Zoho was founded in India in 1996 and has a suite of business software that includes over 50 apps. Among the apps are Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho People in addition to Zoho Books, its accounting software. Zoho Books has a free plan (for businesses doing less than $50k per year) and pitches a tight integration with its suite of additional software. However, it lacks some of the functionality of our recommended tools (QuickBooks and Xero) which can make routine tasks clunky and time consuming. It also has fewer integrations with third-parties than our recommended tools which will force you into the Zoho app ecosystem for better or worse (likely worse). This will make it more difficult to scale with your business than our recommended tools. Finally, fewer accountants will be familiar with its software compared to our recommended tools.
Read our full guide on: Accounting Software 💸
Best for: Small ($0-10M revenue) and Medium ($10-50M revenue) size companies.
Zoho Books is an accounting software that ties into a suite of 50+ business software apps made by Zoho Corporation.
Zoho was founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas in Chennai, India as a software company called Vembu Software. It was started from a modest apartment in the outskirts of Chennai. After initially focusing on network management software, the company rebranded as AdventNet in 2005 and then Zoho Corporation in 2009 as it shifted its focus to cloud-based business software. Their target market was Small Office / Home Office so they originally wanted the domain name SOHO.com, but it wasn't available. Instead, they settled on the similar but available ZOHO.com. The idea for Zoho was to build a large, cloud based software suite with many product offerings and sell it for less than competitors like Salesforce to small and medium sized businesses. Zoho was bootstrapped from the beginning and grew to become a major player, generating over $650 million in revenue by 2021. Throughout its growth, Zoho has stayed true to its roots in India, hiring and training young Indian talent in their own schools. Zoho is an impressive story of a company that was able to build a massive, global SaaS company from India all while staying bootstrapped.
Zoho has a whopping six different pricing plans ranging from free to $275 per month on the high-end. It’s a bit confusing at first, but it makes it more likely that you will only pay for what you need, which we love.
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What is Zoho Books used for?
Zoho Books is cloud based accounting software designed for small and medium size businesses.
Why is Zoho Books better than Excel?
Zoho Books has many advantages over excel:
Excel is okay to launch your eCommerce business, but we recommend switching to a proper accounting tool once your business scales beyond around $100k in annual revenue.
Can Zoho Books import QuickBooks?
Yes, Zoho can import QuickBooks data, but we don’t typically recommend it. Zoho and QuickBooks structure their data differently and the import from QuickBooks will require time and effort. Typically accountants will charge a couple of thousand dollars to assist the transition from one to the other.
Do I need a bookkeeper if I use Zoho Books?
You don’t NEED a bookkeeper since Zoho is user-friendly enough for most users, but we typically recommend one so that you can focus on product and marketing while someone else spends time keeping your books up to date.
Is Zoho good for eCommerce?
Zoho definitely works for eCommerce, however, we don't recommend it. We think there are better alternatives (Xero and QuickBooks) that will integrate with more third-party apps without restricting you to the Zoho ecosystem of apps.
Does Zoho work with Shopify?
Zoho Inventory has a direct integration with Shopify, but Zoho Books does not. You will have to use Zoho Flow (their Zapier competitor) to integrate Shopify with Zoho Books.
Is Zoho ISO 27001 certified?
Yes, Zoho is formally ISO 27001, ISO27017 & ISO27018 certified.
Is Zoho SOC 2 compliant?
Yes, Zoho is SOC 2 Type II compliant.
Is Zoho PCI compliant?
Yes, Zoho is PCI compliant.
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