Zoho review

Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice is a bit unusual in that it’s one of a suite of online applications from the company – including basic office applications, customer relationship management, human resources etc etc.

If I were looking for a modular way to administer every aspect of my business, or I had several requirements all at the same time – this might be a very nice fit.  Unfortunately I just have the invoicing and book-keeping problem to solve at the moment.

That being the case, Zoho Invoice was another early casualty – despite scoring 74% against our requirements – here’s why:

1. No API – That’s not strictly true.  Zoho does have an API for some of it’s products but I couldn’t see a way for external applications to exchange data with their Invoicing application.  This was the killer blow against us using Zoho Invoice.  No API means no automation which means no cost savings and no productivity gains.
2. No expense management – Zoho Invoice does, well, invoicing.  It doesn’t do expenses, or bank balance reconciliation.  It’s not a book-keeping application aimed at replacing QuickBooks.
3. Limited payment gateways – Zoho Invoice currently only supports PayPal and Google Checkout – neither of which are suitable for doing subscription billing in the UK.  PayPal isn’t a viable alternative because it forces clients into setting up a PayPal account and Google Checkout doesn’t currently support billing in Euros.

Conclusion

I liked the look and feel of Zoho Invoice.  I liked the fact that it was part of a suite of applications which could be assembled like Lego to cater for all my business needs.  Unfortunately, with no external API, no expense management and no payment gateway integration, it was a non-starter for us.

Next Step: Conclusions about online billing applications

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