Zoho Invoice — Pros & Cons [2023]

Top Features of Zoho Invoice

Invoicing

Create professional invoices and send them with no fuss using Zoho Invoice.

• Custom Invoices – Zoho Invoice has a massive collection of professionally designed templates so that you can choose the right one for your needs. To go one step further, you can add your brand’s tone and save the customized invoice for future use. But the tools for customization should be improved for a better experience.
• Scheduling Invoices – Whether you want to send a one-time invoice or recurring invoices, you have the option to schedule them ahead of time. Once the invoices are scheduled, Zoho Invoice will send them automatically to your customers at the set interval.
• Multiple Currencies – No matter where your customers live, you can send invoices in multiple currencies. Select the currency of your customers’ location and make it easier for them to pay.
• Multiple Languages – Apart from selecting the local currency of your customer, you can create invoices in more than ten languages. It makes communication between your brand and customers much more effective.
• Invoice Template Gallery – Choose a suitable template that matches your business needs and customize it before sending it to the customer. Templates can also be assigned to specific customers.

Estimates

Before you finally bill your customers, you can give them an overall idea of the pricing using this feature.

• Create Projects from Estimates – Once the outline of a project is created, you can send the estimate to your clients and get it approved by them. Zoho lets you digitally sign estimates or invoices to reduce paperwork. After the estimate is approved by the client, you can create the project right there.
• Estimate Expiration Dates – To create the drive of checking and approving estimates, you can set expiration dates for the estimates. It will make the cycle faster.
• Convert Estimates to Invoices – After your clients approve an estimate, you don’t need to create a separate invoice. Convert the estimate into an invoice instead and send it to your client.
• Estimate History – If there is any conflict while sending the final invoice, you can go back to check the estimate’s history at any time.

Process Payments

Accepting payment is the most crucial stage of the whole invoicing process. And Zoho Invoice handles it like magic.

• Configure Payment Gateways – You can take payments from customers across the globe with more than ten payment gateway integrations. So, your customers can use multiple platforms to pay you at their convenience.
• Auto-Charge – As we have already mentioned, you can save the credit card information of your customers. Using that information, you can charge them at a specific interval, and Zoho Invoice will handle that without any manual intervention.
• Collect Advance Payments – Even before a project starts, you can take payments from your clients using this feature. All future adjustments will be made automatically. But it might be slightly tricky for newbies to manage retainer invoices.
• Easy Refund – If you need to refund any amount to your customers, you can do that by adding a credit note to the invoice.
• Offline Payments – Even if your customers don’t use online payment gateways, you can keep track of all offline payments using Zoho Invoice. But doing that might seem a bit tough in the beginning.

Manage Contacts

Organizing your contacts can make the payment process more efficient.

• Build Client Portals – To make the payment process easy and transparent, you can create collaborative portals for your clients and grant them access. They can check all the of their transactions on the portal.
• Unpaid Invoice Reminders – If a customer has one or more unpaid invoices, you can attach them to the customer statement. And they will receive automated reminders to pay the due as soon as possible.
• Save Credit Card Information – This feature is essential for recurring payments. Having all the card details will allow you to charge clients automatically. It saves a lot of time and hassle if you accept recurring payments from multiple clients.
• Send Customer Statements – Sending the statement of transactions to your clients is the easiest way to build trust and grow faster. Zoho Invoice lets you send statements for your desired period. But there should be more flexibility to customize transaction statements.

Expense Management

Tracking not only what you earn but also what you spend is absolutely important.

• Convert Expenses to Invoices – Whatever expense you need to bill customers for, directly convert that into an invoice and send it to your customers immediately.
• Categorize Expenses – Organizing your expenses in categories makes it easier to take a look at them when necessary.
• Upload Expense Receipts – You can upload your expense receipts to Zoho Invoice for future reference. Simply take a picture of the receipt, and the tool will organize the receipts based on the expense.
• Recurring Expenses – If you have recurring expenses, you can use Zoho to create separate profiles for them to automatically track on an ongoing basis.

Projects & Timesheets

Maintaining timesheets for your projects is crucial to charge your clients accurately.

• Create Invoices from Projects – Instead of creating a separate invoice and entering all details, you can directly create an invoice from your projects. All the tracked time will be converted into billable hours automatically.
• Track Time for Projects – Work hours for a specific project can be efficiently tracked on this platform to that your customers can pay the right amount.
• Choose Billing Types – You can choose from two billing types here. From project hours or task hours, choose whatever billing method you see fit.
• Track Unbilled Hours – Some unbilled hours may slip through while billing, but not with Zoho Invoice. It will let you convert all unbilled hours into invoices.

Pros & Cons of Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice packs some serious features to reduce to make invoicing a breeze – but it may still have drawbacks. Here are some pros and cons of Zoho Invoice:

Zoho Invoice Plans & Pricing

The best thing about Zoho Invoice is you can use it for free! With Zoho Invoice, you can create invoices, retainers, and credit notes to multiple customers without a subscription. Even better, Zoho Invoice adapts to local currencies, languages, and tax laws. Zoho Invoice supports credit cards, cash payments, checks, and bank transfers.

Our Take on Zoho Invoice

Zoho Invoice is an absolute bliss for freelancers and small businesses. Sending invoices to your customers, accepting payments, and tracking expenses, everything can be done on the same platform. Zoho Invoice lets you create professional invoices using pre-designed templates. Besides customizing templates, you can schedule them for one-time or recurring payments, and automating the process saves a lot of time and manual work. You can send invoices in multiple languages and currencies to suit your customers. Plus, they can pay you from anywhere in the world using 10+ payment gateways. The self-service portal lets you save your customers’ information. Though Zoho Invoice is full of features, its mobile apps aren’t that stable yet. And using the application might require a bit of a learning curve for absolute beginners. Whatever, it is completely free, so anyone can start using the tool right away.

Click here to try Zoho Invoice for free!