Zoho Books Review

PROS: Features, but beware if taking out a trial that some of the features are only available in the premium edition and you won't know which features those are until you start your subscription

CONS: I recently took out a trial of zoho books. I had a look at the features and they looked very good. I had been using QBO previously. I verified that all the functionality that I needed was explicitly mentioned in the pricing plan and I subscribed to the professional edition. After placing my subscription, I went to use one of the features that was available during the trial and discovered it was not there. I dropped an email to support and they came back and said the feature I wanted to use (multi transaction series) was only available in the premium edition! That's another C$10 per month. Nowhere is it mentioned on their website that multi transaction series is only available in premium edition. I now begin to wonder, what other features were paraded in the trial that are only available in premium and yet not explicitly stated? I think this is a very misleading way of doing business. I replied back to the support saying that there is no mention on the website that multi transaction series is only available in the premium edition. I have still not heard back from them. Very disappointed.

PROS: I've been making use of Zoho for creating invoices and tracking payments for a few companies. Everything is so easy! These days, I have more room to make an invoice and sending it to a registered client within the system. I currently own a template consisting my banking details as well as the address of the client for shipping.

CONS: It appears the system is a bit stiff in some ways. Whenever I mark an invoice "as sent," it wouldn't let me make changes or give me a reason to explain. Also, any template changes take a bit of time to do. In addition, utilizing Zoho for companies in Europe that requires a progressive invoice number can be difficult at first.

PROS: We're able to report the hours by means of a calendar. User-friendly GUI. Great reporting system. We get to open reporting hours straight to the Zoho Sheet.

CONS: Exporting stuff to excel. Such functionality does have all columns within the exported file. There will be times when configurations need to be made whenver an excel file is being exported.

PROS: I find it easy to utilize. It's also user-friendly. It's so structured that anyone can learn it within a few hours. Once you get the hang of it, it's a cinch to navigate and use. It's been a few years since I've used this. So far, I've yet to reach out for professional help. The guys from Zoho does a great job updating the software. Best of all, it hasn't broken down on me!

CONS: It's difficult to find something I hate with the software. For the past few years, it hasn't let me down. I'm really happy with the way things turned out. The one thing that this app should include in its arsenal is white labelling. I like to get my logo at the top part instead of the typical Zoho label so it can mesh with the identity of my organization.

PROS: It can be used by more than user and comes with multiple currencies. Navigating is simple to do. It has a lot of basic integrations. It has a great UI for editing templates (for both documents and email). Their bank feeds are exceptional. Zoho Books is super fast and lets you do your search quickly. Accessing Zoho Books can be done through the CRM, which is a big help for invoicing clients.

CONS: Import and export functions weren't that great. It has zero support in terms of UK VAT returns. The reason why I wanted to do the importing is because I needed to migrate several years of data from another accounting platform I've used previously. I dislike not having the ability to update my records in bulk. I hope more development will be made in this area.

PROS: Before I proceed, I want to disclose my relationship to Zoho Books. I am a Certified Advisor. However, my unbiased opinion is backed up by my certifications with Quickbooks, Xero, Freshbooks and an advisor for Wave. They are all great products and what sets Zoho Books apart from the others is the integration to over 40 applications within the Zoho family of applications. I have experienced enterprise ERP's and Zoho is an ERP for SMB's. Customization and automation turns any Zoho application including Zoho Books into an enterprise solution.

CONS: No solution on the market is perfect and aspects any software can be problematic if it does not do what you need it to do which can be an endless amount of tasks. It is more important to me that there is a workaround or another way to do the complex process I need it to solve. It would not be fair for me to say anything negative about any of the solutions above.

PROS: I like that Zoho Books integrates easily with the Zoho suite of applications which means I don’t need to rekey contact info. I can send invoices to clients with an embedded payment link, and when they pay I get a notification and the receivables is updated. I have to pay discount points to PayPal, but the money is worth it. Zoho Books is easy to use if you know accounting basics. I can easily run reports and schedule them for automatic generation. Plus, the system automatically sends out reminder emails for past due receivables which means you don’t have to worry about aging receivables. In short, Zoho Books is easy to use, affordable, and fits my requirements.

CONS: A couple of features could be added to make Zoho Books better. First is budgeting feature. The user forums have been predicting the addition for a few years, but the promise has not been fulfilled and no specific time table has been provided for its addition. Second, when I create an invoice in Zoho CRM it should automatically map over to an invoice in Zoho Books. But this does not happen, which is another element that needs to be added.

PROS: I love that Zoho Books offers a number of automatic credit card charging integrations. It provides more features compared to Freshbooks. Freshbooks has abolished its PayPal Payflow, but Zoho Books is continuing to maintain this integration. It is important for us as we need it.

CONS: The only thing Zoho Books lacks is pixel tracking of emails which informs us when someone reviews an invoice. This feature is offered by most other systems, and we request Zoho Books to add it soon.

PROS: This is a great solution. Setup is easy to follow through. It lets the CEO or co-founder to do some account management. The intelligence and data aspects are a big benefit. Zoho makes it very simple for GST compliance. Invoice is customizable and comes with payment gateway integration. Apps are useful. Pricing is really worth going for!

CONS: I'm saddened that they're missing one key functionality: digital signature for the generated invoices. It would've been a plus if they had that. I hope they can include that soon since I find it very useful.

PROS: Zoho CRM integration is a bonus with tihs. Excellent feel in terms of its UI. No need to hire an accountant as this platform is easy to use. A big like to its reporting capabilities.

CONS: There are still some bugs in the system. For instance, not all contacts made would show. And there's no option for you to re-make them. Zero options for contacts numbering between 50 to 100.

PROS: It offers integration with other Zoho apps. That's good news since contact details won't need to be entered all over again. I'm able to send invoices to clients through e-mail. The e-mail will include e-payment as well.

CONS: Zoho Books is suffering from one glaring issue. It lacks the budgeting capability that any business would find a necessity. Such basic functionality should've already been addressed since it came out. The "On the Books" forums is functionality that's on its way but without an actual timetable.

PROS: Easy accessiblity. That means data can be seen whenever and wherever. Just make sure you have a broadband connection. Support is highly responsive.

CONS: Certain functionality are half-baked. Expect some improvements to be made in the long run.

PROS: Super simple to use. No need to hire an accountant for accounting tasks. A majority of your work can now be automated. Its banking functionality makes it flexibile for handling more than one banking account.

CONS: Nothing big at the moment. Certain small functionaly required didn't overly affect my business in a negative light. It auto deducts client credit from its upcoming generated invoice. It automates the remaining balance of the current invoice and includes that to the next invoice.

PROS: We like how much automated credit card charging integration. Lots of functionality compared to Freshbooks. Just recently, Freshbooks is doing away with PayPal's Payflow. Zoho is just one of the very few platforms in maintaining such Payflow integration.

CONS: We were hoping Zoho Books would have some kind of pixel tracking for e-mails. That way, we get to tell whenever somebody looked into the invoice we sent them. Freshbooks and other platforms have had this for quite some time now. I hope Zoho Books would include this in the near future.

PROS: Configuration is really easy to do. Reasonable price point. Super quick implementation. Showcases financial information that people can actually understand.

CONS: At times, the currency conversion isn't as precise as I'd like it to be. Whenever funds are moved from a dollar account to local currency, the differences are noticeable. Form customizations needs to be simpler. More platforms should be integrated with Zoho CRM.