Zoho Books vs Shoeboxed

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

Shoeboxed Software Tool

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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Shoeboxed is a business document management and online receipt service that helps track expenses by scanning, organizing and categorizing receipts and business cards into a searchable cloud database. It helps small businesses focus more time on core objectives and less on paperwork by turning physical files into digital data. Available through the web app and mobile apps, it aids small businesses and entrepreneurs to get organized and maximize tax deductions.
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$9 Monthly
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$18 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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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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  • Flexible Receipt Capture: Upload images from anywhere through mobile applications or drag and drop from the desktop and send the receipt through email. 
  • Human Verified Data: Use extracted information that gets double-checked by a team of experts. Organize fully searchable and editable data. 
  • Simplified Expense Reports: Export, share or print information with just a few clicks. Use the receipt images to make tax preparation and reimbursement easy and hassle-free. 
  • Better Audit Readiness: Scan and properly categorize documents to ensure they are always ready for the audit. 
  • Secure Data: Store all papers and documents. Use the Secure Socket Layer encryption to protect digital data. 
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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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  • OCR and Human Data Verification: Extract receipts and transform them into human-verified data. Digitize and archive them into a single secure location. Convert document digitally into any format and make it editable. Enable automation of specific tasks and get bulk data entry done in minutes. 
  • Online Organization: Ensure that all the images of the receipt are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service and the Canada Revenue Service and keep them audit ready. Ensure all the receipts get scanned, easy to locate and comprehensively categorized. 
  • Expense Report: Create comprehensive expense reports with receipt images from anywhere using the web or mobile app. Ensure accurate and timely expense reporting without paper receipts. 
  • Integration: Eliminate the worry of manual data entry or errors by seamlessly working with other accounting tools like QuickBooks, Evernote, Bench, Working Point, SkyClerk, Abbyy and more. 
  • Automatic Receipts Archive: Import receipts automatically from Gmail so that they are never lost. Archive receipts from any email by sending it to a unique, secure email address. 
  • Business Card Management: Free users from the worry of carrying piles of business cards with the possibility of losing them. Transform business cards into online contacts. Download the database as a CSV file or send it to a CRM program for further communication. 
  • Mobile Apps: Take receipt images from the phone with their free app with receipt and mileage tracker. Get accurate mileage tracking with its phone’s GPS capability. Keep track of business expenses, mileage and billable time. Pull in data automatically and create an expense report. 
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Product Ranking

#7

among all
Accounting Software

#146

among all
Accounting Software

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Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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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 25 50 75 100
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User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 546 reviews
Great User Sentiment 435 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.

88%
of users recommend this product

Shoeboxed has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 88% when considering 435 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (14)
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4.6 (60)
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4.38 (214)
4.4 (412)
4.4 (221)
4.1 (60)
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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

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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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Effortless Expense Tracking: Shoeboxed makes it easy to keep tabs on business expenses by converting receipts into digital data. This simplifies accounting by eliminating the need for manual data entry.
Mileage Deduction Calculation: The mileage tracking feature helps users maximize tax deductions by accurately logging business trips. This eliminates the hassle of manual mileage logs and ensures accurate records for tax purposes.
Organized Digital Records: Shoeboxed provides a central hub for storing receipts and invoices, making it easy to find documents when needed. This eliminates the need for physical storage and simplifies record keeping.
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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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Lack of Customization: Some users have expressed frustration with the lack of customization options for expense categorization. Shoeboxed automatically categorizes expenses, which may not always align with a business's specific accounting needs.
Limited Integrations: Shoeboxed's integrations with other accounting software can be limited, potentially requiring manual data entry for users who rely on specific accounting platforms.
Pricing: Some users find Shoeboxed's subscription plans to be expensive, particularly for businesses with low volumes of receipts.
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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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Recent user reviews suggest that Shoeboxed can be a valuable tool for small businesses and individuals looking to streamline their accounting processes. Users praise Shoeboxed for its ability to effortlessly digitize receipts and documents, eliminating the need for bulky physical storage. This feature proves particularly useful for individuals who frequently travel or have limited office space. The ability to access financial records from any location with an internet connection is also highlighted as a major advantage. However, some users express concerns about the software's learning curve, finding the initial setup and navigation somewhat cumbersome. Others point out that the expense tracking functionality, while helpful, lacks the robust reporting capabilities of dedicated accounting software like QuickBooks or Xero. Shoeboxed's strength lies in its simplicity and ease of use for basic accounting tasks, making it ideal for freelancers, contractors, and small business owners who need a straightforward solution for managing receipts and generating expense reports. For users requiring more advanced accounting features, integrating Shoeboxed with dedicated accounting software might be a more suitable approach.

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