Zoho Books Review (2025) Legit Accounting Software?

As a business owner, managing your company's finances doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.

After testing Zoho Books extensively for months, I'm here to share whether this accounting software lives up to the hype and if it's the right fit for your business financial management needs.

Quick Summary

Zoho Books is a cloud-based accounting solution designed for small businesses and medium-sized businesses looking to streamline their financial processes.

This comprehensive suite helps you create invoices, track expenses, manage inventory, and monitor key financial metrics without breaking the bank.

Zoho Books stands out with their free plan available for businesses with annual revenue under $50,000.

Key Service Highlights

• Automated Invoicing & Payment Collection: Create professional invoices in seconds, set up recurring invoices for regular clients, and send automatic payment reminders.
• Smart Bank Reconciliation: Connect your bank accounts and watch Zoho Books automatically categorize transactions based on rules you set.
• Comprehensive Project Accounting: Track profitability on every project with built-in time tracking, expense management, and budget monitoring. Perfect for agencies, consultants, and service businesses that need to know which clients and projects are actually making money. Convert tracked time directly into invoices with one click.
• Built-in Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels, set reorder alerts, and track inventory across multiple warehouses without paying for separate software.
• Real-Time Financial Reporting: Access key financial metrics anytime with customizable dashboards showing cash flow, accounts receivable, profit margins, and more. The reports help you spot trends early and make smarter business decisions.

Pros & Cons

Zoho Books Pricing & Packages

Plan	Price	Best For	Key Features
Free Plan	$0/month	Startups & Solopreneurs	• Up to 1,000 invoices/year • 1 active user • Basic financial reports • Send invoices & track expenses • Limited to businesses under $50k annual revenue
Standard	$15/month (billed annually)	Small businesses	• Everything in Free • Unlimited invoices • Multiple users (3) • Recurring invoices • Payment reminders • Bank reconciliation
Professional	$40/month (billed annually)	Growing businesses	• Everything in Standard • 5 users • Inventory management • Sales orders • Time tracking • Project accounting • Client portal
Premium	$60/month (billed annually)	Medium businesses	• Everything in Professional • 10 users • Advanced analytics • Phone support • Workflow automation • Custom fields
Elite Plan	$120/month (billed annually)	Larger operations	• Everything in Premium • 15+ users • Priority support • Advanced customization options • Dedicated account manager

For most small businesses, the Professional plan at $40/month offers the best bang for your buck. You get inventory management, project accounting, and the ability to convert sales orders into invoices. Plus, it's significantly cheaper than QuickBooks Online's comparable tier.

The free trial (14 days on all paid plans) lets you test everything before committing, and the free plan is genuinely useful if you're just starting out.

Verdict: 4.6/5

Zoho Books Alternatives

Plan	Zoho Books	QuickBooks Online	Xero	FreshBooks
Starting Price	$0 (Free)	$35/month	$13/month	$19/month
Free Plan	✓	✗	30-day trial	30-day trial
Multiple Users	Up to 15+	Up to 25	Unlimited	Up to 500
Mobile App	iOS & Android	iOS & Android	iOS & Android	iOS & Android
Inventory Management	✓ (Pro+)	✓	✓ (Add-on)	✗
Project Accounting	✓	✓ (Advanced)	✓	✓
Payment Processing	Zoho Payments	QuickBooks Payments	Stripe/PayPal	FreshBooks Payments

Zoho Books User Experience & Interface

Zoho Books features a clean, user-friendly interface that doesn't overwhelm you with accounting jargon. The dashboard shows your key financial metrics at a glance; outstanding invoices, accounts receivable, cash flow, and recent transactions.

Setting up your account takes about 15-20 minutes. The software includes helpful prompts that guide you through connecting your bank accounts, setting up sales tax, and customizing your first invoice template.

While there's a learning curve (especially with user permissions and project accounting), it's nowhere near as steep as traditional accounting software.

The software excels at reducing manual errors through automation. Once you set up rules for bank reconciliation, Zoho Books will automatically categorize transactions based on your preferences. This saves hours every month on accounting tasks.

Verdict: 4.7/5

Website & Mobile Experience

The web application works smoothly across all browsers with a responsive design that adapts to tablets and smaller screens.

The mobile app for iOS and Android covers most essential tasks you'd need on the go:

• Create invoices and send them to clients
• Record expenses and attach receipt photos
• Check your cash flow and key metrics
• Track project time
• View client information through contact management

However, some advanced features like detailed report generation and complex user permissions require the desktop version. The mobile app is great for day-to-day tasks but won't replace your computer for month-end closes or in-depth financial analysis.

Verdict: 4.4/5

Accounting & Financial Management Process

Core Accounting Features

Zoho Books covers all the accounting fundamentals that small businesses need:

Invoicing & Payments:

• Create invoices in seconds using customizable templates
• Set up recurring invoices for subscription clients
• Send payment reminders automatically
• Accept online payments through Zoho Payments or other payment gateways

Expense Tracking:

• Track expenses by category, project, or client
• Snap photos of receipts with the mobile app
• Automatically categorize transactions from bank feeds
• Set up approval workflows for team expenses

Bank Reconciliation:

• Connect unlimited bank accounts
• Automatically categorize transactions using smart rules
• Match transactions with invoices and bills in seconds
• Maintain an audit trail for compliance

The automation features really shine here. Instead of manually entering every transaction, you spend a few hours setting up rules, and then Zoho Books handles the repetitive tasks for you.

Verdict: 4.8/5

Financial Reports & Analytics

Zoho Books generates all the standard financial reports business owners need including profit & loss statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, accounts receivable aging, and sales tax reports.

I like that you can schedule reports to email automatically (daily, weekly, monthly), which is perfect for keeping stakeholders informed. The Professional plan and above include better visualization and advanced analytics that help you spot trends.

While the reports are comprehensive, the customization options could be better. If you need highly specific reports, you might need to export financial data to Excel for manipulation.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Inventory Management

Available on Professional plans and above, the inventory management features allows you to track stock levels across multiple warehouses, set reorder points and get alerts, and manage serial numbers and batches.

It' s also good for converting sales orders to invoices automatically and tracking cost of goods sold (COGS)

For product-based businesses, this is a huge plus. Many competitors charge extra for inventory features or require add-ons. However, if you have complex manufacturing needs with assemblies and bill of materials, you might need specialized inventory software.

Verdict: 4.6/5

Project Accounting & Time Tracking

This is where Zoho Books really stands out for service-based businesses.

The project accounting tools let you track time by project and task, bill clients based on hourly rates or fixed fees, and monitor project profitability in real-time.

The time tracking integrates beautifully with invoicing. Your team logs hours, you review and approve, then convert them to invoices with one click. This level of automation saves countless hours on financial processes.

Verdict: 4.9/5

Additional Features & Tools

• Advanced Autoscans ($8/month billed annually)
• Expense Claim ($7/user per month)
• BillPay ($59/month billed annually)
• Locations ($10/month billed annually)

Verdict: 4.7/5

Zoho Books Customer Support

Zoho offers different support channels including email, chat, and phone. The website also has a help center with user-driven FAQs and webinars as well for regular training sessions

The chat support team is knowledgeable and typically responds within 2-3 minutes during business hours. They can handle most accounting tasks and technical questions without escalation.

Email support usually gets back within 24 hours with detailed answers. The help center is comprehensive with step-by-step guides, which is helpful since phone support isn't available on lower tiers.

The lack of phone support on the Free and Standard plans might frustrate some business owners who prefer talking through issues. However, for the price point, the available support is solid.

Verdict: 4.5/5

Also Read: Zoho Books vs QuickBooks

Zoho Book's Review Ratings from Review Sites

• Capterra: 4.4/5
• G2: 4.4/5
• Trustpilot: 4.1/5
• Software Advice: 4.4/5

FAQs

Our Verdict

After testing Zoho Books for several months, I found it delivers decent value for the price point. However, there is a steep learning curve, and you need to upgrade just to access phone support when problems arise.

Which is why I always recommend QuickBooks Online as the better option. QuickBooks platform is easy to use and they provide helpful support without hidden paywalls.

If you want a reliable accounting software without constant workarounds, QuickBooks Online at $35/month delivers real value. The extra cost quickly becomes worthwhile when you're not wasting hours troubleshooting basic tasks or hunting for workarounds.