In a Nutshell
pros
- Simple pricing, with monthly or annual plans—and no hidden fees.
- Integrates easily with other software platforms and products
- Comes with a mobile app for convenient, on-the-go accounting
cons
- Support for payroll limited to just 4 states
- No enterprise plan for larger middle market firms
- Lacking in end-to-end inventory management features
Zoho Books at a Glance
Zoho Books Ease of Setup and Use
Zoho Books offers a straightforward setup and onboarding process. You simply select a plan, create an account, and sign in to your dashboard. Because it’s a cloud-based offering, there is no software to download or install—everything is online.
If you’re using Zoho Books for the first time, the software will take you through a step-by-step onboarding process. You’ll be able to customize the platform according to your organization’s needs, connect any external accounts, and input tax details.
The program sports an intuitive and streamlined dashboard, where you can get an at-a-glance look at your organization's financial metrics. For a more detailed view, Zoho Books keeps tabs on your invoice, expense, sales, and banking history. The platform also allows you to track time spent on projects, automate certain tasks, and integrate with payroll and inventory management providers
You can even invite other users to the platform—so if you have an accountant or a part-time bookkeeper, you can add them, too. In addition, you can create custom roles with unique permissions so that your staff only get access to what they need.
Zoho Books Pricing and Plans
Zoho Book features a simple, 4-tier pricing structure.
Zoho Books Features
Zoho Books is a comprehensive accounting platform that features expense tracking, budgeting, and payment capabilities.
General Ledger and Expense Tracking
All businesses using Zoho Books can set up a general ledger, chart of accounts, and journals—and can track and categorize expenses by linking their credit card and bank accounts. Subscribers to the Professional plan gain access to multi-currency and recurring billing features, while Premium plan users can benefit from budgeting and project costing functions.
Inventory Management
Zoho Books’ Premium plan allows you to create purchase and sales orders but does not feature an end-to-end inventory management solution. If your business has complex inventory tracking needs, you can integrate Zoho Books with Zoho Inventory to unlock access to more sophisticated offerings, such as item management, backorder tracking, inventory analytics, and vendor relationship management.
Billing and Invoicing
All Zoho Books plans, including the free version, have access to invoicing and bill pay. Clients can pay directly using the built-in invoicing feature, though you can integrate with other payment processors, such as Stripe or PayPal, for more flexibility.
Subscribers to the Professional and Premium plans also receive access to project management, time tracking, job costing, and custom reporting—allowing business owners to get a more granular understanding of a project’s risks and profitability.
However, Zoho Books doesn’t come with payroll. For that, you’ll need to integrate with Zoho Payroll, which is currently available only in California, Texas, Florida, and New York.
Zoho Books Integrations
The service integrates with a range of platforms, including payment gateways, Zoho Apps, payroll apps, tax software, document management services, and workplace communications platforms. Find a complete list of integrations here.
Zoho Books Mobile Apps
The program comes with a companion mobile app, available on both iOS and Android. The mobile app allows you to record expenses and upload receipts the moment a purchase is made.
Zoho Books Customer Support
You can access an extensive cache of how-to’s and instructional videos—all on Zoho’s website. There’s documentation on everything from workflow automation and setting up your chart of accounts to invoice management and running financial reports. For additional guidance, you can contact Zoho Books support by email, phone, or live chat.
Bottom Line
Zoho Books provides midsize and small business owners and accountants with a comprehensive accounting solution featuring expense tracking, bill pay, invoicing, financial reporting, and tax compliance capabilities. The program also integrates with payroll providers and inventory management platforms so you can centralize all your back-office functions in one place.
