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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Sage Accounting

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ASage Accounting is online accounting software made to simplify life for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers by providing the functions needed to take care of daily business to-dos. Users can create and send professional quotes and invoices, track income and expenses and know where the business' financials stand. Every Sage Business Cloud Accounting subscription includes unlimited access to support as well as automatic backups and product updates.

    $19

    per month

    Zoho Books

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AZoho Books is an accounting solution that is designed to help small businesses manage their finances. This solution includes dashboards and a wide variety of reports. Business users can automate tasks and set up custom workflows. Zoho offers a 14 day free trial.

    $20

    per month

    Pricing
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0
    For businesses with turnover <50K USD per annum
    Standard
    $20
    per month per org
    Professional
    $50
    per month per org
    Premium
    $70
    per month per org
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsVersions and pricing listed are for CA products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country. * 2 months free to start, or free for 1 month to try, then $19/$43/$62 +tax/mo (tier depending). Offer valid for new customers only on monthly subscriptions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting. After the promotional period, the monthly subscription rate will renew at the then current rate. May not be combined with any other offers or discounts. To ensure continuous service the subscription plan is an automatically renewing plan. Subsequent months will automatically be billed to the same credit card each month on the anniversary date of purchase. Plans can be terminated at any time prior to the renewal data and not charged for renewal.Zoho Books is available for both monthly and yearly plans. Users who sign up for the annual plan get a discount.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Considered Both Products
    Sage
    Chose Sage Accounting
    Its far more flexible, much better value for money, UK based with accessible and intelligent support. Unlike the other software providers Sage is low on gimmicks and high on usable content. It does what it needs to do exceptionally well and it is constantly evolving.
    Incentivized
    Zoho
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    46 Answers
    86%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    92%
    Delivers good value for the price
    44 Answers
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    46 Answers
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    39 Answers
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    38 Answers
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    Features
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    9.3
    19 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Zoho Books
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation10.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration9.312 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files8.812 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management9.410 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management9.112 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    8.6
    23 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Zoho Books
    7.8
    16 Ratings
    2% above category average
    API for custom integration9.120 Ratings7.816 Ratings
    Plug-ins8.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    9.7
    42 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Zoho Books
    9.2
    25 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Single sign-on capability9.931 Ratings8.320 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions9.539 Ratings10.023 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    9.3
    44 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Zoho Books
    8.7
    24 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Dashboards8.340 Ratings8.224 Ratings
    Standard reports9.844 Ratings9.022 Ratings
    Custom reports9.735 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    9.1
    64 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Zoho Books
    8.4
    25 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Accounts payable9.857 Ratings8.223 Ratings
    Accounts receivable9.945 Ratings8.224 Ratings
    Cash management9.853 Ratings7.022 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation9.561 Ratings8.022 Ratings
    Expense management9.934 Ratings8.823 Ratings
    Time tracking6.611 Ratings8.815 Ratings
    Fixed asset management8.428 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency support10.018 Ratings9.214 Ratings
    Multi-division support9.918 Ratings00 Ratings
    Regulations compliance9.529 Ratings8.012 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing9.735 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-service portal10.025 Ratings9.016 Ratings
    Global Financial Support9.38 Ratings00 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers9.515 Ratings00 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting8.111 Ratings00 Ratings
    Localizations8.49 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations9.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting6.910 Ratings00 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting9.318 Ratings00 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework8.98 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standardized Processes9.520 Ratings00 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    6.9
    17 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Zoho Books
    7.0
    14 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Inventory tracking6.717 Ratings9.014 Ratings
    Automatic reordering8.36 Ratings5.08 Ratings
    Location management5.77 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manufacturing module7.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Sage Accounting and Zoho Books
    Feature
    Sage Accounting
    8.2
    28 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Zoho Books
    8.7
    22 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Pricing9.917 Ratings9.018 Ratings
    Order entry7.615 Ratings9.017 Ratings
    Credit card processing8.118 Ratings6.619 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold7.620 Ratings10.017 Ratings
    Order Orchestration7.66 Ratings00 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility7.57 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution8.95 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Small Businesses
    Zoho Books
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Sage Accounting
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score7.7 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score6.8 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score6.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (71 ratings)
    8.2
    (26 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.5
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.9
    (38 ratings)
    8.3
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.2
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.9
    (18 ratings)
    5.3
    (5 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.2
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    9.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.8
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.3
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Sage AccountingZoho Books
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Sage
    I'll say that Sage Accounting is great for small to mid-sized businesses that need simple, cloud-based bookkeeping and invoicing. It’s perfect when you want to track multiple clients or projects, get real-time updates, and make bank reconciliations easier. Generating financial reports or preparing tax/SR&ED info is straightforward too. But it’s not the best fit for really big companies with tons of transactions or complex multi-entity setups. Also, if you need advanced inventory or manufacturing features, it can feel a bit limited
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    If using other cloud applications and you wish to create Zoho Books transactions via APIs, Zoho Books is great. The overall UI and flow of the application are great. If you need a detailed job cost accounting solution and robust reporting there is some room for improvement here.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Sage
    • Bank integration - being able to extract banking transaction into Sage Accounting.
    • Allocation rules - transactions are auto-allocated once allocation rules have been set up. This is a great time-saver.
    • Flexibility - the ability to view transactions, click on them to the allocation point and rectifying if required saves having to create journals, and therefore time. General ledgers therefore stay cleaner and more user-friendly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • Zoho Books invoicing and receipting features are second to none. We find it easy to quickly invoice clients and add items to their bills and also for our own receipting internally.
    • The accounting features are great for our accounting team to be able to see where we are financially and how the business is doing.
    • The ability to add contacts and run a mini CRM channel with clients within Zoho is invaluable. Since we use this in conjunction with our other CRM channels, it helps to have a centralized place to follow up and see through a sales funnel.
    • Zoho Books allows us to take payments from clients around the globe a feature we didn't have when we used another accounting system.
    • The pricing for Zoho Books is fairly reasonable for an SME organization which is a great for us as it pays itself back many times over every month.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Sage
    • The packages for integrating with Sage50 desktop application files are not backwards compatible, so we must store many copies in order to support multiple versions of the Sage50 application that our customers use, in case they aren't immediately updating to the latest version at all times.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • Zoho Books is only available in Texas and California. There is no integration allowed for paying employee expenses. The absolute worst aspect is the fact that if you make even the slightest error in data input there is no backing up. You cannot undo an error.
    • The system does not allow change once implemented, so you must get every one of your beginning balances perfect. The practice of Journal Entries is cumbersome. When reconciling, Zoho Books has adopted a number of required steps that significantly overcomplicate reconciliation using practices that are not consistent with general accounting principles in the US.
    • On the customer side, you must look in two places to see the beginning balance and the current receivables that might exist for current invoicing.
    • The way the system works, you must avoid having much trust with the balances depicted. So far, it appears that Zoho Books uses what we called in school "that new math."
    • It would be terrifying to rely on this bookkeeping system to support an IRS Audit. The system violates too many fundamental accounting principles.
    • The software is used by so few people that there is concern that we might never find a skilled bookkeeper.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Sage
    We're very happy with the functionality and overall experience of using Sage Accounting for our accounting needs. Currently, we are not even considering whether we would need to look around for a different option. The only things that would make us consider changing would be a significant increase in price or changes to the software which reduce it's ease of function.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Sage
    There is so much on pastel that if you do not really take the time to learn, you might never completely utilize the software effectively. Software setup is not something you can really do on your own; however, there is always an active pastel team that makes sure you get all you need set up until you are good to go.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    Customization is the biggest struggle for us and most of the time we need to involve a tech person. The chat support is a great feature and very helpful. It would be great to be able to customize and create invoices and correspondence (templates) such are reminders in multiple languages within one organization. The currency (USD) would be the same. We have clients in different countries that don't speak English but pay in USD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Sage
    Sage has been always available when I want it. If there is any maintenance work to be done by the Sage team, you are told well in advance. Maintenance is generally carried out late at night or before the day begins for most of us. It continues to be the most reliable software I use.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Sage
    Performance is top notch, if it is not, it is probably your wi-fi connection. It has happened that pages load slowly because of an error on Sage side but almost never. Overall reports load fine, the site is fast, navigation is fine. I have a client that has so many invoices, it is slow or gets stuck when you try to load a report for a whole year but it is just too many invoices, it makes sense. Just take 2 report for 6 months and combine them, its not an issue for me. I am happy with Sage Accounting's performance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Sage
    Sage Accounting are easy to contact and have knowledgeable and helpful staff. Whenever I've encountered a problem I've always been able to get assistance and guidance and it feels like the person at the end of the phone/screen knows the product well.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    The support team feels very disjointed. We have filtered through a number of "lead" contacts and are frequently spammed by other Zoho members. Once getting an appropriate support contact on the phone - the team is very helpful, it just takes a lot of hoop jumping to get there. We actually unsubscribed from their support package as we were not getting the value we were looking for.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Sage
    Staff are always friendly, and patient, always work at a speed that suits you. You are never rushed, and In only a short time they seem to be able to help you make great strides. It has been a pleasure not a chore, learning how SAGE Accounting works and benefits me and the company.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Sage
    I find the online training was very informative and they answered all my questions. I am also certified in Sage One and provided online training in the program which I have set up several people on and they love how it keeps them organized.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Sage
    The clients' business owner worked with Sage on implementation before I began working for them. After consultation with them it is clear the process was quickly performed and without complication. The key takeaway was that Sage is seen as a partner to the business. That said, it was always necessary to engage with an accountant such as myself to extract the best out of the software.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Sage
    Sage was just easier for me to use and more familiar for my staff, who had some experience with enterprise versions of Sage in the past. It became a no-brainer when I made the final decision about which package to go with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    We had a lot of problems with Exact Online, support-wise and price-wise. So Zoho Books wins on every point there. While Exact offers way more options, it tends to be really slow... and complex. Again Zoho Books wins. If you want an easy-to-use tool and not pay a lot of money, or if you are a small administration office with a few clients, this tool will be perfect for you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Sage
    The pricing structure is fair and offers good value for money. The billing is done through their online system and you can access your bills at any time. Most contacts only require 30 days' notice, so no need to feel tied in, although I can't imagine why you would want to leave Sage.
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Sage
    You can use Sage in your company for various aspects/positions such as bookkeepers, invoicing clerks, accountant, purchasing etc. Everyone can have their own user login and permissions can be set that specific people can do specific jobs without being able to access other peoples progress or accounts of the company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    Sage
    Do not use
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Sage
    • Being cloud-based, meaning I can work from anywhere, has had a massive ROI, as I am no longer tied to the office.
    • CoPilot has meant we can spend more hours creating work for our business than chasing for payments.
    • Statement Runs mean we do not have to spend half a day carrying out the tasks individually.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zoho
    • Integration: Zoho Books offers out of the box integrations to extend the functionality and connect with the applications you love like MailChimp, Microsoft Outlook, PandaDoc, and Quickbooks, etc.
    • Flexibility makes Zoho Books great!
    • Since I can use forecast reports, I can create customizable sales forecast data from the dashboard to accurately measure revenue forecasts and establish sales quotas.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Sage Accounting Screenshots

    Screenshot of the All-in-One DashboardScreenshot of the Accounting DashboardScreenshot of an Invoicing Quote EstimateScreenshot of the Purchases TrackerScreenshot of Stock InventoryScreenshot of a VAT Returns List

    Zoho Books Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot