Zoho Books vs Dynamics 365 Finance

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Our analysts compared Zoho Books vs Dynamics 365 Finance based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Zoho Books is a cloud-based accounting software offering streamlined bookkeeping tools for small businesses and freelancers. Its core functionality revolves around managing expenses, invoices, payments, and payroll. Users can track income and outgoings, generate financial reports, and collaborate with their accountant. Zoho Books caters best to solopreneurs and small teams seeking an affordable, user-friendly accounting solution. Its intuitive interface and mobile app make it accessible for individuals with limited accounting expertise. Key benefits include automatic data entry, bank reconciliation, and inventory management. Popular features encompass purchase orders, recurring invoices, and project profitability tracking. User reviews within the accounting context praise its ease of use, affordability, and helpful customer support. Zoho Books offers tiered pricing based on the number of users and required features. Plans range from a free version with basic functionality to more comprehensive options for growing businesses, making it a scalable solution as accounting needs evolve.

Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Affordable pricing
  • Mobile app access
  • Good customer support
  • Solid basic features
Cons
  • Limited advanced features
  • Reporting customization
  • Inventory management depth
  • Integrations with third-party apps
  • Scalability for larger businesses
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Dynamics 365 Finance, a cloud-based Accounting ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, streamlines financial operations for mid-sized to large organizations. It automates core accounting tasks like general ledger, payables, receivables, and project accounting, providing real-time financial insights. Its strengths lie in scalability, integration with other Microsoft products, and industry-specific features. Users praise its ease of use, reporting capabilities, and workflow automation. However, some find the initial setup complex and customization options limited. Pricing is subscription-based, tiered by modules and user count. It's pricier than basic accounting software but cost-effective compared to comprehensive on-premise solutions.

Pros
  • Real-time insights
  • Scalable & flexible
  • Integrates with MS tools
  • Automates workflows
  • Easy to use (reported)
Cons
  • Complex setup (initial)
  • Limited customization
  • Pricier than basic options
  • Reporting can be complex
  • Subscription-based
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$480/User, Monthly
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Windows
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Linux
Android
Chromebook
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Android
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Cloud
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Mobile
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Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
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Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Efficient Invoicing: Personalize and send invoices to patrons and receive payments in various currencies with the invoicing tool. Users may add their company logo and fonts to reflect their company values and even establish invoice reminders for clients. 
  • Accurate Estimates: Add contact information, item details and prices saved within the platform with the estimation tool. Users may also send estimates and receive approvals from customers in real time. 
  • Communicate with Clients: Enable patrons to sign estimates with the client portal apparatus digitally. Consumers may also make bulk payments in one click, paying users fasters.  
  • Upkeep Expenses: Keep track of expenses such as office supplies and monthly employee allowances with the expense module. Manage, organize, and charge consumers with expenditures as needed and even attach bills, receipts and credit notes to the related transactions. 
  • Maintain Bills: Initiate recurring bills for expenses and purchases at normal intervals through the billing apparatus. Users may also attach landed costs to statements so they can properly cipher the full value of items. 
  • Perform Bank Reconciliations: Obtain accurate cash flow estimates and balance mismatches, replicated payments and past reconciliations with the banking dashboard on the bank reconciliation module. Utilize various bank rules to pinpoint and sort transactions automatically. 
  • Monitor Projects: Control several projects by creating new ones, adding new duties to each project and allocating responsibilities to particular workers with the project management function. Users may also grant certain permissions and restrictions to employees, such as the timesheet appliance to log time or employ the timer. 
  • Oversee Inventory: Arrange inventory according to its valuable information such as stock-keeping unit (SKU), product image, vendor details, cost and available stock with the inventory module. The inventory tracking feature allows users to stay in the loop of their inventory levels constantly. 
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  • Artificial Intelligence Data: Utilize Dynamics 365 Finance's AI-powered data tools to evaluate business health as well as boost financial controls, maximize cash flows, and develop and execute better business decisions. 
  • Budget Planning: Dwindle operation expenses and increase spending for businesses throughout various regions with the budget planning apparatus. 
  • Reduce Risks: Swiftly adjust to global and local financial regulations with a pliable standards-based chart of accounts and dimensions that permit users to effortlessly and properly superintend their financial operations. 
  • Power BI-Applicable: Initiate wiser, quicker actions and choices through the role-based workspaces that are embedded with Power BI's synergistic data visualization capabilities so users may examine KPIs with more depth as well as dive into transactions to overview the health of their business. 
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  • Sales Order: Tailor sales orders with company logos, fonts and colors with the sales order idiosyncrasy. Users may transform approved estimates into sales orders and invoices in just a few clicks. Users may also pinpoint their best clients and merchandise with real-time reports from their transaction histories. 
  • Purchase Orders: Trace all items purchased and mutual prices set by vendors with the purchase order management appliance. Print, copy and share purchase orders through emails to work together with clients, partners, internal stakeholders and more to swiftly complete tasks. 
  • Online Payments: Pick the best payment portal —including Stripe, PayPal, Worldpay and more — to collect payments from customers promptly. Users may also enable recurring transactions to receive payments at weekly, monthly or yearly intervals automatically.  
  • Reporting: Evaluate total receivables, sales, top expenses and more KPIs with the reporting module's dashboard. Obtain reports like profit and loss, balance sheets, cash flow statements and more to dive into data and make wiser decisions. 
  • Automation: Deliver instant payment reminders, save client information for future automatic billing and recurring invoices and immediately send out transactions with Zoho Books' automation tools. 
  • Documents: Chronicle document details and shift them into invoices, expenses, bills, sales orders or purchase orders with the document management accessory. Users may match documents to bank feeds or previously-made transactions for proof of commerce for their archives.  
  • Mobile-Friendly: Deliver invoices, estimates and account statements to patrons and track miles traveled with the iOS app. The Android app enables users to take pictures of receipts and attach them to recorded expenses in addition to overseeing earned revenue and gathered fees. 
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  • Elaborate Reporting: Balance and close books quicker with in-depth reporting and real-time analytics appliances. Users may enable pliable financial reports that showcase numerous currencies and legal entities to administer foreign exchanges and expedite end-of-month bookkeeping procedures. 
  • Grow Revenue: Work with machine learning capabilities that come with reporting, financial intelligence and analytics that compile forecasted recommendations and provide guidance for opportune customer expenditures. 
  • Role-Based Workspaces: Personalize crucial documents and reports such as invoices and statements that align with ever-changing business necessities with the role-based workspaces and modules. Users may also activate automatic recurring bills that seamlessly adapt to new revenue recognition rules, dwindle audit costs and cipher financial statements with precision.  
  • Compliances: Ensure that businesses align with local and global standards to reduce risks with the compliance attribute that guarantees compliance in approximately 37 countries and 42 languages. 
  • Financial Planning: Keep organizations running smoothly whether they're local, abroad or both with the financial process automation, financial planning and analysis, encumbrance and budget control modules. 
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Product Ranking

#7

among all
Accounting Software

#47

among all
Accounting Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

88
85
100
0
95
87
100
100
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Accounts Payable
Banking and Cash Management
Inventory Management
Platform Capabilities
Platform Security
Banking and Cash Management
Budget and Expense Management
Financial Statements and Revenue Management
General Ledger and Chart of Accounts
Project Accounting

Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

Zoho Books
Dynamics 365 Finance
+ Add Product + Add Product
Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Banking And Cash Management Budget And Expense Management Financial Statements And Revenue Management General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts Integration And Extensibility Inventory Management Journal Entries Mobile Support Multi-company Accounting And Asset Management Platform Capabilities Project Accounting Reporting And Analytics Tax Management 100 95 100 90 90 75 82 100 85 80 60 100 92 92 96 0 87 100 100 100 100 0 60 72 0 65 0 97 0 97 0 25 50 75 100
100%
0%
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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6%
69%
31%
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85%
8%
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71%
29%
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75%
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25%
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62%
8%
30%
we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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80%
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20%
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80%
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20%
we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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60%
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40%
17%
67%
16%
100%
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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80%
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84%
11%
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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we're gathering data
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80%
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

33%
0%
67%
67%
33%
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100%
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17%
83%
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 546 reviews
Great User Sentiment 3543 reviews
88%
of users recommend this product

Zoho Books has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 546 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

89%
of users recommend this product

Dynamics 365 Finance has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 3543 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (14)
4.0 (19)
4.6 (60)
3.6 (90)
4.4 (412)
4.5 (3273)
n/a
4.0 (40)
4.1 (60)
3.6 (121)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Zoho Books and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Accounts Payable, Inventory Management and Platform Capabilities.

Accounts Payable Award
Inventory Management Award
Platform Capabilities Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Dynamics 365 Finance and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Budget and Expense Management.

Budget and Expense Management Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Intuitive interface: Users consistently praise Zoho Books for its simple and easy-to-navigate interface, even for those without prior accounting experience.
Automation superpowers: Tasks like invoicing, payment reminders, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting become effortless with Zoho Books' automation features, saving users significant time and effort.
Seamless integrations: Zoho Books smoothly integrates with other Zoho apps, like CRM and Projects, as well as popular third-party tools, streamlining workflows and eliminating data silos.
Mobile accessibility: The user-friendly mobile app allows for on-the-go accounting, ensuring users can manage finances anytime, anywhere.
Value for money: Zoho Books is consistently praised for its affordable pricing plans, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Customer service responsiveness: Users frequently highlight the prompt and helpful support provided by Zoho Books' customer service team.
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Streamlined Workflow: Automates tasks like payables, receivables, and GL, saving time and reducing errors. Users highlight improved efficiency and fewer manual processes.
Real-Time Insights: Provides instant access to financial data through dashboards and reports, enabling data-driven decisions. Users appreciate the ability to quickly track performance and make informed choices.
Seamless Integration: Connects seamlessly with other Microsoft products like Office 365 and Power BI for a unified user experience and enhanced data sharing. Users value the convenience and improved collaboration across departments.
Industry-Specific Solutions: Pre-built templates and industry-focused features cater to specific needs in sectors like retail, manufacturing, and non-profits. Users benefit from faster implementation and reduced customization costs.
Scalability and Flexibility: Adapts to your growing needs with cloud-based architecture and modular functionality. Users praise the ability to easily add users and modules as their business expands.
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Transaction limits: Users express frustration with the capped number of monthly transactions (5,000 on the highest plan), potentially hindering high-volume businesses.
Inventory management constraints: While Zoho Books offers inventory tracking, it lacks advanced features like sales analytics and in-depth item breakdowns, making it less suitable for businesses with complex inventory needs.
Coding requirements for automation: Unlocking the full potential of automation features often requires knowledge of coding (Deluge script), posing a challenge for non-technical users.
Occasional reporting issues: Some users report occasional glitches or inconsistencies in financial reports, necessitating careful review and potential manual adjustments.
Multiple subscriptions for multiple businesses: Managing multiple businesses requires separate subscriptions, which can become cost-prohibitive for users with several entities.
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Complex Setup: Initial configuration and data migration can be complex, requiring professional assistance for larger organizations, leading to higher implementation costs.
Limited Customization: While offering flexibility, extensive customization can be expensive and require developer resources, potentially negating cost savings and increasing maintenance needs.
Subscription-Based Cost: Ongoing subscription fees can be higher than upfront costs of on-premise solutions, especially for smaller businesses with limited usage, raising concerns about long-term affordability.
Reporting Complexity: Advanced reporting features can have a learning curve for non-technical users, requiring training or dedicated personnel, impacting user adoption and efficiency.
Mobile App Limitations: Some users report occasional glitches and lack of full feature parity with the desktop version, hindering on-the-go access and real-time updates.
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Zoho Books lands a punch with its user-friendly interface and automation superpowers, even for accounting newbies. Invoicing, bank reconciliation, and reports become automatic allies, saving users precious time. Integration with the Zoho ecosystem and other popular tools keeps workflows in harmony. Plus, the mobile app lets you manage finances on the go, a big win for busy entrepreneurs. However, Zoho Books stumbles with transaction limits, potentially tripping up high-volume businesses. Inventory management feels like a lightweight sidekick compared to some competitors, lacking the muscle for complex needs. Unlocking automation's full potential requires coding know-how, leaving some users stranded. And while reports are generally reliable, occasional glitches necessitate a closer look. Managing multiple businesses under separate subscriptions can also add up cost-wise. So, how does Zoho Books stack up? Users often compare it to Quickbooks Online. Zoho shines with its intuitive interface and affordability, especially for solopreneurs and small teams. But Quickbooks packs a heavier punch in its inventory management and advanced reporting features, catering to larger businesses with complex needs. Zoho's seamless integrations and user-friendliness win hearts, while Quickbooks offers a more robust toolset for seasoned accountants. Ultimately, Zoho Books is a capable accounting sidekick for businesses starting their financial journey. Its ease of use, automation muscle, and affordable price tag make it a tempting choice. But for high-volume businesses or those with intricate inventory needs, other contenders might offer a more powerful punch.

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Dynamics 365 Finance users offer a mixed bag of opinions, with praise for its robust functionality and cloud-based accessibility countered by criticisms of its complexity and implementation hurdles. Compared to competitors like SAP Business One and Sage Intacct, Dynamics 365 shines in its tight integration with other Microsoft products and its advanced business intelligence capabilities. However, its steeper learning curve and higher upfront costs can be deterrents. Users laud the software's comprehensive financial management features, from core accounting to project accounting and budgeting. One reviewer, a finance manager at a mid-sized manufacturing firm, highlighted the ease of generating real-time financial reports, enabling them to make data-driven decisions. Another user, the CFO of a growing tech startup, appreciated the seamless integration with Dynamics 365 Sales, streamlining order-to-cash processes. However, the complexity of the software is a recurring pain point. Users report a significant learning curve, requiring extensive training and support, especially for non-technical users. A controller at a non-profit organization mentioned the difficulty in customizing workflows, making it less adaptable to their specific needs compared to more user-friendly competitors like Sage Intacct. Implementation challenges also surface in reviews, with users citing lengthy setup times and integration issues. One reviewer, an accountant at a construction company, emphasized the need for experienced consultants to navigate the initial setup, adding to the overall cost. This can be a disadvantage for smaller businesses or those with limited IT resources. Despite these drawbacks, Dynamics 365 Finance's strengths in functionality, scalability, and future-proof cloud technology make it a compelling choice for larger organizations with complex financial needs and the resources to invest in its implementation. For smaller businesses or those seeking a more user-friendly option, other alternatives might be a better fit.

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