Tally vs. Zoho: Which Accounting Software Wins 2023 in India

‘Tally vs Zoho’ is a never-ending debate that has been baffling entrepreneurs looking for the right accounting software in India. Both accounting software are accepted across the Indian subcontinent for streamlining finance, managing budgets, handling cash flows, and supporting many other accounting activities. However, both have their quirks and it is really important to know the differences before committing to one.

In this blog, Finsmart will document the differences between Tally and Zoho to help entrepreneurs and young accountants pick the best accounting solution for their needs. Before we discuss the key differences between Tally and Zoho, let’s get a brief idea about the two of them.

Are you ready for the Tally vs. Zoho showdown? Let’s go!

Tally vs Zoho: Overview

Tally: Designed for automating and running business operations, Tally.ERP 9 software is used vastly by small and midsize organizations in India for carrying out accounting work. It was developed by Tally Solutions Private Limited which can be easily installed on any PC running Windows 7 or higher and accessed even from a smartphone. Tally.ERP 9 makes it easy for business owners to manage their accounting, inventory, statutory regulations, compliance, banking, and payroll.

Zoho: Zoho is relatively young accounting software that aims to be a one-stop solution for managing accounting and bookkeeping functions. Admired by accounting professionals, and business owners alike, this cloud-based solution can take care of complex financial chores with ease. From core accounting and bank reconciliation to automating workflows and keeping business GST compliant, Zoho does it all!

Tally vs Zoho: Feature-wise Comparison

Although the primary goal of these accounting solutions is to make accounting and bookkeeping easy, Tally and Zoho differ from each other when it comes to features and capabilities. Let’s start with Tally first.

Features of Tally.ERP 9

Time to put a spotlight on the features of our first contestant in the Tally vs Zoho battle! Here are the features of Tally.ERP 9 accounting and bookkeeping software:

Accounts management: Tally.ERP 9 lets businesses and accountants perform major accounting tasks such as fulfilling legal requirements, keeping abreast of tax liabilities, manage accounts payable and receivable using precise data.
Inventory management: A crucial feature for small and mid-sized businesses, Tally.ERP 9 software lets you track orders, check current inventory levels, and get a picture of stock requirements. Put simply, it opens the door to boosting revenues, customer satisfaction, and business efficiency.

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Tax compliance: Tally.ERP 9 accounting and bookkeeping software also lets businesses and accountants make the whole tax compliance process more intangible by letting the staff take care of invoicing, printing, and producing error-free returns. GST ready, it also lets you reconcile returns. No wonder, India loves it!
Cash flow and credit management: Cash flow and credit management are super easy with Tally.ERP 9. By making it easy for you to keep tabs on transactions that have a direct impact on cash, completing payments, and matching invoices, businesses can have a detailed view of their cash flow.
Multi-task capabilities: Multitasking is no fuss with Tally.ERP 9. The accounting and bookkeeping software gives accountants and entrepreneurs the ability to navigate from one accounting task to another easily. To be more specific, irrespective of what task you are performing, you can mill around the tool without losing current data.

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Features of Zoho

Zoho is quickly emerging as a tech leader and it’s dominating in accounting as well. Let’s learn about what features our last contender – Zoho has to offer to accountants and entrepreneurs!

Invoicing: This feature makes Zoho a fierce rival of Tally. It lets users craft professional invoices with ease. You can send invoices to your customers in their own currency via email and analyze revalued balances without any problems. Zoho also lets you set up automatic reminders and run real-time reports on your sales, expenses, and tax summary.
Payables: Maintaining accurate and clear records of your purchases, bills, refunds, and expenses is not an issue with Zoho. Businesses can scan the receipts and create financial reports from their smartphones, that too while sitting in any corner of the world.
Inventory management: Just like the previous contender i.e. Tally.ERP 9, Zoho also lets you streamline operations for businesses, allowing you to control your inventory, sales and purchase orders, and shipment more proficiently.

Banking: Another feature that gives Zoho an edge over Tally.ERP 9. This accounting and bookkeeping software lets businesses and accounting firms sync bank feeds and eliminates the need for data entry. They can organize and classify all transactions and reconcile business accounts within a few clicks.
Personalized communication and access: This software lets you provide a tailored experience to customers through personalized communication and data access. Define the roles and responsibilities of people who have access to the accounting software and provide them with the financial data they need with ease.
GST ready: Zoho is also GST ready. Meaning, businesses, and accountants can find GST liabilities, file returns, and make payments – all in one place using a single platform.

Tally vs Zoho: Hosting

With the rapidly evolving technology, the demands of businesses are also changing. New-age accountants want to leverage the power of virtual accounting to get more control over data and software on the go. Tally ERP.9 uses a collaborative cloud-based solution powered by Amazon Web Services that liberate businesses from the setbacks of buying, managing, and upgrading servers and desktops.

Users can access the accounting software anywhere, anytime, and on any device (yes, including smartphones). It also provides the flexibility of working on the same accounting data collectively with employees.

Talking about Zoho, everybody knows that it is a comprehensive cloud accounting software that makes it easy for businesses to take care of business finances. Be it core accounting, bank reconciliation, workflow automation, or GST compliance, this accounting software can get everything done from the cloud.

Tally vs Zoho: Scalability

Accounting firms often feel the need for more firepower during tax filing season and growth periods. They also sometimes want to cut back on user subscriptions to control costs. That’s why there is a growing demand for accounting software that’s scalable and can adapt to business needs.

Both Tally and Zoho score high in this regard. Whether you want to add more users, accounting capabilities, or data resources, everything is possible. Both allow businesses and accountants to easily tweak application access, users, functionalities, plan, or storage to handle accounting requirements.

Tally vs Zoho: Multi-Currency Support

Globalization has unlatched gates for international trade. Nowadays, tens of thousands of organizations in India regularly work with international clients and process transactions in multiple currencies. Tally accounting software supports businesses in this regard by allowing them to manage multiple currencies. It automatically calculates exchange rates and does conversion of any currency used to record a transaction in the account.

In fact, our other contender in the ‘Tally vs Zoho’ battle also processes business transactions with multiple currencies globally using its multi-currency feature. However, its activation process is a bit complicated when compared to Tally accounting software.

Tally vs Zoho: Usability

Usability is certainly one of the most crucial aspects of our Tally vs Zoho comparison. We know the whole idea of switching from traditional bookkeeping to automated software is to streamline rudimentary, repetitive accounting tasks, reduce errors, and increase productivity and efficiency. But what’s the point of making a hefty up-front investment in software with a steep learning curve?

We all have witnessed that Tally.ERP 9 is extremely powerful and feature-rich. This accounting and bookkeeping software, however, lacks user-friendliness. Using it can be a real nightmare for those who are new to accounting software. They might find it hard to access, generate, and understand accounting information or reports using Tally.ERP 9. Only those who are skilled in IT and have online accounting knowledge can maintain and access financial information from this accounting solution.

Zoho, on the other hand, is known to have better usability. It has a dashboard that is clear and simple to navigate. With this software, a vast range of financial chores become easy to execute.

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Tally vs Zoho: Pricing

Our comparison of Tally and Zoho will be incomplete without discussing the pricing. Tally accounting software’s license comes with 4 options:

Sliver Rental with per month pricing of 600 INR
Sliver with perpetual pricing of 18000 INR
Gold Rental with per month pricing of 1800 INR
Gold Rental with perpetual pricing of 54000 INR

When it comes to price, a Zoho subscription is solely a pre-paid service. This accounting software can also be used for free by Indian businesses with yearly revenue of fewer than 25 lakhs. The most premium monthly package (ULTIMATE) of Zoho costs 9599 INR

Please note that these prices and packages were marked from the official websites of Zoho and Tally on 25 September 2022. They may have changed since then.

Tally vs Zoho: Which one is better?

Truth be told, there is no better or worse accounting and bookkeeping software. Tally.ERP 9 and Zoho – both have their own benefits. If one is offering you accounting, inventory, sales, invoicing, and payables, the other is helping you with cash flow management, banking, report generation, and tax preparation.

Based on your needs, one can turn out to be more advantageous than the other for your business. We recommend consulting an accounting and bookkeeping expert before making the final decision!

There you go, we have settled the Tally vs Zoho battle once and for all. We hope the aforementioned points will help you select the right accounting and bookkeeping software according to your unique requirements.

Planning of outsourcing bookkeeping services for your business? Email us at info@finsmartaccounting.com to start the discussion.