ApprovalMax vs. Zoho Books

As mentioned previously - able to send invoice based on amount , program code and division code ,supplier is very useful feature ; If an invoice does not fit into approval process than it is rejected and an email is received mentioning the reason

Incentivized

Zoho Books is good for a company or organization that wants to keep track of invoices, payments, and cash flow. If you do not have a full-time accountant in your organization, it can work well as whenever you hire one or have someone check your books, the information they need will be there, provided it has been entered into Zoho Books. It works as a one-man operation or a small team. For larger teams, it would depend on how much information needs to be input on a daily basis.

Incentivized

• choice based on Program codes / division codes - we use Xero accounting system and we have 22 program codes and 11 divison codes ; once invoice is entered in Xero depending on relevant program code and divison code, Approval max automatically send invoice to relevant person depending on approval workflow process . One manager could be handling multiple divison and program codes; if our approval work flow process is properly designed - it is accurate in sending invoice to relevant manager.
• invoice can also send to various managers based on General ledger codes ; this flexibility makes useful when manager is handling only certain nature of expenses regardless of program codes / divisionl.
• Approval process can also be designed based on level of amount ; and level of amount is derived from our Delegation policy. it makes audit of application of delegation policy easy ; we give copy of delegation policy and print of approval work flow process to auditor.

Incentivized

• The projects feature is what we use a lot it helps setting up projects as well as tracking expenses and bills for the whole project. The budgeting feature is very developed, allowing you to budget by total project cost, total project hours, hours per task, or hours per staff.
• Customer Estimates and Invoices are very easy to setup and send directly from the app (it also has a very nice and customizable reminder option).
• Stock and pricing listings is very intuitive and easy and makes it a very helpful and time saving feature.
• Bank reconciliation and Financial reporting are very developed and make it easy to share information with bookeepers and accounting specialists.

Incentivized

• date and time of change in approval process ; for example if Mr. A was responsible for all expenses above $1000 in Oct 23 and from Nov 23 it is changed to $5000 . in Dec 23 if it is checked - it will show approval limit of $5000 ; but will not show from which date limit was changed. Auditor always asks this question when the limit was changed in approval max - we cannot prove it.
• If there is audit trail of who made the changes , when and what changes were made ; will be good.
• when we are in main page of seeing invoices awaiting approval - there are hundreds of invoices - searching for one invoice from particular supplier is very cumbersome job - we have to go by each and every invoice in order to find that invoice ; it will be good if we have search function on main page itself ; in current scenario we have to go to report section - input all filters and than search for that particular invoice.

Incentivized

• Printing checks - they only offer one vendor and they are expensive compared to QuickBook alternatives.
• Their interface for bids - retainers and applying them against income could be improved, but once you know how it's easy.
• Their recurring fees don't seem to always work the way I'd want. But overall they work.

Incentivized

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

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

Incentivized

Cloud vs. desktop, this and the fact that Zoho Books syncs with our other Zoho apps were the most pressing reasons for switching to Zoho Books. As mentioned previously, we consider our accounting software to be an integral part of doing business efficiently, and we can now do that considering our systems are all integrated.

Incentivized

• It has certainly made a positive impact ; it is definately worth its value ; when we are processing hundreds of invoices every fortnight ; getting approval of invoices in timely manner for all invoices is of paramount importance . as approval max has its own app - approval can be done on mobile phone also ; this is particularly helpful when staff is travelling .

Incentivized

• I was able to cut my costs for a more complete and easy to use tool.
• Many transactions, and accounting tasks on 1 platform, reduction in time by a lot.
• Clients can pay without leaving your website (less drop-off, better conversions).

Incentivized