Catalyst, by EBM Software vs. Zoho Books

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Catalyst, by EBM Software
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Catalyst from EBM Software in Minneapolis is a cloud-based business performance application suite, designed to provide an environment and workflow for understanding business profitability.N/A
Zoho Books
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Zoho Books is an accounting solution that is designed to help small businesses manage their finances. This solution includes dashboards and a wide variety of reports. Business users can automate tasks and set up custom workflows. Zoho offers a 14 day free trial.
$20
per month
Pricing
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Free
$0
For businesses with turnover <50K USD per annum
Standard
$20
per month per org
Professional
$50
per month per org
Premium
$70
per month per org
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFlexible and tiered pricing structures available - monthly, 1-3-5- contracts, and moreZoho Books is available for both monthly and yearly plans. Users who sign up for the annual plan get a discount.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.1
2 Ratings
8% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Customizable dashboards7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.7
2 Ratings
6% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Drill-down analysis7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Formatting capabilities8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
8.0
2 Ratings
3% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Publish to PDF7.92 Ratings00 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.7
1 Ratings
2% above category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Predictive Analytics8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
8.0
2 Ratings
9% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Multi-User Support (named login)8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
8.0
2 Ratings
2% above category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Responsive Design for Web Access8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
8.0
2 Ratings
3% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Long-term financial planning7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial budgeting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Forecasting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Scenario modeling8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Management reporting8.92 Ratings00 Ratings
Consolidation and Close
Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.2
1 Ratings
10% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Financial data consolidation9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Journal entries and reports8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency management6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Eliminations5.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Minority Ownership7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Local and consolidated reporting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial Reporting and Compliance
Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
8.0
1 Ratings
1% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Financial Statement Reporting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Reporting9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel-based Reporting7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated board and financial reporting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Analytics and Reporting
Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.2
2 Ratings
11% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Personalized dashboards7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Color-coded scorecards6.01 Ratings00 Ratings
KPIs7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Cost and profitability analysis8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Key Performance Indicator setting8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Benchmarking with external data7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration
Comparison of Integration features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
7.4
2 Ratings
12% below category average
Zoho Books
-
Ratings
Flat file integration8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Excel data integration7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct links to 3rd-party data sources7.12 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
7.5
16 Ratings
0% below category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings7.516 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
9.5
25 Ratings
14% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.020 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.023 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
8.8
24 Ratings
12% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.524 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings9.022 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
8.4
25 Ratings
9% above category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.523 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.524 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings7.022 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.022 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings8.523 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings8.515 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings9.514 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings8.012 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings9.016 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
7.0
14 Ratings
4% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings9.014 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings5.08 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Catalyst, by EBM Software
-
Ratings
Zoho Books
9.0
22 Ratings
16% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings9.017 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.017 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Small Businesses
IBM Planning Analytics
IBM Planning Analytics
Score 8.3 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.6 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Centage
Centage
Score 9.5 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Prophix
Prophix
Score 8.8 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 6.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Likelihood to Recommend
7.9
(2 ratings)
8.5
(26 ratings)
Usability
8.8
(2 ratings)
9.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(2 ratings)
5.3
(5 ratings)
User Testimonials
Catalyst, by EBM SoftwareZoho Books
Likelihood to Recommend
EBM Software
[Catalyst, by EBM Software] is well suited to track invoices from vendors to get them paid on time to avoid late fees. [Catalyst, by EBM Software] is less appropriate when paying vendor because that is not a function they currently have. If the system was an all in one system that could track and pay your invoices it would be an amazing software.
Read full review
Zoho
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
EBM Software
  • The GUI is easy to navigate on the iPad mini, which we use for charting.
  • The options are simple so there is very little room for mistakes.
  • Charting is easy and the setup allows for necessary fields that must be completed so charting stays uniform.
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Zoho
  • 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.
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Cons
EBM Software
  • The browser closes unexpectedly at times when refreshing the page and you get logged out
  • The incorrect vendor is chosen by Catalyst a few times
  • The Catalyst file is occasionally not placed on time in the folder
Read full review
Zoho
  • 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.
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Usability
EBM Software
Well.... when it works... it's good. When it doesn't it is very frustrating for our staff.
Read full review
Zoho
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.
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Support Rating
EBM Software
The support for Catalyst is great and they are usually within the 48 hour response time. There could be a little quicker upload time for invoices that are submitted. They usually show up until the next day on the system and sometimes gives us a stress on time. Overall, the support is quite good
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Zoho
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.
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Alternatives Considered
EBM Software
[Catalyst, by EBM Software] is a very easy system to use and is very user friendly. It gives you different ways of researching an invoice and not just one. Catalyst also helps to allow us to research an invoice within seconds and eliminates a lengthy and confusing process. It is a great software for first time users to learn quickly and efficiently.
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Zoho
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.
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Return on Investment
EBM Software
  • Catalyst is better than pencil and paper data analysis. But the app can be very frustrating when it's not working the way it did last week.
  • The GUI is very simple. Sometimes too simple, like there is no way to go back in and edit SOAP note options.
  • New feature roll-outs are mandatory. I understand that no one would opt in to being the guinea pig, but it would be nice if you weren't the first user to try it.
  • The integration with billing software has streamlined the billing notes and saved us money over having two separate systems.
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Zoho
  • 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

Zoho Books Screenshots

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