custom Invoices | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Purchase Approval | ✓ | ✓ | |
Reporting Tags | ✓ | ||
Stock Tracking | ✓ | ||
Vendor Portal | ✓ |
An additional user costs $2 per month or $20 per year while 50 auto scans a month are available for $5 per month or $50 per year.
Zoho Books Features
From custom invoicing to reporting, Zoho Books has the essential features that small and midsized businesses (SMBs) need to simplify and manage their accounting and financial operations.
The dashboard is the first thing you will see when you log in to your Zoho Books account. Your online dashboard lets you see how your business is performing based on several key performance indicators (KPIs) like total receivables, total payables, income, and expenses. You can also view your top expenses, projects, bank credits, and account watchlist:
Zoho Books’ Dashboard.
Let’s discuss each section briefly.
- Total receivables: Track how much money your customers owe you. This section covers receivables from both current and overdue invoices.
- Total payables: View the amount you owe your vendors, both from current and overdue bills.
- Income and expenses: See your organization’s spending over time and compare it to your income. You can choose to display this section for the following time periods: Fiscal Year, Previous Fiscal Year, Last 12 Months, and Last 6 Months:
Customizing the Income and Expense section.
Customizing the Income and Expense section.
- Your top expenses: View a pie chart of your top expenses, including clickable sections that redirect you to the corresponding reports.
- Projects: Examine project details, such as project name, client name, unbilled hours, and unbilled expenses.
- Bank and credits: Review a list of the bank and credit card accounts added to your Zoho Books account.
- Account watchlist: Add accounts you want to keep an eye on.
General Features
Zoho Books helps SMBs automate their back-office operations and simplify their financial transactions from a single platform. It’s three-tiered plans, which vary in the number of users, contacts, automated workflows, and functionality, offer helpful features for users to quickly check their finances and stay in control of their cash flow.
The following is a list of some of the features included in Zoho Books.
- Invoicing: Create, send, and track invoices, and receive payments online or through cash or check. You may also create recurring invoices, set up auto-reminders, and receive payments in multiple currencies.
- Bills: Generate recurring bills for your purchases, add landed costs, and allow transaction approval to reduce accounting errors.
- Estimates: Zoho Books creates estimates in seconds and lets you customize them to your brand.
- Expense management: Categorize your expenses depending on how they are utilized, whether for outlay, office supplies, or even employee per diems. For an additional fee, you can scan your paper bills and receipts to add them to your Zoho Books account automatically.
- Project management: Keep track of billable hours, create projects, and assign specific tasks to your members, grant users customized access, and create retainer invoices to accept payments.
- Inventory management: Organize and manage your inventory by capturing essential product details, including product cost, product image, stock-keeping unit (SKU), vendor details, and stock on hand.
- Vendor portal: Let your suppliers view and access all their transactions.
- Automation: Eliminate repetitive tasks in your workflow by automating tasks, such as customer follow-ups, recurring invoices, and recurring transactions.
Mobile App
Download the Zoho Books accounting app on Google Play or App Store and start managing your accounting and finances on the go. Key features of the mobile app include invoicing, purchase order (PO) tracking, banking, and time tracking. It also lets you collaborate with your accountants or employees wherever you are.
Reporting
Run your financial statements in seconds and view them on desktop or mobile. Zoho Books generates a wide selection of financial reports, including business overview, sales, total payables and receivables, income and expenses, inventory, project and timesheets, and more.
Customer Service and Ease of Use
Zoho Books is fairly easy-to-use accounting software, especially for simple bookkeeping tasks. While its user interface is organized and easy to set up, navigating through the features can at times be difficult because there are some sections that are hidden within each other. However, once you get the hang of it, it will be a delight to use for your accounting.
In terms of customer service, Zoho Books offers multiple support options, such as phone and email support, weekly webinars, forums, and a comprehensive knowledgebase. including frequently asked questions (FAQs), blogs, videos, and welcome guides. You may also browse through its accountant directory and find an accountant, bookkeeper, or financial advisor to assist you.
Zoho Books Alternatives
Best for: Businesses looking for powerful inventory management software | Best for: Creating professional-looking invoices | Best for: Most small businesses looking for cloud-based accounting software |
Software from: $9 | Software from: $15 | Software from: $25 |
Bottom Line
Zoho Books’ affordability, ease of use, exhaustive list of features, usability, and impressive customer support make it an ideal choice for small and growing businesses. While it limits the number of users, contacts, and workflows, we still consider it a good accounting solution that offers real value for your money. You can explore Zoho Books by signing up for its 14-day free trial.
