Zoho Expense Review and Pricing for 2021

Zoho Expense is one of Zoho’s cloud-based software in the Zoho SaaS [software-as-a-service] environment. It is an expense tracking app aiming to streamline travel and expense management for growing businesses and the app works seamlessly with Zoho Books, one of our choices for the best small business accounting software. Small businesses and freelancers can use Zoho Expense for free while larger companies can choose one of the paid plans or have a custom-priced plan depending on their needs. Zoho Expense is cloud-based, and users can access the app from their desktop, smartphone, or tablet.

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What We Recommend Zoho Expense for

Zoho Expense is one of the best business expense tracker apps that companies can use to track, record, review, approve, and reimburse expenses. It speeds up the recording and approval process without the need for excessive paper documentation. Solopreneurs and freelancers can enjoy its free version while larger companies can use its Premium or Enterprise plans depending on their needs.

Zoho Is Especially Good For

• Expense approval for employees on trips or fieldwork: Employees only need an internet connection and the Zoho App to record and submit an expense. With Zoho Expense, managers need not wait for their employees to come back to submit their expenses. Zoho Expense lets employees immediately submit on the go.
• Companies that are already using Zoho apps: When using Zoho Expense, you only need to have a Zoho account. You log in with one account, and you get access to all of the Zoho apps for which you’ve subscribed. Hence, companies using Zoho apps like Zoho CRM or Zoho Books won’t have a hard time integrating with Zoho Expense. Check out our Zoho Books review here.
• Companies with employees working remotely, or in different branches, cost centers, or departments: Zoho Expense can group expense reports based on the source of the expense. If your company has different working groups or departments, the app can classify expenses on specific reports that belong to the group. In return, it’s easier to review, approve, and reimburse expenses.

Zoho Expense Is Not a Good Fit For

• Those looking for an easy-to-learn interface: At first glance, Zoho Expense is not an app that you can learn in one day. It will take several days to a week before one can master the flow and functions of the app. Freshbooks is the app for you if you’re looking for something more straightforward and less complex. Read our FreshBooks review to learn more.
• Businesses that need Enterprise features but with less than 500 users (such as multilocation management, multibranch management, or travel managers): Zoho Expense’s Enterprise plan requires a minimum of 500 users. However, companies with less than 500 employees who will use this app will be prevented from enjoying specific Enterprise plan benefits. A great alternative would be Emburse Abacus since higher plans are custom-priced for the features your business needs.
• Companies with minor expense sources: Zoho Expense is not an exact fit if your company only has basic expenses like salaries and wages, utilities, and office expenses. Although you can still track your expenses with Zoho, you won’t need its more advanced features like travel expense management for employees in fieldwork. Instead, QuickBooks is a practical alternative and its built-in expense tracker would be enough for your needs. Visit our QuickBooks review here and check if it’s the one you’re seeking.

Zoho Expense Pros and Cons

Zoho Expense Pricing

Zoho Expense offers three plans: free, premium, and enterprise. Each plan contains features that are a best fit for the intended users of the plan. For example, the free plan has features, such as mileage tracking and receipt storage, which are useful for freelancers and small businesses.

For a complete and detailed list of pricing inclusions, visit Zoho Expense.

Zoho Expense Features

Zoho devotes Zoho Expense for expense tracking, especially for travel-related expenses. Within the Zoho environment, Zoho Expense puts you at an advantage compared to other expense trackers because it works and integrates with Zoho Books, the company’s dedicated accounting software.

Dashboard

The dashboard is available in the Admin View. For companies, they can delegate certain employees to have the Admin Role. In this way, they can oversee everything in the process. Only users with the Admin Role can add Submitters, Approvers, or other Admins. In the dashboard, you can see an overview of everything that’s happening from pending trips to top violators. Overall, the dashboard provides managers useful information about the business.

Zoho Admin View Dashboard.

Adding Users on Zoho Expense via Admin View

Home Screen

The home screen welcomes users with a Drag & Drop Receipts feature. You can auto-scan 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 entering expenses manually, you can click New Expense, and a popup 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

Expense Tab

When you visit the Expense tab, you’ll see all your expenses categorized as Unreported. To report expenses, click Add to Report, and a popup 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.

Adding Categories

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

Reporting Expenses, Submitting Reports, and Approvals

After creating a report, all reports will be categorized as Unsubmitted. By clicking the Submit button, a popup window will appear, prompting you to enter the approver’s name. Once submitted for approval, the approver will see the report on their end:

Report summary.

Adding expenses to a report.

After viewing the report, the approver may reject the report and enter the reason for rejection in the popup text box window. Once rejected, the report will be categorized as Rejected. The accountable person may resubmit the report after addressing the reason for rejection:

Submitting reports and selecting the approver.

Approved Report Window

Once the report is good to go, it can now be reimbursed by clicking Record Reimbursement. 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 automatically feed into Zoho Expense approval and reimbursements.

After clicking Record Reimbursement, the report’s status will be marked Reimbursed:

Reimbursement screen.

Budgeting

Zoho Expense also lets you create budgets for your expenses. Click the Budgets tab in the Admin View of the dashboard, and it will show you how to create a new budget:

Budget screen.

Advances

Apart from expenses, you can also insert advances from employees. Advances take the same process as Expense. After adding an Advance entry, it will appear in the Advances tab. You can click Submit. If the user has existing unreported expenses, Zoho will automatically ask to include unreported expenses 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

Integrations

Zoho Expense can integrate with third-party software as well. For example, it can work well with accounting software and enterprise resource planning (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. Zoho Expense can also integrate with Uber and Lyft for ride-hailing apps. Other integrations include Google Workspace, Office 365, and Slack.

Mobile Apps

Zoho Expense has a mobile app that can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. The app contains the same features as the web version. However, submitters can use mileage tracking through the app to track travel expenses. They can also submit payments and reports through the app for faster reporting of expenses.

Security

Zoho Expense includes secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption and multifactor authentication 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 a single-sign-on (SSO) feature. You only need to sign in to your Zoho account, and you’re logged in to all Zoho Apps automatically.

Zoho Expense Alternatives

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 will easily integrate with Zoho Expense with only one account. Overall, Zoho Expense is a good expense tracker that companies can use to track and manage expenses.

However, small businesses with less than 500 employees that need 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.