Zoho Books Reviews

The platform can be customized to your needs and there are plenty of settings to play with, making the setup of the software a bit long. Fortunately, you can invite your accountant to help with this. Collaboration is made easy with comments, contextual chats, and a task tracker.

This online accounting software has everything you could possibly need to always keep track of your sales, clients, and payments.

The platform supports an unlimited number of customer profiles, but it limits the number of annual invoices you can send. Creating and managing these profiles was a delight, even though the software is extensive. In addition to the usual information, we were impressed that you can add specific information like tax rates, currencies, languages, and more.

Creating and sending out quotes (as well as invoices) is just as simple. The software will gather all the information you added to the relevant fields, and you can assign each quote/invoice to a salesperson or project.

We especially liked that it’s possible to add other details manually, such as special discounts or custom messages. Creating recurring invoices and credit notes is also an option.

Zoho Books supports payment gateways (Stripe, Paypal, Paytabs, Authorize.Net, Verifone, Braintree, and CSG Forte) for users to receive payments online and you can register several payment methods (cash, check, bank transfer, etc.) in any account you want.

It’s important to highlight that Zoho Books covers international businesses by offering automatic exchange rates, multilingual invoicing, and multi-currency transactions for each customer.

In general, documents will be sent to the customers’ email, but you can also give them access to a multilingual customer portal.

Zoho Books is as comprehensive in its vendors and expenses management as it is with sales management. It supports an unlimited number of vendor profiles but puts limits on expenses and bills.

We were happy that the purchases section of the platform is very similar to the sales section and follows the same logic. Bills and expenses can be added manually, imported in bulk, or automatically. You can track your expenses, check unpaid bills, set recurring expenses, and add vendor credit notes in a matter of clicks.

The cherry on top is the possibility of auto-forwarding bank and credit card statements and setting up bank and credit card feeds (via a third-party provider) to have all information in one place.

If your business sells physical products, you’ll be happy to know that Zoho Books also offers inventory management.

Although businesses with advanced inventory management needs should invest in Zoho Inventory and integrate both apps, Zoho Books offers some features that work for simpler needs. You can set price lists to apply them when creating quotes or invoices, and it’s also possible to enable inventory tracking to get warnings when it’s time to stock up again.

With so much information in one place, in-depth reporting is a must – and the company certainly doesn’t disappoint.

Zoho Books offers over 60 reports that are automatically created by the system. Everything you need to properly manage your business is there, from P&L and cashflow statements to times to get paid and vendor balance summaries.

We also enjoyed customizing all available reports to our liking. It’s also possible to schedule reports and have them sent to your email when they’re ready, as well as add reports to your favorites for easier access.

Zoho Books' web app is responsive and intuitive to navigate, but you can also install the software’s desktop (Windows) and mobile apps (iOS and macOS) for better performance. Both the desktop and mobile apps are an exact replica of the online platform, making it effortless to switch between devices.

The mobile app is perfect for getting information on the go, scanning documents, and completing small tasks like creating an invoice. The app is responsive and works well on a smaller screen, but we recommend leaving the heavy lifting for when you’re using a computer.

One of our favorite parts of the mobile app is the time tracker. While simple in nature, it allows you to track time on the go and allocate it to specific projects. This information can later be used to create invoices when charging customers, making it perfect for businesses that operate in the field.

The Zoho ecosystem is expansive. The company has apps for everything business, and of course, they all integrate with each other. Zoho Books is no exception – you can integrate it with any other Zoho app, from Zoho Inventory Manager to Zoho Expense, Zoho Campaigns, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Projects.

Unfortunately, third-party integrations are a bit more limited. Even so, you can use Zapier to integrate with thousands of other apps.

On the bright side, you can count on several extra services that aren’t always present in online accounting software, such as time tracking, project management, and document management.

From startups created a month ago to massive enterprises that have been in the game for a long time, Zoho Books is designed to cater to a wide range of customers. Evidence of this lies in the six available subscriptions.

On the one hand, the free plan is perfect for a small business owner starting out, as it provides all the basics and access to one user and an accountant. On the other hand, the top-of-the-range Ultimate plan is great for enterprises that require advanced accounting.

Unlike other online accounting software, Zoho Books doesn’t limit the number of customer or vendor profiles. However, it does restrict the number of invoices, expenses, and bills you can use per year.

Prices start at $15 per month for three users with an annual billing cycle, which provides a discount of up to 25% compared to the monthly rate. All paid subscriptions come with a 14-day free trial for you to try out all premium features – no credit card needed.

It’s important to mention that the maximum number of users you can get with a plan is 15. From there, you need to pay $2.5 per month for every extra user (paid annually) regardless of the subscription you choose.

Other add-ons available include extra locations ($10 per month), advanced auto scans ($8 per month for 50 scans), and expense claims ($7 per active user per month).

Zoho’s customer service is so divided that it’s difficult to understand what kind of help you’ll get when you sign up for a plan.

Free users can reach out to the company via email, whereas paying customers get access to live chat and phone support. But that’s not where it ends.

Paying customers can opt for a Premium or Enterprise client service for faster response times, higher availability from the customer support team, and a dedicated technical account manager.

The level of customer service you get access to also depends on where you live. For example, Zoho phone support is available 24/5 in some European countries, Sunday to Friday (9 a.m. – 6 p.m.) in the Middle East.

Fortunately, there are some parts that stay the same for everyone. Zoho has an excellent library of offline resources to help you. From comprehensive FAQs to how-to videos and a user community, you can find all the answers you need if you have the time (and patience) to look for them yourself.

Additionally, you can connect with Zoho on X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Still, if you’re able to overcome the learning curve, you’ll be rewarded with a platform that offers everything you need in just one place.

Large companies tend to be more complex due to their intricate ecosystems, and Zoho is no exception. Both the pricing and customer service would benefit from being simplified to make them friendlier to newcomers.

While we recommend Zoho Books to mid-sized and large companies, its free version is perfect for smaller businesses that are starting their accounting journeys. Plus, remember to use the 14-day free trial to check all paid features.