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Accounting software review

Zoho Books

Cloud accounting from Zoho. Supplier bills start on the Professional plan, $50 a month month to month for 5 users, with bank feeds, reconciliation and a built-in Square connection that books daily sales, tips and fees.

By ZohoParent company: Zoho Corporation

RTC SCORE

8.3

#3 of 9 with enough data

Our verdict

Full-featured books at a published price, with a documented Square connection that books daily sales and tips. A restaurant needs Professional for supplier bills, and other POS systems need outside connectors.

What we like

  • Built-in Square connection that books each day's sales, refunds, discounts, tips and Square fees in separate accounts.
  • Published prices, month to month, with 5 users on the reference plan and extra users at $3 a month.
  • Phone, chat and email support on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern.

What to watch

  • Supplier bills only start on Professional ($50 a month); the cheaper Standard plan has no bills.
  • No connection documented with Toast, Clover or other restaurant POS systems besides Square, and the Square sync covers one location.
  • Separate locations need Premium or a $12-a-month add-on per location.
  • You must tell Zoho at least 7 days before renewal to stop it, and closing the account deletes your data.

How the score breaks down

RTC Score8.3out of 10

Methodology v1.0.0

Data completeness95%

We could verify 95% of the scoring data

Strongest points
12-month cost (reference restaurant), POS data that reaches the books, Bank feeds
Weakest point
POS systems that connect

Score by criterion

  • 12-month cost (reference restaurant)Weight 20%Strongest8.6 out of 10

    $600 over 12 months

  • POS data that reaches the booksWeight 8%Strongest10.0 out of 10
  • Bank feedsWeight 7%Strongest10.0 out of 10
  • POS systems that connectWeight 7%Weakest1.4 out of 10
  • Initial termWeight 7%10.0 out of 10
  • Bank reconciliationWeight 6%10.0 out of 10
  • Supplier billsWeight 6%10.0 out of 10
  • Live support channelsWeight 6%10.0 out of 10
  • Published pricingWeight 5%10.0 out of 10
  • Access for your accountantWeight 5%No data
  • Payroll into the booksWeight 5%5.0 out of 10
  • Early termination feeWeight 5%10.0 out of 10
  • Results by location or classWeight 4%10.0 out of 10
  • Live support hours a weekWeight 4%3.6 out of 10
  • Notice to avoid renewalWeight 3%10.0 out of 10
  • Customer invoicesWeight 2%10.0 out of 10

All the data, with sources

Each value links to its source. "Not published" means the vendor doesn't disclose it; "Unconfirmed" means we looked and couldn't confirm it. Data points we have for fewer than four vendors are left out until we can compare them.

Pricing
Data pointValue
Monthly price$50/moSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Professional plan, billed month to month. Standard ($20 a month, 3 users) has bank feeds but no supplier bills, so it does not cover the reference restaurant.
Monthly price if paid yearly$40/moSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Users included5 usersSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Each extra user$3/moSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Published pricingPublishedSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Free planYesSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)The Free plan is for 1 user plus 1 accountant and has bank reconciliation, but no bank feeds and no supplier bills, and only for businesses with up to $50,000 in revenue a year.
Other feesPrices exclude local taxes. Paid add-ons (not on the Free plan): extra users $3 a month each, locations $12 a month each, BillPay (100 ACH vendor payments and approvals) $69 a month, document autoscans $10 a month per 50 scans, and expense claims $9 per active user a month (month-to-month prices). Zoho Payroll is a separate subscription.Source: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Books and reconciliation
Data pointValue
Bank feedsAutomatic feeds from your bankSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Marked yes on Standard and up, including Professional; not on the Free plan, where you import statements yourself.
Bank reconciliationYesSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Marked yes on every plan in the US comparison.
Supplier bills (accounts payable)IncludedSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Included on Professional (the reference plan), with up to 10,000 bills and expenses combined a year; recurring bills and vendor payments too. Not on Free or Standard.
Customer invoices (accounts receivable)IncludedSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Results by location or classIncludedSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Reporting tags (from Standard up) let you tag transactions by location or department. Separate locations are built into Premium (3) and Elite and Ultimate (8), or sold as an add-on at $12 a location a month.
Access for your accountantUnconfirmedSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Every plan lets you invite your accountant with an Accountant role, and the Free plan shows "1 User + 1 Accountant". We did not find whether, on paid plans, the accountant takes one of your user seats; we looked on the pricing page, the plan comparison and Zoho's accountant help articles.
Bookkeeping service from the vendorNot offeredSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Zoho does not sell bookkeeping by its own staff; it points you to a directory of outside accountants. We looked on the pricing page and its add-ons.
POS and payroll connections
Data pointValue
Connects with these POS systemsSquareSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Square: built into Zoho Books (Standard and up) and listed on Square's App Marketplace for the US (squareup.com/us/en/app-marketplace/app/zoho-books). Toast's partner directory has no Zoho Books page; Clover's App Market did not list it for us.
POS data that reaches the booksDaily sales split by category, tax, tips and paymentSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Square's previous day of sales is created as one sales invoice a day, with taxes mapped and cash sales tracked apart. It covers one Square location only and pulls history back 30 days at most.
How payroll reaches the booksOnly its own payrollSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Zoho Payroll posts each approved pay run. We found no other payroll provider that posts entries into Zoho Books (Gusto's integration page did not load for us).
Contract and exit
Data pointValue
Initial termMonth to monthSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Month to month on the monthly price; paying a year up front is optional.
Automatic renewalMonth to monthSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Month to month, with no renewal term.
Notice to avoid renewal7 daysSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Or downgrade to the Free plan before renewal. If you forget, the refund policy allows a full refund requested within 5 business days after a monthly renewal.
Early termination feeNoneSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Monthly plans renew month to month. A first-month refund is available if you are dissatisfied, and a refund within 5 business days after a monthly renewal you forgot to cancel.
Early termination clauseNo early termination fee. Month to month; you tell Zoho at least 7 days before renewal or downgrade to Free. A first-month refund is available, and a refund within 5 business days after a forgotten monthly renewal.Source: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Right to raise pricesZoho may change its prices from time to time, but an increase does not apply until your current billing cycle ends (Terms of Service).Source: Zoho (opens in a new tab)
Your records when you leaveYou can download them yourselfSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)An admin can back up all data once every 15 days; the link lasts 30 days. Zoho's terms say closing your account deletes all its data, so back up first.
Support
Data pointValue
Live supportPhone and chatSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Email, chat and phone on Standard and up; the Free plan gets email only.
Live support hours a week60Source: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern.
Language
Data pointValue
Software in SpanishYesSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Spanish is one of the interface languages in the US help docs. Changing it does not translate your chart of accounts, email templates, template customizations, payment modes or default tax rates.
Invoices in SpanishYesSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)Multilingual invoicing is marked yes on every US plan; Spanish is among the languages Zoho Books supports.
Support in SpanishNoSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)The US pricing and contact details mention no Spanish support.
Website in Spanish for the USNoSource: Zoho (opens in a new tab)The US site is in English. The language menu offers a Mexico edition in Spanish and a global Spanish site, which are not the US product.

More about Zoho Books

How we score