Zoho Books
Cloud accounting for growing businesses, from invoicing and bank reconciliation through inventory and projects, part of the wider Zoho suite.
- Starting price
- Free; Standard from $15 / month
- API
- Yes, a REST API from the Standard plan, plus integration with the wider Zoho suite
- Users
- From 1 user on the Free plan up to 15 on Ultimate, by plan
Overview
Zoho Books is cloud accounting software for growing businesses and part of the wider Zoho suite. It covers professional invoices and quotes with online payment links, bank reconciliation and transaction categorization, expense tracking with receipt autoscan and mileage, and more than 50 reports. Higher plans add sales and purchase orders, multi-currency, project profitability and timesheet billing, inventory tracking, revenue recognition, budgets and cashflow forecasting. It is sold in six plans, from a free tier up to Ultimate, with a REST API from the Standard plan.
Our take
Zoho Books earns its place when a business already runs on Zoho, because the CRM, inventory and expense products share the same records and the accounting stops being a separate island. Outside that suite the argument thins: a business with no Zoho footprint should pick whichever package its accountant already knows instead, since the integration it would be paying for buys nothing. The free tier is genuinely usable for a very small business, but the plan ladder is long, so work out which tier carries what you need rather than choosing on price alone.
Key Facts
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Standard from $15 / month The Free plan suits small businesses. The Standard plan is $15 / month billed annually ($20 billed monthly) and adds bank feeds, sales-tax tracking and API access. US pricing. |
| API | Yes, a REST API from the Standard plan, plus integration with the wider Zoho suite |
| Users | From 1 user on the Free plan up to 15 on Ultimate, by plan |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS) |
Screenshots
Placeholders. They are replaced as soon as the vendor sends material, and both open the same short form.
Features
- Invoicing and quotes
- Yes, professional invoices and quotes with online payment links and recurring invoices; progress invoicing from the Standard plan
- Bookkeeping and bank feeds
- Yes, bank reconciliation and transaction categorization, with bank feeds from the Standard plan
- Expenses and receipts
- Yes, expense tracking with receipt autoscan and mileage tracking
- Tax and compliance
- Yes, sales and use tax tracking, 1099 and W-9 management and an audit trail
- Payroll
- Not built in. Zoho Payroll is a separate product, and its integration mirrors every pay run in Zoho Books, posting salary and tax expenses into the accounts mapped for them
- Reports and exports
- Yes, 50-plus reports including profit and loss and balance sheet, with advanced analytics on the Ultimate plan
- Integrations and API
- Yes, a REST API available from the Standard plan; integrates with Zoho CRM, Inventory and Expense
Integrations
- Zoho CRM
- Zoho Inventory
- Zoho Expense
- Zoho Payroll
- Shopify
Deployment and Support
- Deployment
-
- Cloud (SaaS)
- Browser-based
- Support
-
- Email helpdesk
- Phone
- Chat
- Company size
-
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Pros and Cons
Strengths
- Free plan with invoicing, bank reconciliation, 1099/W-9 handling and 50-plus reports
- Six plans scaling to multi-currency, projects, inventory and advanced analytics
- Sales and use tax tracking, 1099/W-9 management and an audit trail
- REST API and tight integration with the wider Zoho suite
Limitations
- API access, bank feeds and sales-tax tracking begin on the paid Standard plan
- The six plan tiers can make it hard to pick the right one
Pricing
-
Free
$0
For small businesses: invoices, quotes, expenses, receipt autoscan, bank reconciliation, 1099 and W-9 handling and 50-plus reports; 1 user plus 1 accountant.
-
Standard
$15 / month
Billed annually ($20 billed monthly). Adds bank feeds, sales and use tax tracking, e-file 1099, API access and custom reports; 3 users.
-
Professional
$40 / month
Billed annually ($50 billed monthly). Adds sales and purchase orders, multi-currency, timesheet billing, project profitability and inventory; 5 users.
-
Premium
$60 / month
Billed annually ($70 billed monthly). Adds revenue recognition, fixed assets, budgets, cashflow forecasting and a vendor portal; 10 users.
-
Elite
$120 / month
Billed annually ($150 billed monthly). Adds advanced inventory with warehouses, batch and serial tracking and Shopify; 10 users.
-
Ultimate
$240 / month
Billed annually ($275 billed monthly). Adds advanced analytics with pre-built dashboards; 15 users.
Alternatives and Comparisons
FAQ
- Does Zoho Books have a free plan?
- Yes. The Free plan suits small businesses and includes invoicing, quotes, expenses, receipt autoscan, bank reconciliation, 1099 and W-9 handling and 50-plus reports, for 1 user plus 1 accountant. Bank feeds, sales-tax tracking and API access start on the paid Standard plan.
- Does Zoho Books have an API?
- Yes. Zoho Books offers a REST API from the Standard plan, and it integrates with the wider Zoho suite, including Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory and Zoho Expense.
- What plans does Zoho Books offer?
- Zoho Books is sold in six plans: Free, Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite and Ultimate. They scale from basic invoicing and bookkeeping through multi-currency, projects and inventory up to warehouses and advanced analytics.
What users say
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