Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a cloud-based accounting and invoice management solution for small businesses. It...
Software Advice offers objective, independent research and verified user reviews. We may earn a referral fee when you visit a vendor through our links.
Learn more
About ZipBooks
ZipBooks is a cloud-based accounting and payment processing solution designed for small businesses and accountants.
ZipBooks allows users to create customized invoices with logos, themes and messages. The online bookkeeping functionality of the software includes accounts receivable and bank reconciliation. With the help of bank integration, the system automatically imports transactions and generates real-time reports of company expenses.
ZipBooks offers project management tools that allow users to create tasks, assign them to team members and track performance with a built-in time-tracker. ZipBooks Accountants can text their clients directly from the app for streamlined communication and reconciliation.
ZipBooks Starter plan is completely free. Add-ons include payroll integration, reputation management and bookkeeping services.
What is ZipBooks?
How do I use ZipBooks?
Who uses ZipBooks?
How much does ZipBooks cost?
Does ZipBooks have an app?
What is ZipBooks?
ZipBooks is a free online accounting and invoicing software with bank connections, expense management, time tracking and team management functionality.
How do I use ZipBooks?
Log in through the ZipBooks website and connect your Square, PayPal or Stripe account to sync transactions and allow customers to pay their invoices. Then you can create and send invoices, manage bank reconciliations, track billable time and generate financial reports.
Who uses ZipBooks?
ZipBooks is used by individuals and teams in small to medium-sized businesses to manage invoicing and accounting, and by accountants to manage clients and track time across different client accounts.
How much does ZipBooks cost?
ZipBooks is available as a free Starter app for sending invoices and managing an unlimited number of customers and vendors, but also offers 2 paid team plans which are billed monthly. The Smarter plan costs $15/month and allows the addition of up to 5 team members, plus time tracking, invoice scheduling and automated reminders. The Sophisticated plan costs $35/month for unlimited team members, secure document sharing, customizable accounting categories and multi-account reconciliation. Custom pricing is available for Accountants on request from ZipBooks.
Does ZipBooks have an app?
No, ZipBooks does not have a mobile app, however it does offer a mobile-optimized browser experience.
ZipBooks pricing
ZipBooks has a free version and offers a free trial.
Starting Price:
Not provided by vendor
Free Version:
Yes
Free trial:
Yes
Alternatives to ZipBooks
Sage 50cloud Accounting (formerly Peachtree Software) is a comprehensive accounting solution for small business. It...
Quicken is an accounting solution for rental properties that comes with rent payment tools, which allow enterprises to...
QuickBooks Enterprise is an accounting solution designed for SMBs across different industry verticals such as constructi...
Zoho Books comes with automatic bank feeds, collaborative client portal, accounting and taxing, online payments,...
FreshBooks takes billing out of your hands and puts it on autopilot. Set up automated invoicing, online payment options...
ZipBooks Reviews
Feature rating
5 reviews of 102
View all reviews
Caitlin
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
4
Ease of Use
4
Customer Support
5
5
Reviewed on 11/04/2018
I'm a ZipBooks Fangirl! I've tried several accounting options & they provide the best value!
I've been able to spend less time on my accounting. I don't have to create reports, ZipBooks does it all based on my chart of accounts and other information. The customer service is super fantastic and supportive. The help files are well written, concise and easy to understand. The cost is low and the tiered pricing system is really fair. I can connect multiple accounts and add staff to my account. I can use time tracking, set up automatic invoices, pre-set items and tasks, add documents, just to name a few! My personal account is turned into a profile which is hosted on their system. My clients can leave reviews and potential clients can find and contact me.
Pros
Beside the cost (I'm on the pro version and it's still cheaper than the basic version of Xero and others), it automatically creates all the reports I need and shows them in a way that means I don't need an accounting degree! So my general ledger, my profit and loss statements - it's all there for me! Everything is so simple to use that I spent the first couple of weeks overthinking the whole thing - because it can't be that simple right?! The layout is so easy to navigate, the chart of accounts is simple to understand, and when I need a hand (I've managed to mess things up in my ignorance of double entry accounting) the customer support team are right there and get my problem sorted so quickly!
Cons
My biggest con is that it's really USA-centric. I'm not in the States so I can't connect my bank account to the system so I have to manually import my statements. For me, it's well worth the effort because the system saves me time and stress in so many other ways. Also I'm a sole trader so I don't have many accounts to sort out. I can imagine it would be different for someone with a bigger company or more regular turnover.
Cory
- Industry: Management Consulting
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
5
Ease of Use
5
Customer Support
5
5
Reviewed on 04/10/2022
Don't Sleep on ZipBooks
I love ZipBooks I use it for two businesses, my consulting and my graphic design - It's simply amazing for a low cost platform it meets all of my needs with only a few hiccups once or twice a year. Not bad IMO.
Pros
It's one of the most inexpensive tools on the market and it meets all of my small business needs with amazing features that you would expect to pay much more for.
Cons
Sometimes my card gets kicked out, or I need to renew the connection to my payment processing platforms and it doesn't email me about it until someone tries to pay and can't. I've often had to reach out to the help desk to pay for my service because my cards just don't want to work and auto payment didn't go through for some reason.
Second, I run multiple businesses (DBA) and for that I need to log in to two separate accounts. It would be great to be able to consolidate them.
Reasons for Choosing ZipBooks
I really didn't need all of the features used in Quickbooks for my small business and Zipbooks supplied me all of the essentials and a few more tools for a substantially lower cost - Adding to my bottom line instead of subtracting.Switched From
QuickBooks EnterpriseReasons for Switching to ZipBooks
They all seemed to have a higher price didn't cater to my needs, instead, offering lots of additional functionality that I really didn't need with no lower priced option.
alton
- Industry: Arts & Crafts
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
5
Ease of Use
5
Customer Support
5
5
Reviewed on 16/09/2024
Speedy payments made easy.
Pros
Zipbooks is AMAZING! I was using a different invoice software and found myself waiting almost a week for payment. This is inconvenient for my business. Zipbooks made timely payments a reality. The software is beyond user friendly and takes only minutes to get up and running.
Cons
I have absolutely no complaints at this time. I have even recommended several other companies to try Zipbooks.
Susan
- Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
1
Ease of Use
4
Customer Support
5
2
Reviewed on 05/01/2017
ZipBooks - Perfect for a Hobby turned Small Business!
The ZipBooks staff have been very responsive and willing to help. The software is free to use, however, there is a $1.25 charge per Paypal transaction when a customer pays via ZipBooks invoice. It provides basic accounting features that would work well for a person who is turning their hobby into a small business or a small contract business.
If you are new to accounting, ZipBooks is perfect. If you are accustomed to accounting software, then this free software isn't for you. It doesn't yet have dynamic reporting features, ie no balance sheet or clickable fields to expand a data field on the Income Statement. If your business is small and you are going to keep it that way, ZipBooks is perfect. If your business is thriving and growing, invest in paid software as you'll quickly grow out of ZipBooks.
That said, I'm told they have changes in the works so maybe this won't hold true in the near future.
Pros
Easy to use for someone with no accounting knowledge. Perfect for an MLM or hobby turned business. I love, love, love that their customer service is responsive.
Cons
The reporting features are seriously lacking. No balance statement, COG's are lumped together on the Income Statement, no division of income sources and no field on the Income Statement is clickable for a detailed report. Invoice and Expense pages are long with one arrow to the next page on the top and when editing an invoice or expense and saving, you are brought to the "1-50" page instead of the current page you were working on.
Verified Reviewer
- Industry: Aviation & Aerospace
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1-5 months
-
Review Source
Value for Money
5
Features
4
Ease of Use
5
Customer Support
5
5
Reviewed on 04/09/2019
User-friendly software underpinned by prompt, professional support
Our overall experience has been positive. Thus far, we have not encountered any problems.
Pros
1.The software is easier to use than it even appears.
This makes it simpler for non-finance people who may find themselves required to attend to such matters e.g. Start-ups, local SME's and EME's etc.
2. The support team are atypically, prompt and efficient. In our experience with online support from other service providers, there is more often than not a delay in responding, be it short or long. In some instances, the support staff have not had the expertise to offer guidance or solve elementary problems. The ZipBooks team is impressively swift and knowledgeable.
Cons
Initially, it appeared that functions such as customer month end statements and a few others could not be generated.
After one or two chats with online support and the discovery of the numerous, yet concise, online documents, I realised that such functions are, indeed, included.
Not only that, but also that the majority of questions are very likely covered and one can solve one's own queries if one looks for the relevant document.
Perhaps it would be useful to users if this was highlighted or flagged and doing so may reduce the enquiries that your online support team have to attend to.
Response from ZipBooks
Thanks so much--happy to help!
Replied 06/09/2019
