Both have their advantages and disadvantages and are good accounting options, so it comes down to what your company needs in terms of pricing, convenience of use, and integrations.
Everybody enjoys a good comeback story. But, when Zoho Books takes on QuickBooks Online, one of the biggest brands in accounting, will this inconsiderable software give QBO a run for its money? That’s why we’ve come to investigate.
You want to be sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck before you spend your hard-earned money on accounting software. But, more significantly, you want to make sure you’re obtaining the software that’s right for your company. Sure, QuickBooks Online is a popular option, but is it the best option for you? Or would a product like Zoho Books, which is less well enough but emerging, be a better fit?
We’ll take an in-depth look at QBO and Zoho Books in this post to remove the guesswork out of choosing the best accounting software. We’ll look at features, pricing, and other variables to help you decide which accounting software is worth your time and money and which ones don’t. We’ve done the testing and research, several as usual, to provide you with an unbiased assessment of two of the best accounting software alternatives available.
Let’s get started!
QuickBooks Online against Zoho Books
Both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online offer useful features, then which accounting software is best for you? We’ll go over everything from features and ease of use to cost and customer service quality to help you pick the best software for your company.
Introduction of Zoho Books
Zoho Books, which was updated and republished in 2014, is just getting better. The programme has a lot of features, including the most elegant invoicing (with the ability to send invoices in multiple languages) and robust mobile apps.
Zoho Books is a great option for small businesses searching for simple accounting software with robust mobile apps and a lot of features. When you combine low price and excellent customer service, Zoho Books is a strong contender in the accounting software market. And if you’re still not convinced, consider this: You can try the programme for 14 days to see if it’s right for you.
Pros
- Simple to use
- Apps that work well on mobile
- Customer service is outstanding.
Cons
- Competitive pricing
Introduction of QuickBooks Online
Quick Books Online has been around since 2004. With advanced accounting, an impressive feature set, over 600 integrations, and lending Features, it’s easy to see why QuickBooks Online is so popular.
QuickBooks Online is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses in need of strong accounting. The software offers strong accounting, decent mobile apps, ample integrations, and beautiful invoicing. Although navigating through all of its features can be a bit tricky, the QuickBooks Online UI is quite intuitive. And if you’ve heard the horror stories of QuickBooks Desktop’s learning curve, rest easy — QBO is significantly easier to use, even for users with little to no prior accounting experience.
On the downside, though, customer support is also a bit lacking and pricing can be a bit much for businesses that aren’t taking advantage of all that QuickBooks Online has to offer.
Pros
- There are numerous features.
- Apps that work well on mobile
- Simple to use
- Numerous integrations
Cons
- Expensive
- Customer service that is reasonable
Features
In terms of features, Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online are nearly identical. Each one includes inventory, contact management, expenditure tracking, accounts payable, and project management, as well as elegant invoice templates and invoicing automation. Whereas Zoho Books makes a strong showing, QuickBooks Online just beats out the competition – but only by a hair.
Because the sheer number of features in Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online can be daunting, we’ll explain the key differences. Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of each to determine which is a better fit for your company.
Invoicing
Advanced invoicing options are available in both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online, making it simple to produce and send invoices to clients and customers.
You can choose from six fully customizable invoice templates in QuickBooks Online, or you can import your own. Recurring invoices, reminders, and bulk invoicing are all included in some subscription options. You may also utilise auto-scheduling to automate your invoicing process, and track invoices to see when they’ve been seen by your clients. QuickBooks recently implemented multilingual invoicing, which allows you to send invoices to customers in six different languages.
In terms of invoicing, Zoho Books has a tiny advantage over QBO. This software has 16 invoice templates, each of which may be fully personalised and branded to fit your company’s needs. Your Zoho Books membership includes recurring invoicing, auto-scheduling, and reminders. For further protection, Zoho Books supports 13 languages and encrypts PDF invoices.
Budgeting
If you subscribe to the Plus or Advanced plan in QuickBooks Online, you can add several budgets — a capability not accessible in QuickBooks Desktop. QBO allows you to construct budgets on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Data from prior years can be used to establish your budget, and you can run a variety of budgeting reports.
Zoho Books now features a budgeting capability in addition to simple job costing.
Payroll
If one of the reasons you want accounting software is to conduct payroll, QuickBooks Online has you covered. As a QBO subscriber, you can choose from three different payroll options. It’s worth noting that payroll is not included in your QBO subscription and must be purchased separately.
One of Zoho Books’ main flaws was that it didn’t offer integrated payroll. Thankfully, a SurePayroll integration was recently added to fulfil your company’s payroll requirements. If you choose to use SurePayroll, there will be additional charges.
Consumer Portal
Client portals are available in both QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books. Customers may only read, print, pay, or send queries about their invoices through QBO’s client site, which is fairly restrictive. In terms of its client portal, Zoho Books has a lot more to offer. Customers can access documents and information, such as invoices, estimates, and project details, from this page. Customers can also pay in full or in part through the Zoho Books client site.
Keeping track of your expenses
Both QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books have a comparable spending tracking feature. Manual uploads, live bank feeds, and receipt capture are all possible with both. QBO goes a step farther by automatically matching transactions, a functionality that Zoho Books lacks.
Management of Projects
You can get organised with QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books if you wish to manage your projects. Both tools allow you to create projects, track spending, and add billable and nonbillable hours to your project. You can add tasks to Zoho Books, which is a feature not available in QuickBooks Online.
Reporting
Both QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books have a large number of reports to choose from. While both offer more features than comparable accounting software, QuickBooks Online has more reports – more than 80, compared to 50+ reports in Zoho Books.
Lending
QuickBooks has built-in financing, which is one of its most distinctive features. You can use QuickBooks Capital to get working capital and better manage your cash flow. Within the QBO platform, you can apply for QuickBooks Capital. Built-in lending is not available in Zoho Books.
Pricing
Zoho Books has four different pricing plans, ranging from $0 to $70 per month. The free version is a recent change that is best suited for enterprises with annual revenue of less than $50,000. For paid plans, you can purchase an annual subscription for ten dollars that provides you access for a year. You gain additional contacts, users, and workflows with the more expensive subscriptions, as well as access to billing, buy orders, and sales orders. Any plan is available for a 14-day trial, and no credit card is required to take advantage of this offer.
QuickBooks Online is far more expensive, with four different subscriptions ranging from $25 to $180 per month. More users are supported by the more expensive subscriptions, which also include additional capabilities like automated workflows, batch billing, and inventory management. With a 30-day free trial, you can give QBO a shot. However, taking advantage of the free trial disqualifies you from Intuit’s software discounts.
Each piece of software comes with a few extra charges. Extra users, snail mail credits, and auto-scans are charged extra by Zoho Books, whereas payroll and QuickBooks’ live bookkeeping service are charged extra by QuickBooks.
The Ease of Using
Nobody wants to deal with complicated, out-of-date accounting software, but that won’t be an issue with Zoho Books or QuickBooks Online. The user interface of Zoho Books is well-organized and simple to use. Because some features are nested within other features, you may encounter navigational challenges from time to time. These problems are infrequent, though, and Zoho Books includes a number of resources to assist you if you get stuck.
Similar to QuickBooks Online. While the site is generally straightforward, certain hidden elements may be difficult to locate at first. Fortunately, there is an integrated support feature that will assist you in getting back.
Complaints & Reviews
Zoho Books has received mostly positive feedback from users. Affordable pricing, robust mobile apps, excellent customer service, and ease of use are among the features that users like the most. Nevertheless, there have been some criticisms about the lack of integrations, and several users would want to see improved functionality such as customisable reports.
QuickBooks Online has received excellent feedback as well, with users complimenting the software’s many features and integrations, as well as its ease of use and mobility. However, there are a number of complaints about the company’s customer support, problems and crashes, and high prices.
Integrations
When it comes to integrations, QuickBooks Online comes out on top. QBO has over 650 interfaces, along with a number of different payment gateways. Even though Zoho Books has gained more integrations, it still only has a little more than 30. However, Zoho Books has a Zapier interface that connects the programme to 1,000+ apps and numerous payment channels.
Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks Online: What’s the Difference?
Even though there are many parallels between Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online, there are a few key distinctions to consider when deciding which software is ideal for your company. Let’s look at some of these significant distinctions:
- Integrations: QuickBooks boasts over 650 connectors, so you won’t be disappointed if you wish to integrate your accounting software with other applications and apps. Zoho Books has a little over 30, which is much less than QBO.
- Pricing: When it comes to cost, Zoho Books comes out on top. QuickBooks Online’s Advanced plan is less than half the price of its highest level package. A free plan is also now available, albeit it is feature-limited and best suited for extremely small firms. If you want to use all of QuickBooks Online’s features and add payroll, the price can mount up quickly, specifically for small firms or businesses that are just starting started.
- Customer Support: Clients that prioritise outstanding customer service will be more satisfied with Zoho Books’ support options and services. Zoho Books has an advantage because of its short queues, prompt response, and skilled agents. When utilising QuickBooks Online, you may encounter issues such as a lack of email assistance, increased wait times, and support from people who are strikes when it comes to resolving your problems.
- Lending: Consider QBO if you want a one-stop-shop for your accounting and lending needs. QuickBooks Capital, which is built-in, makes obtaining additional working capital for your company simple. There is no comparable product offered by Zoho Books.
- Mobile Apps: When compared to much other accounting software, both Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online have excellent mobile apps. Zoho Books, on the other hand, has a little advantage because its mobile apps are compatible with Android and Apple devices, as well as Windows tablets and gadgets and the Kindle Fire. QBO is exclusively available for Apple and Android devices.
Which is the best option for my company’s needs?
You should now have stronger insight into what Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online offer. However, absorbing all of this detail can be exhausting, leaving you no closer to determining which accounting software to purchase for your company. So, how do you make such an important choice? Consider your company’s requirements before deciding on the best software for you.
If you’re looking for a unique way to express yourself, look no further than Zoho
The best uses for Zoho Books are:
Businesses that need powerful mobile apps to manage their finances on the go
- Businesses looking for reasonably priced accounting software
- Businesses that require user-friendly software that is simple to install and operate
- Businesses who need to invoice internationally
- Businesses looking for software with exceptional client service
If you want to use QuickBooks Online, you should…
QuickBooks Online is ideal for the following tasks:
Businesses that require payroll integration
- Businesses that require a wide range of features and integrations
- Businesses who require a quick and simple lending option integrated into their accounting software
- Businesses looking for simple-to-use software
- Businesses that require automated processes to save time
The Final Assessment on Zoho Books vs. QuickBooks
Zoho Books offers QBO a serious boost to the economy. However, QuickBooks Online outperforms its competitor in just a few areas. QuickBooks Online is ideal for companies that require robust accounting. This programme has more powerful functions and integrations.
You might, although, save money by using Zoho Books. This programme is appropriate for organisations looking for simple-to-use software with robust mobile apps, top-notch customer service, and a plethora of useful features. It’s also a good option for companies who need to invoice internationally.
Or, perhaps, after reading this article, neither choice appeals to you. Don’t be concerned! Our in-depth accounting software reviews can assist you in finding the ideal bookkeeping solution for your company.