Zoho Expense Review: Pricing, Features & Alternatives 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
Zoho Expense is one of the cloud-based applications in the Zoho software-as-a-service (SaaS) environment. It is an expense tracking app aimed at streamlining travel and expense management for growing businesses, works seamlessly with Zoho Books, one of our best small business accounting software, and also integrates with QuickBooks Online and Xero. It has a free plan for up to three users, and paid plans start at $5 per active user, per month. You can use Zoho Expense for free for 14 days to test the paid plans.
Pros
- Great for existing Zoho users
- Useful for employee travel expense tracking
- Ideal for approval of expenses
- Integrates with other top accounting software namely, QuickBooks, Xero, and Sage Accounting
Cons
- The standard plan has very limited features
- Has a steep learning curve
- First-time users may feel overwhelmed with the user interface
Zoho Expense Deciding Factors
Supported Business Types | Businesses looking for an affordable expense tracker |
Pricing |
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Free Trial | 14 days |
Accounting Software Integration |
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Standout Features |
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Customer Support | Email, phone, self-help library, and paid support |
Zoho Expense Alternatives
Best for: Companies looking for an easy-to-use expense tracking app | Best for: Small and medium-sized teams looking for an expense tracker without platform fees | Best for: Companies that want basic expense tracking coupled with accounting and invoicing capabilities |
Starts at: $17 per month for one user | Free | Starts at: $30 per month for one user |
Zoho Expense Pricing
You can choose among four plans, but the free version is always the best tier to start if you’re new to expense trackers. Get the 14-day free trial to discover the features of paid plans.
Free | Standard | Premium | Enterprise | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Price | $0 | $5 per active user | $8 per active user | $12 per active user |
Maximum Users | Up to 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Minimum Users | N/A | 3 | 3 | 500 |
Receipt Storage | 5GB | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Multicurrency Expenses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Customer or Project Tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Accounting Integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Receipt Autoscan | N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Travel Requests | N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advanced Approval | N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Per Diem Automation | N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Advanced Customization | N/A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Travel Management Company (TMC)/Online Travel Agency (OTA) integration | N/A | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
ERP Integration | N/A | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) SSO | N/A | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
Dedicated Account Manager | N/A | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
Advanced Audit Trail | N/A | ✓ | N/A | ✓ |
Zoho Expense Features
Zoho Expense is devoted to expense tracking, especially for travel-related expenses. It puts you at an advantage compared to other expense trackers because it works and integrates with Zoho Books, the company’s dedicated accounting software. However, QuickBooks Online and Xero users can integrate Zoho Expense as well.
The dashboard is available in the Admin view. Companies can delegate certain employees with the Admin role so that they can oversee everything in the expense reporting and reimbursement process. Only users with the Admin role can add Submitters, Approvers, or other Admins.
On the dashboard, you can see an overview of everything that’s happening, from pending trips to top violators. Overall, it provides managers with useful information about the business.
The home screen welcomes users with a Drag & Drop Receipts feature. You can autoscan receipts, upload them from your computer or the cloud, or enter them manually. This screen will appear only to employees with a Submitter role. Being one of the best receipt scanner apps available today, Zoho Expense makes documentation easier and faster.
Zoho Expense home screen for submitters
When manually entering expenses, you can click New Expense, and a pop-up window will appear. You can attach receipts here as well. When enumerating expenses, you can either choose a single-expense mode or an itemized-expense mode. After filling up the fields, you can either click Save and Close or Save and New.
Expense tab showing all unreported expenses
When you visit the Expense tab, you’ll see all your expenses categorized as Unreported. To report expenses, click Add to Report, and a pop-up window will appear. If you want to add it to existing reports, click the report’s name from the dropbox.
Adding expenses with uploaded invoice
If you want to see all your expenses, click All Expenses to view all unreported and reported expenses.
If you want to add a new type of expense, you can create a new category by clicking the + button in the category dropbox. You can set the category name and make it a subcategory of an existing category. You can also add an account code and a description.
Adding New Categories while entering a new record
After creating a report, all reports will be categorized as Unsubmitted. By clicking the Submit button, a pop-up window will appear, prompting you to enter the approver’s name. Once submitted for approval, the approver will see the report on their end.
After viewing the report, the approver may reject the report and enter the reason for rejection in the pop-up textbox window. Once rejected, the report will be categorized as Rejected. The accountable person may re-submit the report after addressing the reason for rejection.
If the user doesn’t have a corporate card, the reimbursement will have to be made manually. Otherwise, all expenses charged to the corporate card will feed into Zoho Expense’s approval and reimbursements automatically.
Once the report is good to go, it can now be reimbursed by clicking Record Reimbursement. After clicking, the report’s status will be marked Reimbursed.
Reimbursement Screen
Zoho Expense also lets you create budgets for your expenses. Click the Budgets tab in the admin view of the dashboard, and it’ll show you how to create a new budget.
Budget screen
Apart from expenses, you can insert advances from employees. Advances use the same process as Expenses. After adding an Advance entry, it’ll appear in the Advances tab. You can then click Submit. If the user has existing unreported expenses, Zoho will ask to include unreported expenses automatically in a new report.
Once submitted and approved, the advance will offset the expense when the expense is incurred and submitted. After submitting, the report will be marked as Reimbursed.
Recording Advances made to employees
Zoho Expense can integrate with third-party software. It works well with accounting software and ERP software like Oracle, Sage, SAP, and Xero. However, it works best if you use it alongside Zoho Books. For travel, you can use ITILITE or GetThere for bookings and reservations. You can also integrate it with Uber and Lyft for ride-hailing apps. Other integrations include Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Slack.
Zoho Expense has a mobile app that can be downloaded from App Store or Google Play. The app contains the same features as the web version. Through the app, submitters can use mileage tracking to monitor travel expenses and submit payments and reports for faster reporting of expenses.
Zoho Expense includes secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption and multifactor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access. Additionally, you can set up permission access to control what employees within your organization can see and do. If your company is already using other Zoho apps, Zoho has an SSO feature. You only need to sign in to your Zoho account, and you will be logged in to all Zoho apps you’re subscribed to automatically.
Zoho Expense User Reviews
Zoho Expense reviews consist of many high praises for expense tracking. Some users found it as a great expense management tool for staying on top of expense receipts and reimbursements. However, other users pointed out that the tool could use upgrades in user experience (UX) like simplifying receipt submissions.
- GetApp: 4.6 out of 5 stars based on nearly 800 reviews
- G2: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on nearly 900 reviews
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between Zoho Expense and Zoho Books?
Zoho Expense and Zoho Books are both apps within the Zoho environment. Zoho Expense is focused on tracking, approving, and reimbursing employee expenses, while Zoho Books is bookkeeping software.
Is there a limit to the free plan of Zoho Expense?
Aside from the 5 GB receipt storage and maximum limit of three users, features like travel requests, approval flows, and budgeting are unavailable in the free plan. You may check this comparison table from Zoho to see the complete inclusions and exclusions per tier. The free plan is suitable for mom-and-pop shops, freelancers, solopreneurs, and startups.
Bottom Line
Zoho Expense is a great auxiliary app to supplement your dedicated accounting software. It helps speed up expense recording, approval, and reimbursement processing. Moreover, users of Zoho apps only need one account to integrate with Zoho Expense easily. Overall, Zoho Expense is an excellent app for tracking and managing expenses.
However, small businesses with fewer than 500 employees needing features like multilocation or multibranch management may find that Emburse Abacus is a better option. Aside from this limitation, Zoho Expense is still worth considering if you’re planning to expand to other Zoho apps like Zoho Books or Zoho CRM.