Zoho Books Review
Article by Chris Costi, Last update at June 27, 2022
Key Features
- Mobile App
- Accounts Receivables
- Accounts Payables
- Manage Inventory
- Online Banking
- Time tracking
- Contact management
- Online payments
- Reports
- Reasonably priced
Pricing
Zoho Books is one of the most affordable accounting software applications. There are three packages available, the Basic, Standard and Professional and extra features that you can add on for an extra fee. Subscriptions are on a monthly basis with discounted prices if you prepay for a year. The Basic Plan supports two users and costs $9 per month or $90 per year. With this plan you can add up to 50 contacts and create five automated features like invoicing, projects, expenses and reconciliation. The Standard Plan supports 3 users with 500 contacts and 10 automated workflows. This costs $19 per month or $190 for the year and you can add features like reporting, vendor management, bill tracking and check printing. The Professional Plan costs $29 per month or $290 per year and supports 10 users with unlimited contact and inventory tracking tools, purchase ordering, sales orders and customized URL for software and customer portal with a domain name. Additional users cost $2 per month or $20 per year and auto scanning of documents like vendor invoices and receipts to your system costs an extra $5 per month or $50 per year. If you have multiple businesses, the software can support them under a single account, but you need to pay a separate subscription for each organization.
Things To Note
Zoho offers and integrated platform with more than 40 apps you can add on, to help you run your business efficiently, from any location. With the online applications you can access your account from any browser with automated features that save you time and money. These features include recurring invoicing, payment reminders and client portals so that you can follow up on your customers’ quotes and payments. The solutions are scalable and capable of keeping up with your growth. The software can be integrated with online shopping websites like shopify woocommerce and many more. The dashboard is intuitive and displays graphs and charts to give you an overview of your cash flow, receivables, payables, expenses and bank accounts. You can customize the charts and rearrange the dashboard to suit your type of business. Real time data and analytics will help you make informed business decisions. Using the software is made easier with videos, related topics and links to a knowledgebase.
In A Nutshell
Zoho Books is a cloud based accounting software with inbuilt accounting features that include inventory management, payroll processing, sales and purchasing and tracking of all financial transactions. Zoho provides robust cloud technology with 99.99% downtime as well as top security for data protection. For payments it is easy to connect to a payment processor and bank accounts. Access to your accounts can be role based and you can add your employees and accountant for management and account viewing. Converting estimates and quotes to invoices and getting paid online is all part of the accounting package. Zoho Books’ mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices as well as Windows phones. The mobile app allows you to run reports, capture receipts, record expenses and create invoices on the go.
Let’s Dive Deeper
Zoho Books offer comprehensive accounting features at reasonable prices for small to medium sized businesses. You will be able to create invoices in seconds, send to your customers and receive payments online. The software can create estimates, sales orders that can be converted to invoices with recurring invoice capabilities. Once the invoices are created you can email them to your customers immediately. You can automate scheduled payment reminders as needed. The connection to a payment processor like PayPal, Braintree, Stripe and Square will ensure instant payments. Accept simple, swift and secure online payments from customers instantly.
Reports can be generated automatically according to your time schedule and emailed to you in PDF, CSV or XLS files. The reports can be set up to give you a weekly summary report and overview of your businesses performance. The software offers over 40 reports including profit and loss, sales by item, timesheet details, accounts receivable and payable as well as general ledger. Zoho Books can connect to your bank and credit card accounts updating transactions daily. The software has a bank reconciliation feature to help you keep your finances in check. Zoho helps you keep track of your tax liability and stay tax season ready at all times.
The client portal included in the software allows you to keep track of customer invoices and payments as well as all correspondence and estimates. In built alerts will notify you when a customer views an estimate or invoice as well as when they accept or decline an estimate or make a payment. Project time tracking and billing is included in the software and you can create projects, track time, set tasks and invoice customers for billable time. The software integrates with other Zoho programs as well as 3rd party programs including payment gateways, tax programs and Zapier.
Inventory tracking tools are only available with the Professional plan. This feature shows you the available stock you have on hand. Organize your inventory with vital information like SKU, product image, vendor details, cost, and stock on hand. A handy email notification of low inventory can be set so that you never run out of stock. With this feature you can keep track of cost so that you can update your selling price. Knowing what you have in stock and how much it is worth is an integral part of any retail store. The system supports barcode scanning and can create price lists. A template gallery allows you to customize your invoices in several languages and currencies.
Large business will probably find that Zoho Books is not adequate as there is a cap of 5,000 transactions per month on the highest plan and there is no payroll services add on. Another feature that is lacking is fixed management features to calculate depreciation.
Zoho Books best features
- Mobile App – use with Android, Apple and Window apps
- Accounts Receivables – keep track of sales
- Accounts Payables – keep track of expenses
- Manage Inventory – advanced inventory tracking
- Online Banking – connect with payment processors
- Contact management – keep track of customer transactions
- Reports – overview of account status
- Reasonably priced – affordable for small business
