Zoho Books Review: Powerful Accounting Software in 2025?

Worried about keeping your business finances in order this year?

Feeling overwhelmed by complicated accounting software? You’re not alone!

Many small business owners struggle to find a solution that’s both powerful and easy to use.

Could Zoho Books be the answer you’ve been searching for in 2025?

This Zoho Books review examines its features, pricing, and user experience to help you decide if it’s the right accounting software for your needs.

Let’s explore if Zoho Books truly delivers!

Zoho Books

Join the 80,000+ businesses leveraging Zoho Books’ powerful features, like automated invoicing and real-time reporting. Explore our tailored plans and see how Zoho Books can simplify your accounting.

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What is Zoho Books?

Zoho Books helps you handle business money online (cloud accounting).

It’s bookkeeping software to track money transactions and payments.

You create invoices and manage vendors. See your cash flow easily.

It can send reminders with automation. Some say it’s better than quickbooks and works with Zoho CRM.

You might not always need an accountant. Check for a free trial or free plan!

It’s a simple accounting solution. Use zoho books for easy online payments.

Even an expert would agree! It’s a great accounting platform.

Who Created Zoho Books?

Zoho Books was created by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas.

They founded their company, initially called AdventNet, in 1996.

Their early idea was simple: build smart tech to help businesses.

Over time, they decided to make their software.

Zoho Books came later as part of Zoho Corporation’s online tools. 

Their goal has always been to offer useful and easy-to-use software for businesses everywhere.

Top Benefits of Zoho Books

Here are the best advantages of using Zoho Books for your business:

• Seamless Integration: It works smoothly with other Zoho apps, like Zoho, for easy business management.
• Enhanced Customization: Tailor invoices and templates to fit your brand perfectly.
• Easy Business Expenses Tracking: Monitor all your spending to understand your profits.
• Handle Multiple Currencies (Multi-currency): Deal with international money easily using updated exchange rates.
• Accurate Log Time Feature: Track work hours precisely for billing and projects.
• Quickly Send Quotes: Create and send professional price estimates to customers fast.
• Convenient Customer and Vendor Portals: Let clients and suppliers manage their accounts directly.
• Clear Financial Overview with Dashboard: See your important money information at a glance.

Best Features of Zoho Books

Zoho Books stands out from other accounting software options with its unique and powerful capabilities.

It’s not just a basic accounting program; it provides automation tools and core features that truly streamline business operations.

1. Accounting Automation

Zoho Books excels at automating repetitive tasks to save you time and reduce manual data entry.

This includes setting up recurring invoices and recurring expenses, as well as sending automated invoice reminders.

It uses automatic bank feeds and transaction matching to make bank reconciliation a breeze, so you can focus on more important things.

2. Unified Invoicing and Accounting

This best accounting software provides a seamless experience by unifying your invoicing and accounting.

You can create and send professional invoices, track their status, and collect payments directly through multiple payment gateways, including Zoho Payments.

This complete workflow helps you manage your accounts receivable efficiently and improves your financial health.

3. Collaboration & Portal Management

Zoho Books offers excellent collaboration tools for your team and clients.

You can add multiple users with different access levels, perfect for a growing business.

Its customer and vendor portals allow for easy communication and give clients a secure space to view invoices, make payments, and access financial reports.

4. Mobile Accounting

With its dedicated mobile app, Zoho Books puts your business finances in your pocket.

You can track expenses, send invoices, and check your financial reports on the go.

This feature provides the flexibility needed for small business owners and ensures you can manage your money from anywhere, anytime.

5. Create, Send, and Track Quotes

From the very start of a sale, Zoho Books helps you.

You can easily create, send, and track quotes to your potential clients.

Once a quote is accepted, you can convert it into an invoice with a single click, which speeds up your sales process and reduces manual intervention.

6. Project Management

Zoho Books also has features for project-based businesses.

You can track expenses and bill clients based on time spent on a project using the time tracking feature.

This is a crucial tool for professional service providers who need to keep accurate records for bill clients and manage profitability.

7. Zoho Ecosystem

One of the greatest benefits of Zoho Books is its place in the larger Zoho Ecosystem.

It integrates seamlessly with over 40 other business applications, including Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics.

This integration offers advanced analytics and extensive customization, helping you manage all your business applications from one central hub.

This is why many small business owners consider it the right accounting software.

8. Manual Journal

Make direct entries in your ledger for adjustments.

Useful for complex accounting and accurate bookkeeping software management by your accountant.

9. Zoho Analytics

Analyze your financial data with powerful visuals.

Create advanced custom reports and dashboards for deeper business management insights.

Enjoy seamless integration.

Pricing

Here’s a look at Zoho Books’ pricing plans (as of late March 2025, based on search results).

Please check the official Zoho Books website for the most up-to-date information.

Pros and Cons

Knowing the good & bad helps in making smart choices. 

Here are the key advantages and disadvantages.

Alternatives to Zoho Books

• Dext: This software focuses on automating data extraction from receipts and invoices. It saves time on manual data entry by digitizing your paperwork.
• Docyt: This platform is built on AI to automate bookkeeping and back-office tasks. Docyt aims to eliminate manual data entry and provide real-time financial insights, making it a powerful alternative for businesses that want a highly automated solution.
• Sage: A powerful platform that offers solutions for businesses of all sizes. It is a strong alternative, especially for companies with more complex financial needs.
• Xero: This is a popular cloud-based accounting platform. It’s an alternative for Atera’s bookkeeping features, offering tools for invoicing, bank reconciliation, and expense tracking.
• Easy Month End: This specialized software is designed specifically to simplify the financial close process. It integrates with other accounting platforms like QuickBooks and Xero to ensure a smooth and easy month end.
• Puzzle io: This is a modern accounting software built specifically for startups. It helps with financial reporting and automation, offering real-time insights and a focus on streamlining the books for a faster close.
• Sage: A well-known provider of business management software, Sage offers a range of accounting and financial solutions that can serve as an alternative to Atera’s financial management module.
• Synder: This software focuses on syncing your e-commerce and payment platforms with your accounting software. It’s a useful alternative for businesses that need to automate data flow from sales channels into their books.
• Easy Month End: This tool is designed specifically to streamline the month-end closing process. It’s a specialized alternative for businesses that want to improve and automate their financial reporting and reconciliation tasks.
• Docyt: An AI-powered bookkeeping platform, Docyt automates financial workflows. It is a direct competitor for Atera’s AI-driven bookkeeping features, offering real-time data and automated document management.
• RefreshMe: This is a personal financial management platform. While not a direct business alternative, it offers similar features like expense and invoice tracking.
• Wave: This is a popular free financial software. It’s a good choice for freelancers and small businesses for invoicing, accounting, and receipt scanning.
• Quicken: A well-known tool for personal and small business finance. It helps with budgeting, spending tracking, and financial planning.
• Hubdoc: This software is a document management tool. It automatically fetches your financial documents and syncs them to your accounting software.
• Expensify: This platform focuses on expense management. It is great for receipt scanning, business travel, and creating expense reports.
• QuickBooks: One of the most widely used accounting software programs. QuickBooks is a strong alternative that offers a full set of tools for financial management.
• AutoEntry: This tool automates data entry. It is a good alternative for the receipt and invoice capture features within Atera.
• FreshBooks: This program is great for invoicing and accounting. It is popular with freelancers and small businesses that need a simple way to track time and expenses.
• NetSuite: A powerful and complete cloud-based business management suite. NetSuite is an alternative for larger businesses that need more than just financial management.

Zoho Books Compared

Personal Experience with Zoho Books

As a growing business, we needed an accounting program that could keep pace with us.

We used to rely on spreadsheets, which made accounting tasks like invoicing and inventory management a huge chore.

After doing a Zoho Books compare with other software vendors.

We found that Zoho Books offered an affordable pricing model and an intuitive interface.

This made it an easy choice.

The switch was seamless. The customer support team was great, and we felt confident in the platform’s data security.

The free version was a great way to start and understand the basics before committing to the professional plan.

We now have a more efficient workflow, and our annual revenue has improved.

Here’s how Zoho Books helped us:

• Custom Workflows: We set up custom rules to automate our invoice and bill approvals, which eliminated manual intervention.
• Inventory Tracking: The inventory tracking feature gave us real-time visibility into our stock levels, helping us avoid shortages and manage our products better.
• Unified Financial Transactions: All our financial transactions are now in one place, from vendor invoices to client payments, making our core accounting much more organized.
• Easy to Use Interface: The platform is incredibly user-friendly, so our entire team could get up to speed quickly without much training.
• Enhanced Financial Reporting: We now generate detailed financial reports with ease, giving us a clear view of our financial health.
• Third-Party Integrations: The ability to connect with other third-party integrations was a key factor for us, as it allowed us to maintain our existing business tools.
• Streamlined Tax Compliance: Zoho Books makes tax compliance much simpler by providing comprehensive reports and tools to prepare for tax season.

Final Thoughts

Zoho Books is a powerful accounting software.

It offers a wide range of features, from simple invoicing to automated revenue recognition in its higher-tier plans.

While there’s a competitive pricing structure, keep in mind that the most powerful tools are reserved for the premium plan or elite plan.

Before you decide, we recommend you check the Zoho Books FAQs and other helpful resources to see if it’s the right fit for your specific business needs.

Ready to take control of your finances?

Zoho Books offers a comprehensive solution for businesses of all sizes.

Explore their competitive pricing and robust features to find the perfect plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Facts about Zoho Books

• Easy to Use: Most people find the software very simple to navigate. It is known for its clean, friendly look.
• Learning Curve: While basic tasks are easy, learning to use advanced robot-like automation tools can take some extra time.
• Customer Support: You can get help through email, live chat, or the phone during the week. However, it can be hard to reach them on weekends.
• Best for Small Businesses: This software is perfect for small or medium-sized companies. Very large companies might find that it lacks some of the heavy-duty tools they need.
• Price Comparisons: Many people choose Zoho Books over QuickBooks or Xero because it is usually cheaper and easier to use.
• Automation: The software can handle boring tasks for you, such as sending bills or reminding people to pay their overdue invoices.
• Mobile App: There is a highly-rated app for iPhones and Androids so you can check your money while you are away from your desk.
• Free Version: If your business makes less than $50,000 a year, you can use a special version of the software for free.
• Global Use: Over 250,000 businesses in 180 different countries use this software to track their money.
• Connected Apps: It integrates well with other Zoho apps and with programs like PayPal or Stripe to collect payments.
• Dashboard: When you log in, you see a main screen that shows a quick picture of how much money your business is making or spending.
• Banking Rules: You can set up rules so the software automatically knows how to label the money you spend at the bank.
• Client Portal: A private website where your customers can log in to view their bills and pay you directly.
• Pricing Plans: There are six different levels of paid plans. They start at $15 per month for the “Standard” plan and go up to $240 per month for the “Ultimate” plan.
• Adding Team Members: If you need more people to use the software than your plan allows, you can add an extra person for $2.50 each month.
• Trial Period: You can try any paid version for 14 days free to see if you like it.
• Taxes and Reports: The software helps you get ready for tax season by making over 70 different types of math reports about your business.
• Project Tracking: You can keep track of how much time you spend on a job and turn those hours into a bill for your customer.
• Safe Keeping: It has an “audit trail,” which is like a history log that shows every change made to your records, so you can stay organized.