Likelihood to Recommend CMiC is a robust platform best suited for large companies with resources for implementation and management of the program. One analogy is CMiC is like a droid phone where the user must decide how to use all the features of the program (as opposed to an iPhone where most configuration decisions are made for the user). Smaller companies with limited resources can struggle with CMiC both with the expense and configuration.
Read full review 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.
Read full review Pros The user interface is similar to that of other project management software applications so folks in our company that had previously used other applications have been able to switch over fairly easily. I really like the software and it was much less expensive than other applications. I like the mobile application so that our superintendents can view the documentation on their phones. I really like the punch list capability mobile field, however, we have a hard time getting our superintendents to use it for some reason. Read full review 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. Read full review Cons Needs to be more user friendly on the mobile side of the platform. Ease of use is key here. There is not much instruction or support in standing up some programs like deploying ECM for outlook, making Collaboration Gateway work, or setting up the system for getting Plans available on the mobile devices. Security configuration is extremely detailed and spread throughout the system. It is extremely hard to make adjustments to a person's security unless you know exactly where to look, which requires years of experience but shouldn't. Read full review 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 This is a platform that would continue to be in the best interest for our company. I just hope that CMiC support removes the gaps between the enhancements that they create to better the system to what they currently have
Read full review Usability I believe it isn't easy to use and is unintuitive. Undecipherable error messages appear throughout the application without indicating what is wrong or how to correct it, in my experience. The terminology on the screens is specific to Canada, which adds to the confusion.
Read full review 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.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Sometimes since this is a cloud based product the system can become slow but we haven’t had any issues of availability without CMiC first letting us know it would be down
Read full review Performance Reports are pretty shown to run but general pages typically load pretty quick.
Read full review Support Rating The support team [has] been in touch with our deployment team and has given them effective guidance up to completion. It has helped us in [the] best methods of resource allocation and secure record-keeping process. We have tracked all our billing information and made the right payments with documentation and avoided [unnecessary losses]. [The] support team has [to] lead our teams to the right channels and empowering our team with the right skills for maximum production.
Read full review 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.
Read full review In-Person Training The training was on system functions and not really how best to use it for our business. It would have been nice to be provided recommendations for use rather than just a blank slate of functionality.
Read full review Online Training I felt the training was good and the trainers knew the software.
Read full review Implementation Rating Lots of confusion between sales and implementation regarding what was included and not included...the security encountered a "bug" and made it extremely difficult to set up roles and individual responsibilities
Read full review Alternatives Considered CMiC Construction Platform is the best price point in the market. Others are revenue-based billings, and the annual fees reflect as such. CMiC Construction Platform support staff is generally amazing and offers real-time support on critical issues. The imaging and workflow functions are real-time savers. CMiC Construction Platform is generally a smaller and in touch organization that treats your team like their own and stays with you after the purchase.
Ejay Gering Vice President of Construction and Field Operations
Read full review 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.
Read full review Scalability CMiC has several key features that can either work together or independently depending on your companies needs.
Read full review Return on Investment Better project visibility, surely. I can step into a former project and see how well/poorly it was run. Forecasting underway - nearly complete with year 2. Cost status tracking - this has been valuable, especially when figuring out how much of a liquid budget is left over. Read full review 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. Read full review ScreenShots CMiC Construction Platform Screenshots