Zoho Books Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison Of Alternatives

Designed specifically for freelancers and small businesses, Zoho Books recognizes that each business has its own unique needs. For that reason, the software prompts users to customize invoices to include discounts, add shipping costs, include sales personnel names for commission purposes, and more. I switched from Zoho Books to Bill4Time because I wanted a program that would keep track of time and expenses for hourly clients, track contingency fee clients, provide trust accounting, and generate invoices. Zoho Books would be able to do all of those tasks with the exception of contingency fee tracking. There was no easy way in Zoho to keep track of projects that were not hourly, flat, or on a set budget. That said, the Zoho family of products are solid, so if you have need for an accounting product and you are familiar with accounting software, this product would be a great choice.

If you are using Zoho CRM for managing your business operations then Zoho Books can offer great integration elements for all that relate to your finances and accounting matters. Zoho Books is essentially a smart and functional accounting system that is designed to assist businesses in optimizing various processes and grow.

But all business overview reports, including a Profit and Loss, Cash Flow Statement, Balance Sheet, and Business Performance Ratio, are available in any Zoho plan, with any of them fully customizable. That means you can run a comparison to a previous accounting period or even a previous year. QuickBooks Online offers the best reports available, but they are reserved for the expensive plans. If you’re looking for comprehensive reporting at an affordable price, check out these alternatives. Ideally, when you log into your accounting software, you should be able to view the home page and know instinctively how to access the features you need. But among all the new features and functions, one that still stands out is invoicing.

Sage 50cloud is a feature-rich accounting platform with tools for sales tracking, reporting, invoicing and payment processing and vendor, customer and employee management. While you’ll enjoy the most reports from income summary if you subscribe to the Professional plan, that’s only because you’ll have access to additional features, such as inventory management and purchase orders. The biggest problem with QuickBooks Online reporting is the lack of accessibility to certain reports unless you subscribe to a more expensive plan. The reality is that, in many cases, new businesses and small business owners who have a limited budget simply can’t afford the higher-priced plans that allow you to gain access to those reports.

It seems like a small feature compared to things like payroll, for instance. However, these little touches really make your daily financial management that much easier.

Although, on the whole, a more expensive option than Zoho Books, you may consider QuickBooks Online as a top alternative. One of the most popular accounting solutions on the market, QuickBooks Online is known for their overall features, different plan offerings, and vast integration options. Another possible downside of Zoho Books is their lack of payroll services. Therefore, with each of these Zoho Books options, you’ll have access to impressive functionality, especially considering the affordability of this accounting software.

Construction Management

During the retained earnings setup process, you’ll need to enter details about your business, add sales tax information for your area, enable the modules that you want to use, and finally connect to online payment apps. FreshBooks also offers excellent online support options like a searchable knowledge base that will likely answer most of your questions. You can also access support via email during extended business hours.

• With the Basic plan of the Zoho Books accounting software, you’ll be able to create five automated workflows.
• These workflows might include automatically sending recurring invoices, creating automatic payment reminders, or setting rules to categorize bank transactions automatically.
• Both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online offer advanced invoicing features that make it easy to create and send invoices to your clients and customers.
• The Purchases function offers a ton of features, including good vendor management and custom fields to track additional details.
• As they all belong to the same suite, these 25 applications will be available to you all from the same account.

And you and your vendors can both post comments so you can work together on outstanding issues. Inventory management capabilities are also comparable to the competition and better assets = liabilities + equity than some. Item records contain standard fields (sales and purchase description, rates/selling prices, and accounts), but you can also create and use units of measure.

If you are planning on purchasing more Zoho products than just Zoho Books, Zoho Finance Suite could be an affordable way to get all of the features you need. Zoho Finance starts at $149/month per organization and includes ten users. During the initial setup, you’ll enter details about your business, including industry and business type. Then you can add tax details, or just connect to Avalara, a good idea, particularly if you sell outside of your home state. Connecting with Avalara also ensures that you’ll be taxing your customers at the correct rate. Zoho Books includes good inventory management capability, though you can also use it if you sell services instead of products. Items can be tracked in different units of measurement, and you can add both the selling price and the cost price to any item entered into inventory.

Final Thoughts On Zoho Books And Freshbooks

Now that we’ve covered all of the Zoho Books plans, their features, and pricing, let’s take the next step in our Zoho Books review and discuss the possible benefits and drawbacks of this accounting platform. If you need to send hard copies of estimates or invoices to your customers, you’ll need to use the Zoho Books Snail Mail add-on. These credits, priced at $2 per credit, allow you to send paper invoices or estimates to both U.S. and international customers. In terms of workflows, the Professional Plan actually doesn’t differ from the Standard Plan. With this version of the Zoho Books accounting software, you’ll also be able to create 10 automated workflows per module. Although the Standard Plan is the second-tier version of the Zoho Books accounting software, this plan is still very affordable. With a low monthly cost and core features that can help you automate your accounting and bookkeeping processes, the Basic Plan can be an effective solution for many small businesses.

Zoho Books makes sure you will deliver all projects in time without necessarily making monitoring the leader of your priorities. Simply insert your sheets and client information in the system, and bill them to customers in a second. Zoho Books streamlines all essential accounting tasks, and organizes all types of transactions on the same platform. With this system, you will always keep in line with the outstanding bills and invoices of your company, control your expenses to save money, and eliminate compliance worries. Zoho Books includes accounting capabilities such as accrual accounting, good control over the chart of accounts, and the ability to create journal entries.

Zoho Books Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison Of Alternatives

QuickBooks is a household name that has a legacy of building effective trust within the business space. However, with progress in technology, it is important to keep an open mind for new opportunities like Zoho Books.

The software also allows you to track and invoice billable expenses. Zoho Books has several capabilities that help you complete your accounting tasks quickly.

Moreover, just like the Basic and Standard plans, you can choose to pay for the Professional Plan annually and receive a free two-month discount. With this option, the Professional Plan of Zoho Books will cost $290 total per year. Even with their top-tier plan, the Zoho Books pricing remains affordable. At only $29 per month, the Professional Plan is much less costly than top-level plans of competitors likeXero or QuickBooks Online. Additionally, if you need more than two users on your account but don’t want to opt for the Professional Plan, you can purchase an add-on user, for $2 per month or $20 per year. That said, this Basic Plan could be a perfect fit for you if you’re managing the finances of a small-scale, lower-volume business that interacts financially with fewer than 50 contacts at any given time.

Projects And Time Sheets

Besides, the automated workflow for expense tracking lets you monitor and categorize your financial transactions, while your balance sheets stay up-to-date. Once sent, your invoice will remind clients of unpaid balances, as well as allow for easy and fast online payment with credit card or ACH through the Zoho product payment gateway. Plus, recurring invoice features and saved payment details can make ongoing client relationships even easier. Finding the perfect accounting software for your business is of the utmost importance. A lifetime New Yorker, I am a veteran finance and business journalist that has contributed to several national media outlets including Forbes, Investopedia, and Bankrate.com. I have spent my career providing consumers and business owners with advice and guidance to help them navigate the world of finance.

zoho books is a smart online accounting software designed to help businesses streamline their back office operations, automate business workflows, and help securely collaborate with accountants online. It is designed for all business sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises, and can be used by services, consulting, and marketing companies. Zoho Books is accounting software that is loaded with features at a fraction of the cost of its competitors. Zoho Books is easy to useand includes everything you need to balance the books of your business. Features such as auto-scheduling invoices, reporting tags, and inventory put Zoho Books nearly on par with QuickBooks Online — and at half the cost. There are also several unique touches that are hard to beat, including a great client portal and the ability to send invoices in 13 different languages. Add in great customer support and numerous integrations, and it’s no wonder Zoho Books is such a hit with small businesses.

One credit is needed for US mail, and two credits are required for international mail. The client portal lets clients view estimates, invoices, project details, and other communications at a glance. You will get notifications when clients view or pay invoices, and you can even elicit testimonials or reviews. Beyond time tracking, you can also use Zoho Books to manage your projects. The platform makes it possible to control multiple projects by creating new projects, adding different tasks for each project, and assigning specific tasks to your employees. Save time and frustration by allowing Zoho Books to automatically import and categorize your transactions by connecting your bank account and PayPal.

Once you complete your initial setup, Zoho Books will show the getting started screen, offering a short video overview and your client portal name. It also gives you options to set up your opening balances and configure your bank feed and charts of accounts. Because Zoho Books is a cloud-based platform, you can subscribe straight from your device and access most of the software functionality – even without a computer. Since Zoho introduced Zoho Books in 2011, it’s become one of the top players in the accounting market.

Thank you for the time you take to leave a quick review of this software. Our community and review base is constantly developing because of experts like you, who are willing to share their experience and knowledge with others to help them make more informed buying decisions.

Compared to Zoho Books, QuickBooks does not place the same restrictions on contacts, provides many more third-party integration possibilities, and offers their own payroll service add-on option. Finally, the last plan that Zoho Books offers is the Professional Plan. This version of the software can accommodate larger small businesses with additional capabilities, more users, and fewer restrictions. Moreover, unlike many accounting software competitors out there, the Professional Plan will not take considerable funds out of your monthly budget. With three tiered versions and add-on options, Zoho Books can grow with your company, allowing you to upgrade and accommodate your business’s expansion. The three Zoho Books plans range in functionality, differentiating largely in the number of contacts, users, and workflows that are included within your account. Nevertheless, with the most expensive plan capping at $29 per month, Zoho Books accounting software is known as one of the most affordable on the market.

You can modify reports by date range and usually one or more additional views , but it’s the new advanced filters found in some reports that really let you pare down your data set to just the right result. You first select a filter, whose options of course change for each report, and then a comparator , and then your target value. https://www.bookstime.com/ also allows you to schedule report distributions by date and time, sending them to email recipients in PDF, CSV, or XLS format. The site has also added vendor portals since the last time I reviewed it. Like the customer portals that were already available, vendor portals can save time and improve communication with your suppliers. Your vendors can see the details of purchase orders and invoices anytime, and track payments. They can upload transactions to you and generate a customizable statement of accounts.

Accounting On The Go

But Zoho Books does not have nearly the network of experts at its disposal that QuickBooks and Xero have built up over the years. That said, its pool is respectable for a product that only came out in 2011. The next screen displays a setup guide that suggests actions you should take, along with educational videos and links to the appropriate pages. These include connecting with payment gateways; configuring user roles and permissions; setting up the approval flow; and adding custom fields.