One of the most important decisions you will make is which accounting applications to utilize for your small business. The good news is that you’ve got it narrowed down to two; Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks. Inside this guidewe give you the lowdown about how Zoho Books matches around QuickBooks and what is the best.
When to Use QuickBooks
In most situations, QuickBooks is a better accounting software for small companies vs. Zoho. In general, it’s the number one accounting software used by more than 2.5 million businesses. It’s easy enough to use yourself, but it is also has a community of accountants or CPAs that could help. Click here to save as Much as 50% on your QuickBooks Online subscription.
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When to Use Zoho Books
If you currently use a Zoho program and you are searching for an accounting software that will work with your present Zoho app, then Zoho Books could be a better fit. Unlike QuickBooks, Zoho has created a suite of programs that integrate seamlessly with one another. Let’s say, by way of instance, which you’re using Zoho CRM to manage your customer contacts. You can connect Zoho CRM to Zoho Books and save a good deal of time by shifting all your customer data.
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Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks Online Features & Pricing Table
| QuickBooks | Zoho Books | |
|---|---|---|
| Who It’s Finest For | Most Small Firms | Present Zoho consumers |
| Monthly Pricing | Simple Start $15 Essentials $35 Plus $50 |
Basic $9 Standard $19 Professional $29 |
| Online Bill Payments | ✔ | |
| Payroll Processing | ✔ | |
| Budget/Forecasting | ✔ | |
| Automated Workflows | ✔ | |
| Sales orders | ✔ | |
| Client Portal | ✔ | |
| Amount of Users Contained | 5 | 10 |
| Ease of Setup/Use | Moderate | Easy |
| Integrations with other Systems | Payroll: Intuit Online Payroll Credit Card processing: Intuit Merchant Services Ecommerce: Shopify, Square Check out the Apps center for the full list |
All Zoho Products: CRM, Projects, Reports etc; Payroll: N/A Credit card processing: Paypal, Stripe Ecommerce: Shopify Check out the complete package of Zoho goods and the Zoho marketplace for a complete list. |
| Mobile App | iOS & Android | iOS, Android, Windows |
| Find Out More | Visit QuickBooks | See Zoho Books |
We Chose QuickBooks over Zoho Books
In addition to the large ecosystem and network of experts that QuickBooks provides, you will find a couple more reasons why we picked QuickBooks over Zoho Books. The QuickBooks package of services and features is bigger and more powerful than Zoho Books. QuickBooks also integrates with a lot more third-party programs than Zoho Books.
1. More Features Than Zoho Books
QuickBooks top tiered program includes the ability to budget/forecast so you could easily compare your budget to actuals and gain insight to how your business is doing. QuickBooks also allows you to pay your bills with ACH, debit or charge card directly inside the product using a service named Bill.com.
2. Integrated Payroll Processing
Contrary to Zoho Books, QuickBooks top plan comes with payroll processing capabilities. Whenever you’re prepared to pay & hire workers, you just click on a button to turn on the payroll feature.
3. Integrated Credit Card Processing
Similar to the payroll attributes, QuickBooks top program includes credit card processing. Whenever you are ready to accept online payments from clients, only turn on the attribute. Keep in mind that additional fees will apply. By comparison, to accept credit card payments with Zoho Books, you must add a payment app like Stripe.
Head over to the QuickBooks Features section to find out more about the crucial reasons why QuickBooks is generally a much better fit than Zoho Books.
What QuickBooks Is Missing
While QuickBooks is our choice over Zoho Books in most situations, nobody is perfect. Both primary drawbacks to using QuickBooks — especially it’s top plan — is that the hefty price tag. Each QuickBooks plan is almost double the cost of a similar Zoho Books plan. Have a look at our prices section for additional information.
Furthermore, should you have to create sales orders to track orders placed by your clients, QuickBooks does not have this capability; Zoho Books includes the ability to create sales orders.
When You Should Consider Zoho Books Over QuickBooks
You ought to consider Zoho Books instead of QuickBooks if you now use other programs in the Zoho suite of products. It’ll be a piece of cake to connect Zoho Books to another apps you are using so which you can transfer data between programs. In fact, we urge Zoho CRM among the greatest small business CRMs.
While QuickBooks does provide more features than Zoho Books, you will find a few special attributes that not many accounting software programs (including QuickBooks) come with. Automated workflows are contained in all three Zoho Books pricing plans. It permits you to automate routine processes that would usually be completed manually. You may find out more about workflows at the.
Another exceptional feature that Zoho includes is a customer portal. Within the client portal your customers have access to all of the trades which were created, like estimates and invoices. Instead of sending an email, you can collaborate with customers by sending messages within the portal.
Have a look at the Zoho Books Attributes section to learn more about what Zoho Books does well.
In-Depth Replies: Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
To assist you with your choice, we will provide you with detailed info on price, set up, features and product integrations. Additionally, we’ll cover the mobile app and client support choices. Please be aware we looked at Zoho Books Professional and QuickBooks Plus when comparing features.
Characteristics: Zoho Books Professional vs. QuickBooks Online Plus
Both Zoho Books Professional and QBO Plus include the following features:
- Client invoicing
- Create estimates
- Track bills & seller credits
- Connect bank/credit card accounts
- Accept online payments
- Create purchase orders
- Track employee & contractor period
- Track stock
- Create recurring statements
- Multi-user access
- Filter accounts by location, division or region
- Handle 1099 contractors
QuickBooks Online Plus Characteristics
Along with the features listed above, QuickBooks Online Plus contains the following attributes:
Online Bill Payments
QuickBooks Online (QBO) Plus comprises an integrated bill payment service called Bill.com. This feature allows you to pay your bills directly in QBO Plus using a debit/credit card or ACH. If you would like to go the snail mail route, you can also email by check. There’s an additional fee to use this bill payment support. Have a look at our How to Pay Bills in QBO video tutorial to learn how it functions.
Payroll Processing
When you are ready to hire that first employee, QBO Plus comes with an integrated payroll processing capabilities. To get started, you just go to the Employee Center and click the”Switch on Payroll” option to get started. QBO Plus will calculate paychecks and payroll taxes and permit you to pay/submit payroll tax returns electronically, all within QuickBooks Online. Payroll plans begin at $25 a month.
Budget/Forecasting
QuickBooks Online (QBO) Plus includes a budgeting/forecasting tool while Zoho Books doesn’t. It can be very beneficial to make a budget and begin running reports to see exactly how your actuals compare to what you expected to earn (income) and pay (expenditures ). This can be an important tool in recognizing trends which will help you make good business decisions.
Zoho Books Professional Characteristics
In addition to the attributes mentioned previously, Zoho Books additionally includes the following added attributes:
Automated Workflows
Workflows can be set up to perform tasks automatically in Zoho Books. By way of instance, you can create a workflow which can send a congratulatory email to a sales rep every time they create an invoice or get an approved quote over a certain dollar amount (i.e. $10,000).
Automated workflows can save you a great deal of time that you would have spent manually completing jobs. You may create up to 10 automated workflows with Zoho Books Professional. This isn’t a characteristic that is offered by QuickBooks Online (QBO) Plus.
Create Sales Orders
You can create sales orders in Zoho Books. Generally, a sales order is made once your client has approved your estimate. It features the details of a customer’s order such as quantity, description, price and shipping information of the products and services ordered. Unfortunately, you cannot generate sales orders in QBO Plus.
Client Portal
As mentioned, Zoho Books has a customer portal which allows you to share files and collaborate with your clients. Once they accept your invitation to the customer portal site, your customers have access to all trades that have happened between them along with your business. They can accept estimates, review and pay statements and download statements. Within the customer portal, you can see if a client has seen an invoice and you can send messages to clients to ask them questions or get clarification on something.
Pricing: Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
In the event that you were going to base your decision solely on cost then Zoho Books wins, hands down. All three pricing programs for Zoho Books are significantly less compared to QuickBooks pricing programs.
The cheapest plan for Zoho Books is the simple plan at $9 a month vs the QuickBooks Online (QBO) Simple Start plan, that can be $15 per month. The high-end program for Zoho Books Professional is $29 per month vs. QBO Plus is $50 a month. This is a whopping $21 a month gap, which means you’d be saving more than $250 annually if you opted for Zoho Books Professional.
QuickBooks Online Pricing
QuickBooks Online provides 3 pricing tiers:
- QBO Simple Start — $15 per month
- QBO Essentials — $35 a month
- QBO Plus — $50 a month
The main difference between the three plans would be the features contained in each. QBO Simple Start delivers the least amount of features, which is why it’s priced at $15/mo. It only includes an individual user and you cannot manage accounts payable. The only difference between the Essentials and Plus programs is that Plus includes inventory tracking, 1099 tracking and budgeting/forecasting, while the Essentials plan does not. New clients can get up to 50% from QuickBooks Online by clicking here.
Zoho Books Pricing
Zoho Books offers the following 3 pricing strategies:
- Zoho Books Basic — $9 per month
- Zoho Books Standard — $15 a month
- Zoho Books Professional — $29 a month
Similar to QuickBooks Online, the greater the cost — the more attributes included. Zoho Books Fundamental offers the least amount of features which is why it’s the cheapest at $9 per month.
Among the reasons why Zoho Books is priced much less than QuickBooks Online (QBO) is because you are restricted in the total contacts (customers) you can get in Zoho Books. The Basic program limits you to 50 customers, Standard is 500 and the Professional plan is unlimited, whereas each of three QBO programs permit you to create unlimited customers.
Additionally, the number of consumers which you can provide access to your data is another key difference between QuickBooks vs. Zoho Books. The Zoho Books Fundamental plan comprises three users (QBO Simple Start has just one ), Zoho Books Standard comprises 5 users (QBO Basics has three) and the Professional plan includes 10 (QBO Plus comes with five). You get almost twice the amount of users with each Zoho Books plan vs. QBO.
Ease of Use: Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
Throughout our study, we made sample companies in both QuickBooks and Zoho Books to get a sense of how they work. Both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online have an extremely user-friendly interface and comprehensive support tools to get help when you need it.
QuickBooks Online Ease of Use
Below you will see a snapshot of the QuickBooks Online Dashboard. Additionally, we have provided some details of the info you may expect to see on this site.
Caption: QuickBooks Online Dashboard
1. Left Menu Bar — By the Dashboard, you can get pretty much any tasks from the left menu bar; such as produce invoices, bank account and reports.
2. Invoice — In this section, you may observe the amount your customers pay you (accounts receivable); and the total customer payments accumulated as well as everything you’ve deposited versus undeposited funds.
3. Expenses — In this section, complete expenses for a chosen time interval together with the top 3 categories (i.e. Maintenance & Repairs, Job Expenses, Cost of Goods Sold etc;-RRB- appear here.
4. Gain and Loss — Keep tabs on your profit/loss in the dashboard without needing to conduct a report!
5. Revenue — Keep your eye on your sales so you can spot trends and make adjustments as needed.
Zoho Books Ease of Use
Below you will find a snapshot of the Zoho Book Dashboard. Additionally, we have provided a few details of the information you may expect to see on this site.
Caption: Zoho Books Dashboard
1. Left Menu Bar — Easily navigate to various areas of the app from the menu bar, such as Contacts, Banking and Sales.
2. Complete Receivables — keep at the top of the money owed to you by your clients.
3. Total Payables — Keep tabs on the money which you owe to vendor suppliers.
4. Cash Flow — Readily see your money flow standing without needing to run a report.
Integrations: Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
Zoho Books is one of a suite of programs created by Zoho. Rather than relying on a 3rd party to create an app, Zoho has their very own suite of apps that integrate seamlessly with each other. While QBO doesn’t have its own suite of apps, it will integrate with over 400 third-party programs.
QuickBooks Online Integration
As previously mentioned, QuickBooks Online (QBO) incorporates with several hundred apps. For instance, if you have an e-commerce business, you can connect Shopify or Square for your QBO accounts to keep an eye on your sales and internet payments.
Contrary to Zoho Books, QBO Plus has built-in payroll and credit card processing features. When you are prepared to hire that employee or take online payments from customers you simply turn that feature on, no program required but additional fees may apply. Make sure you check out the comprehensive list of programs.
Zoho Books Integrations
As mentioned, Zoho Books has a suite of products which it is possible to connect to Zoho Books to handle customer connections (Zoho CRM), emails (Zoho Mail) and jobs (Zoho Projects) to name a couple. Ensure that you check out the complete package of Zoho merchandise.
Mobile App: Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
Considering both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online are cloud accounting software, you can get your data not just from your notebook computer but you can also use your tabletcomputer, cellphone or any mobile device with an online connection.
QuickBooks Mobile App
The QuickBooks Online (QBO) mobile program is compatible with iOS and Android apparatus. Regrettably, it is not compatible with Windows devices such as the Zoho Books mobile program. You can take care of Just about Any task utilizing the QBO program, including but not limited to the following:
● Create/manage customers
● Create/manage sellers
● Create customer invoices
● Create vendor invoices
● Reconcile bank/credit card accounts
Zoho Books Mobile App
The Zoho Books cellular program allows you to take care of most of your everyday business transactions and your information will sync across all devices. This app works with iOS, Android and Windows devices. Below are Only a few of the things that you can do on the go with the Zoho Books cell app:
- Create/manage customers
- Create/manage sellers
- Send statements and invoices
- Pay invoices and manage expenses
- Track mileage
Customer Support: QuickBooks vs. Zoho Books
When it comes to providing support to clients, both QuickBooks and FreshBooks possess a number of tools which you may tap into whenever you require assistance. For instance, unlike most of their competitors, both QuickBooks and Zoho Books provide live phone support.
QuickBooks Customer Support
QuickBooks offers a variety of ways for you to receive assistance if you need it. Their learn & service page includes videos and articles on FAQs. If you can’t find the reply to your query, there’s a section on the website where you can submit a comprehensive question to the support staff. You can generally expect to receive a response within two days.
If you prefer to talk with a customer service rep, you can do this via chat directly from in your QBO account or provide them a call at 1-800-488-7330. Unlike Zoho Books, they are not accessible 24×5. However, you can reach them involving 6am-6pm PST Monday through Friday; and 6am-3pm PST on Saturdays.
Zoho Books Customer Support
If you prefer to attempt to fix issues on your own, you may like the wide variety of alternatives which Zoho Books offers. The Help documentation section allows you to look for the answer to your query by typing in a couple of keywords; they also have a list of Frequently Asked Questions that you are able to find answers to most of the frequent query.
There is also a video library that teaches you how you can perform basic transactions within the software. If you choose to speak with a customer support rep, you can access 1 24X5 (Monday through Friday) in 1-844-316-5544.
Very similar to QuickBooks, they do have certified Zoho Books Advisors that can help you with Zoho Books. However, since most of them aren’t found here in the United States that you will probably need to acquire assistance virtually and unfortunately it may not be during normal US business hours.
Zoho Books Reviews vs. QuickBooks Reviews
The two Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online have mixed reviews. What is most interesting is that the low scores for the two were centered around inferior customer service. Read on to discover more.
QuickBooks Online Reviews
Very similar to Zoho Books, QuickBooks has had mixed reviews when it comes to their customer services. Customers are set on hold for long periods of time while the customer service rep hunts for the answers to queries. On the positive side, customers enjoy the mobile app and say it works well for staying on top of their day to day accounting whilst on the go.
For more information, you may read our QuickBooks review site.
Zoho Books Reviews
To summarize Zoho Books consumers, they feel as the product is very intuitive and easy to use. In addition, the ability to automate tasks such as recurring statements and invoicing is a significant hit. However, when a customer did reach out through email or phone to get help, the response was lackluster.
For more information, take a look at our Zoho Books review site.
Bottom Line
As promised, we’ve given you all of the info that you have to make your decision. The bottom line is when it comes to price, Zoho Books is the clear winner. However, if you need a software your accountant/bookkeeper is the most likely familiar with or you want to discover a local specialist, then QuickBooks is your best option.
If you decide to go with QuickBooks, you should check out our free QuickBooks Course. It features video tutorials that will show you step by step how to establish your company in QuickBooks. Also, don’t forget you could get 50 percent your QuickBooks subscription to observe how easy it’s to get your company ready to go.
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