Zoho Books Reviews

“cannot handle credit-card statements as required

Pros

The ability to tag transactions to different projects is something I really like. It is clearly designed with medium and large companies in mind that have a separate accounts department.

Cons

I'm not able to make it handle credit-card merchant statements the way government regulations require. For example for transactions under 2000 the MDR is not subject to GST and there's no built-in way to apply that rule so I'd have to enter each one by hand. For a retail operation handling about 1,000 transactions every day, doing that manually is terrible and the support had no solution for me.

“simple to use with reasonable pricing

Pros

What I like most is how simple it is to use. As I have never had to reach out to customer support for any issue and the pricing is reasonable for mid-sized businesses.

Cons

The tools for switching currencies is fairly complicated. Likewise trying to adjust the invoice layout becomes somewhat tricky and can leave you confused at times.

“Great value with warm and helpful support

Pros

Zoho Books offers great value for the money and the support team has been very warm and helpful. The app is remarkably easy to use too as we didn't need any formal training or external support to get started. Making payments to our vendors through it works so well that I can't overstate how much it's helped our workflows. Data management is great too as I upload all our invoices directly into the application. My customers can view their statements in real time. We haven't experienced any bugs and the one minor issue we had was resolved immediately. Overall I'd recommend it for both small businesses and large organizations.

Cons

When transaction volumes get high I feel like the bank reconciliation process could be simplified to save time and effort. It's not exactly a deal-breaker but I'd like it to consider adding more features to the starter plan.

“impressed by budget-friendly solution

Pros

I'm really impressed by how budget-friendly Zoho Books is as it's an excellent solution for my small business. The interface is also user friendly and I can reach customer support whenever I need help.

Cons

It contains practically everything I need to operate my business but I am wishing there was a simple way to connect it with other roofing specific programs or maybe that integration exists and I simply haven't found how to set it up yet.

“Reliable for memberships over five years

Pros

For over five years I have been using this and it reliably handles the memberships we sell. Plus I can set up multiple membership types and link everything smoothly to Zoho CRM without hassle.

Cons

I find it a little inflexible and the UI is not always easy to use. As I often have to dig around to locate the settings or options I need.

“Poor customer support

Pros

This tool is not helpful at all. In the beginning they advertise that every feature is free which convinced me to try it. But after I purchased the add-ons I ended up being charged extra fees anyway.

Cons

Their customer support has been poor. Even after seven months of back and forth, they could not resolve my problem or offer a workable solution. I would advise against using this tool.

“Easy to use with simple layout

Pros

One thing I really like is how easy it is to use even for someone like me who is not an accountant. Plus the layout is simple, uncluttered and very easy to understand.

Cons

My main complaint is the restrictions placed on users outside the United States. As several functions simply do not work for people not located in the US which can be quite limiting.

“simplified recurring invoicing and payments

Pros

Using Zoho Books seriously simplified our recurring invoicing process and saved us from a lot of manual tracking. It also cut down on late payments thanks to automated reminders and systematic payment follow-ups.

Cons

I have noticed that the Bank Feeds can drop intermittently, requiring us to re-authenticate to get them back up. We also had to create several custom rules to handle telecom-specific tax calculations.

“Easy to update accounts and manage inventory

Pros

Keeping my accounts up to date is pretty easy and I find managing inventories and creating Purchase Orders very simple. plus the fees are quite affordable overall.

Cons

To be honest I have not found any downsides. It was easy for me to use right away and the reports produce accurate results.

“Useful bank connection and clear financial snapshot

Pros

Being able to connect my bank account directly to the app was extremely useful because it meant I didn't have to manually import every single incoming and outgoing transaction. I also found that the software provides a clear snapshot of my profits, expenses and gross profit which made tracking financial health much easier.

Cons

The interface is a little hard to navigate compared to QuickBooks and setting up automated recurring invoices felt unnecessarily over-engineered. On top of that it would not pull in my bank transactions until the day after they posted, even when I refreshed the feed. Because I prefer to record income and expenses as soon as the payment clears, that delay makes it harder for me to keep my books up to date.

“User-friendly but reporting is limited

Pros

The interface is really user friendly, the accounting automations work effectively and it integrates excellently with other tools I use.

Cons

One downside I noticed is that customizable reporting is quite limited and the technical support does not always respond quickly.

“clean and simple interface for small business

Pros

What I liked most was the clean, simple interface and how easily I can manage invoices, expenses and generate reports. It is especially well suited to small businesses and remains easy to use even when handling everyday bookkeeping tasks.

Cons

I was frustrated that many of the more powerful capabilities are tucked behind higher-priced tier. Also integrating with external apps sometimes feels limited. This makes expanding functionality or connecting other tools less seamless than I expected.

“Helpful when juggling multiple tasks

Pros

It is really helpful when I am juggling multiple things. I mean a quick look tells me which payments went through and which ones still need a reminder.

Cons

Occasionally I run into strange behavior when making edits but those glitches rarely interrupt my workflow and in the end that's the most important thing.

“Likes how zoho products tie together

Pros

I really like how Zoho ties together so many of its own products along with third-party apps. For example I rely on their Zoho Billing app to automatically invoice customers each month and those transactions are then recorded automatically in Zoho Books. Previously I had to do those billing and recording tasks manually when I used other software which was a hassle.

Cons

In my experience they were slow to add integrations with popular payroll providers like Gusto likely because they were building their own payroll solution. Now its native payroll is available in all 50 U.S. states, finally filling that gap.

“Easy to use with smooth connections

Pros

The interface is pretty easy to use. Also I can track time on every single task and it connects seamlessly with Zoho Mail and our CRM.

Cons

For me automating workflows can get a little tricky unless I bring in an external automation tool.

“Favorite is automated invoicing and tracking

Pros

My favorite thing about it is the automated invoicing and payment tracking as it makes billing almost hands-off. Creating invoices is also easy and the recurring billing and payment integrations really smooth out our cash flow. The mobile app is handy too because it gives me up to the minute access to our finances. There is also a great free tier for firms under $50K in revenue and we run it alongside Zoho Expense with flawless integration.

Cons

I've noticed the customization options for both invoices and reports are pretty limited. The interface is clean and easy to use but I don't have many tools to tweak invoice templates or create tailored reports to fit specific needs which can be frustrating when we want documents that better reflect our branding or reporting style.

“Good at automating monotonous accounting tasks

Pros

Zoho Books is good at automating monotonous accounting tasks from creating and sending invoices to tracking expenses and handling bank reconciliations. For example I use it to schedule recurring invoices for my clients which saves me several hours of manual effort every month. On top of that its GST compliance capabilities are strong and a real plus for my business.

Cons

The mobile app doesn't match the desktop experience in terms of functionality and although the reporting suite is decent, I wish it allowed more customization to fit my needs. Also the initial setup can be pretty involved and time-consuming especially for companies with complicated accounting structures.

“Features exactly what i need

Pros

The features are exactly what I need and they fit my requirements perfectly.

Cons

Honestly I have no issues as it's a fantastic tool and program so yes I couldn't find anything to complain about.

“dashboard and reporting tools are amazing

Pros

What I really like about Zoho Books is its dashboard and reporting tools. Plus the dashboard gives me a clear snapshot of our finances and overall organizational health. The reports are excellent too for breaking things down and bringing more clarity to the numbers.

Cons

Pricing is something that I do not like as I feel the plans are somewhat pricey. If a company is financially comfortable, it is an excellent solution but for bootstrapped startups, the cost can be prohibitive. Yes there is a free tier but I needed paid features for my workflow. They do offer startup credits that cover about a year which helps. After a year of using it, I also found myself hesitant to switch away because the system becomes so convenient that migrating feels like a hassle.

“i like drafting and sending from zoho

Pros

I really like being able to draft a quotation and send it straight from Zoho so I don't need to download the file, open my email, compose a message and attach the document separately.

Cons

One downside I ran into is that you cannot modify customer information on an invoice like updating the customer's name if it originated as a quotation which is really inconvenient.