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Odoo vs Zoho Books

A detailed comparison of leading accounting software for SMEs in India.

Features Comparison

General Accounting

Odoo

Zoho Books

General Scope

Multi-currency

Multi-Branches


Multi-User

Multiple Journals



Multiple Language Support

 

 

Supported Countries

 140

 15

Accrual and Cash Basis

 

 

Real Time Accounting

 

 

Access Rights

Access Rights per Screen


Access Rights per Field


Customizable Validation Steps

Third-Party Integration

API



Spreadsheet Integration

Import: Excel or CSV



Export: Excel or CSV


Customer Portal



Customer / Vendor Communication

Emails



Whatsapp


Third Party

Internal Communication

Email



Chat



Video Conference



Accounts Receivable

Odoo

Zoho Books

Customer Invoice

Proforma Invoices


Multiple Taxes per Line



Discounts


Pricelists


Advanced Payments Terms


Cash Discounts



Outstanding Payments Reconciliation


Configurable Email Templates



eSignature on Invoices


Customer Credit Limit


Artificial Intelligence

Real Time Accounting


OCR Invoices



Auto-Reconcile


Account Prediction AI


Send Invoices

Generate a PDF invoice


Batch Send Invoices by Email


Send by WhatsApp



Post Invoices by Standard Mail



Customer Statements

Aged Receivable Balance



Per Customer Statements



Automated Follow-up Emails



Automated Follow-up Letters



Automated Follow-up Actions



Unpaid Fees and Penalties


Third-Party Debits Recovery


Online Payments

Credit Cards



PayPal



UPI



Recurring Revenues

Automated Recurring Invoices



Contracts / Subscriptions Management



Recurring Business KPIs (MRR, Churn)



Alerts for Contract Renewal



Miscellaneous

Automated COGS Entries



Automated Deferred Revenues



Sales Order Acruals



Accounts Payable

Odoo

Zoho Books

Vendor Bills

Billing Control (Purchase Orders / Receptions)



3-Way Matching



Multiple Taxes per Line



Purchase Agreements



Multi-Step Payment Terms



Side-by-side View: PDF/Form



Expenses

Mobile App



Validation Process



Reimburse employees



Artificial Intelligence

Scan Vendor Bills



Scan Expense receipts



Vendor Payments

Aged Payable Report


Print Checks


Automate Wire Transfer (SEPA)



ACH Transfers



Expenses

Employee Expenses Report


Expenses Validation Flow


Disallowed Expenses


Miscellaneous

Assets Management


Purchase Accruals


Bank and Cash

Odoo

Zoho Books

Bank Statements

Bank Interfaces


Import Interfaces: SEPA


Import Statements: OFX, QIF


Import Statements: CSV


Import Statements: Camt.053


Deposit Tickets


Miscellaneous

Bank Reconciliation Reports


Automated Currencies Rate


Automate Currency Gains/Losses


SDD Mandate


Miscellaneous Operations

Odoo

Zoho Books

Indian Localisation

GST Filing


TDS



eInvoicing



eWaybill



UPI



Audits



Multi-Branches



Journal Entries

Automatic Transfers



Intercompany Entries



Auto-Post in Future



Journal Items Cut-Offs



Documents Management

Document Management

Document Search Engine

Auto-split Multiple Invoices

Customer Portal

Collect by Email

Collect by Scan

Upload from Portal

Analytic Accounting / Cost Centers

Analytic Accounting

Multi-level Analytic Accounts

Multiple Plans

Automatic Propositions

Extras

Odoo

Zoho Books

Analytic Accounting / Grouping

Analytic / Cost Accounting

Multi-Level Analytic Accounting

Multiple Plans

Optional Tags per Entry

Budgets

General Budgets

Analytic Budgets

Payroll

Payroll

Valuation

Standard Price

Average Price

FIFO

LIFO

Perpetual Valuation

Other

Contracts Electronic Signatures

Multi-company consolidation

Reporting

Odoo

Zoho Books

Legal Statements

Profit & Loss

Balance Sheet

Cashflow Statement

General Ledger

Tax Reports

Tax Audit Report

Bank Reconciliation

Aged Receivable

Aged Payable

Executive Summary

Reports

Pivot Table on Multiple Dimensions

Customizable Dashboards

Spreadsheet

Annotate Reports


Customizable KPI’s


Ratio Analysis

Predefined Fiscal Year Closing


Usability, Pricing & Conditions

Odoo

Zoho Books

UI

Full Web Interface


Mobile App


Android App


iPhone App


Productivity Tools

Mass Edit


Group by in lists


Screen Designer


Marketplace

App Store / Add-ons


Subjective Rating

Navigation

9/10

9/10

Search

10/10

8/10

Shortcuts

9/10

7/10

Data Entry

8/10

7/10

Reconciliation Tool

10/10 ​

9/10

Mobile App

10/10 ​

9/10

Reports Customization

9/10

9/10

Pricing and Conditions

Pricing

Free, Forever

₹8,988 /year - 
₹96,000 /year

Contract Duration

Monthly & Yearly

Monthly & Yearly

Free Trial

15 days

14 days

Free Updates



Hosting & Maintenance



Support



Different solutions, Different needs

In order to excel in business, it is important to streamline ineffective processes. For it, you need to opt for the right software. This leads to the analysis of certain parameters such as features, functionality, workflow, etc.

Business scope evaluates the software functions, specifications, usability, customization capability, and integrations with other tools for your business growth. 

User-friendliness measures how software is user-friendly to use easily & intuitively and whether it is adaptable to the business according to its tailored needs or not. It evaluates how the software is simple to install along with the updates requiring minimal effort to understand & avoid time consuming training and procedures. It should also adhere to the industry standards and be efficient after all.

Odoo and Zoho Books have introduced game-changing software solutions to the accounting world. These software help you to ameliorate a business’s financial accuracy and visibility so that valuable time can be spent on more important tasks by integrating all business applications at one place and enhancing productivity.

Odoo is one of the robust all-in-one business management software which fastens the accounting operations placing all necessary tools at one place. It’s highly customizable, integrates multiple applications, and accelerates businesses with an open source nature! Its open-source nature empowers a thriving community resulting in a vast repository of community-contributed applications. It is the best solution provider for bill management.

Zoho Books has enriched automation features for financial functions which is competitive to other accounting softwares in the marketplace. However, it may fail for advanced analytics. Zoho gives the reliability to access all your work from one place by integrating with other business applications. However, it is not user-friendly, it may be difficult to use for those business owners who are not tech-savvy.

Odoo offers top-notch modular architecture & fosters continuous development and adaptability. Businesses have the flexibility to use any one of its applications that aligns with their needs. It has an extremely user-friendly user interface, provides straightforward navigation and is comprehensive by nature.

On the other hand, Zoho Books is not easily adaptable and its learning curve is long. Business owners may find it difficult to understand and implement it.  Zoho Books may be a good choice for task automation, but not for streaming business operations. It possesses a lack of payroll services, and doesn't incline integration options.

Conclusion

Accounting software vendor- Zoho was the first “modern” accounting software to surf on the wave and offered a modern software solution for accountants.

Odoo has always been the leading product worldwide in terms of usability and feature coverage, years ahead of other accounting softwares on these two values. But, Odoo’s Indian localization was not perfectly mature before 2023. Now, it is on par with Zoho with all Indian features (GST filing, multi-branches, TDS, UPI, e Waybill, e-Invoicing,etc.).

Odoo has become the most complete and user-friendly software for Indian accounting. Its user base is still small, as they have just started. But, the product is superior at a lower price (Odoo Accounting is even free on Odoo Online).