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.

Not perfect, but constantly improving and Customer Support is the best with super fast replys!

Pros

I run a photography+subcontractor business. I've been with Zipbooks since before they started charging a fee (switched from freshbooks) and let me tell you, there were definitely some major growing pains. The good new is that they listened to the customers and would always solve problems quickly.
The gap between Zipbooks and Quickbooks/Freshbooks/etc.. used to be cavernous, but that gap is almost unnoticeable now. The interface is ridiculously easy to understand and flows really well. It's the best user interface experience I've had for accounting software.
Costumer service has been nothing short of impressive. I'm an accounting/bookkeeping newb and the customer support has basically trained me how to do my own accounting. They have this great chat button that's always in the bottom right corner so you can easily ask questions and get answers like if you were chatting with a friend on facebook messenger.
The company has a long way to go to being the best, but they certainly have the chops for it! I would high

Cons

The fact that I can't mark an invoice as paid from the list view. I don't like the extra step of clicking through to the individual invoice. But, it's a minor inconvenience.

Simple bookkeeping for businesses

I've been using this for about the last year and started when it was free to use. For what it was then and for as simple as it is, it serves my needs at the moment but it's a little difficult to use with my workflow so I feel like I'll probably outgrow it at some point. I do primarily project based work, tracking time and billing hourly. I don't sell anything through an inventory but will add expenses to an invoice. This software works great for that though it would probably work for something with a light inventory or commonly used services as well. Overall, it's a good value and worth testing out but it may not work as well for every business model.

Pros

Add expenses, track time, create projects, create tasks within projects, print out accounting reports, send invoices and receive payments in app, recurring invoicing available, ability to set up reminders automatically

Cons

Visually clean but not as streamlined to use. Projects can't be created on the fly in the time tracking app, but have to be created ahead of time. Still quick to do but it's an extra step. Same for tasks within projects. They must be created ahead of time too, though each project automatically creates a General task. Invoice design is simple and clean but there's not much that can be customized beyond the logo.

I love ZipBooks! Easy to use, beautiful invoices, and a solid time tracker

Saved time, beautiful invoices, reliable and integrated time tracker

Pros

I love the fact that I can set up and send an invoice in a few minutes, pulling in existing products and services (complete with description). The addition of a time tracker was unexpected and very appreciated! I use it to keep track of the hours spent on certain projects with those clients that prefer hourly payment over per-project pricing. ZipBooks also allows for past hours tracked that are unpaid to be automagically pulled into a new or an existing invoice, making it super simple to make sure everything is included in an invoice before sendoff. The invoices are simple, clean, beautiful and there is an "include PDF" option when sending out the invoice to clients (for those that prefer to print out and save their invoices). The customer support is phenomenal -- the support staff is friendly and helpful.

Cons

It's still a relatively new software, and I was one of the early adopters, so there were a few minor bugs and quirks in the past. The good thing is, most of the bugs are squashed, and the roadmap for the future of the app looks very bright!

A great invoicing and accounting solution for small agencies and freelancers

A highly functional and easy-to-use platform for client invoicing and accounting.

Pros

Zipbooks is a phenomenal tool for invoicing and billing clients. As a digital agency, our team does all of our estimating, invoicing, billing, time tracking and accounting through Zipbooks, and it's been a great experience. The platform has seen continuous improvement throughout 2017 and 2018, so I have a lot of confidence that we'll continue to run our business through Zipbooks.

Cons

The slick interface comes to be a burden when reconciling transactions - if you're not an accountant by trade, it can be easy to make a mistake and have difficulty correcting it due to the streamlined presentation. After struggling with this, I've been able to refine my reporting process to work well with Zipbooks.

The project management tool/time tracking was a bit weak but it is getting better and I'm happy to see the service improve.

I would also like to see support for signing contracts/agreements for related invoices.

Great software with outstanding technical support

Pros

The software itself is fairly straightforward and easy to use, although for someone who doesn't know accounting that well it sometimes can be slightly confusing. What is really great though is that their support team is very knowledgeable and can not only help solve technical issues but can also help explain what their software means to you from an accounting standpoint.

Invoicing is simple and easy to use, integration to bank and credit card accounts continues to improve, and they continue to enhance the set of reports available to help you understand how your business is doing.

Cons

It's fairly minor stuff - the graph on the main page of the application assumes you are using accrual basis accounting, and that ends up misrepresenting the numbers you see if you are using cash basis accounting. I also don't like that I can define that my business uses cash basis but the reports always default to accrual.

It would be nice to understand how the business health score is calculated, as mine continues to decrease despite the fact that I thought my business was continuing to improve.

Great app for small business and freelancers accounting and bookkeeping

Pros

I have been using Zipbooks since last year and I have enjoyed the ease of use. They clean interface is very appealing. Have basic project management with tasks. My most used feature is invoicing which takes away my need to send invoices via email. Expense tracking is also on point.

So far I'm using Zipbooks as my default bookkeeping software. They were kind enough to extend a forever plan being an early adopter.

Support team is very responsive.

Cons

Project management is very basic.

I had to do a lot of manual work merging repeating transactions when I connected PayPal account and bank account since PayPal was pulling money from the bank. It would be nice to have a system that detects duplicate transactions.

Changing a transaction that is attached to a paid invoice turned the invoice to draft even if the invoice was marked as paid.

Simply Amazing

ZipBooks is the perfect bookkeeping solution for my small business! It allows me to add client details, business expenses and payments received from clients. There is also a great quotation feature built into the app that includes project management and time tracking. Generating an invoice from an existing project or quote only takes a click of a button (how awesome is this?!) and manual invoices can be added too. My favorite feature is the recurring invoices which get sent automatically and even allows me to set payment reminders for those that have not been marked as paid. Believe it or not, these reminders do work! ZipBooks also has great reporting features which shows you your total revenue for the past 12 months, an expense report, income per client, outstanding payments, tax and more. Oh, I forgot to mention, all of this is free! You can also accept payments via the internet but this isn't supported in my country yet. ZipBooks saves me loads hours every month and lots of paper (everything is backed up securely in the cloud), the app and its development/support team definitely add value to my life. Oh yeah, there's also an iPhone app for when I'm on the move or need to generate a quote for a client immediately :-) If you're looking for great bookkeeping software, this is it.

Pros

Recurring invoices, payment reminders, great support, iPhone app, quotation system, easy to use report features, integration with Slack.

Cons

Can only accept internet payments with American banks.

Clean, powerful bookkeeping software

ZipBooks is perfect for my small business, though they have options for expansion (payroll, etc.) I have had no major complaints so far and I think the platform is a great option if you're new to bookkeeping or experienced and want an alternative to some of the other major competitors.

Pros

ZipBooks has a very clean interface. All the data is so clear. It's a fast platform and it's easy to navigate. All the backend is there too if you're an experienced bookkeeper looking for flexibility.

Cons

The mobile app has a few bugs that are very obvious. Incorrect account balances and poor sorting of time tracking 'jobs.' Some of these bugs have been ongoing since I signed up, and a few have been fixed. I hope they keep improving the app.

Zipbooks for personal/business accounting

I have used many other book keeping softwares during the past 5-6 years for my personal / business use. But Zip books is the easiest tool among all those solutions. Ease of use, Features, Mobile app view are some of the features that i like the most

Pros

Time Tracking and generate invoices for those times for a particulate project is once of the greatest feature that zip books has. Other than that it would be very cost efficient and also very easy for a business to use this solution for there book keeping. Support team is really quick and helpful on the support queries.

This is a all in one solution where you can handle accounts for multiple businesses easily.

Cons

Amount of restrictions that applied during the free tire is higher in count when this is compared with other solutions.

Exceptional value to this cloud-based accounting software. Compared to many other popular solutions

Saved on monthly unnecessary accounting fees using this service and the software fit my small business without having to worry about getting stuck with bells and whistles I didn't need.

Pros

Easy to use, Great Customer Service, Available when you need it, Accounting made easy and management of clients is great. Invoicing is a breeze, even on the fly. Swayed from Wave Accounting for Zipbooks time keeping feature and decided against Quickbooks because of its pricing structure.

Cons

Managing transactions is automated with your linked bank account. But, entering transactions manually is tricky. The user must keep a close eye on transactions so the software reconciles accurately. But, this could be relevant to any accounting software...

A wonderful tool. Very intuitive and simple design.

It helps me prep for tax season throughout the year, rather than doing everything right before the deadline. Also, the invoicing is embedded in the software so there is no more cross referencing pdf invoices with bank statements for payout amounts.

Pros

The simple design is the most attractive part of this software to me. So many other accounting programs are not very streamlined and simple, but Zipbooks has been very easy to use, inexpensive and the customer service is very helpful and timely.

Cons

Because I have an untraditional business model without regular payments, the business score and analytics about business health are not very helpful and actually make me feel like my business isn't as strong as it actually is. I'd prefer to turn them off if I could! But that's a very small con. I also wish I could export a list of individual expenses with their category listed but screenshots will do for now!

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.

I have utilized the on-line customer support as I am not a trained bookkeeper.

The ease of invoices being able to be tracked and simple so all can understand it.

Pros

For this software things I like and appreciate the best is the customer support. I have needed on-line chat several times and they always answer, but goes a step farther in teaching me what I need to know to prevent this mistake from happening again and repeating. I also like how easy it is create an invoice.

Cons

The cons for me or a limited amount reports, lack of export options, and the large difference in categories.

Zipbooks makes it easy for me to manage accounting for my consulting business.

Pros

The user interface is intuitive and easy! I like that I don't have to be an accounting pro to get set up and start invoicing clients. My clients love how easy it is to pay me. They click a couple of buttons and they are done, which means faster payments and more efficient accounting for me!

Cons

Because I don't understand accounting, I had some trouble reconciling some of the charges/credits and couldn't "undo" what I'd done very easily. It's not the most forgiving, however, their customer service was top notch in helping me solve the issue for no additional charges. I thought I'd have to hire someone to fix it, and they gave me free advice to help me fix it myself.

Simple, Neat and easy to use! Perfect for a small business

It took me all of 5 minutes to figure everything out. At first I was a bit disappointed that the date format could not be set to South African standard, but when I noticed that the date very clearly appeared, printed in full on the finished documents that can get sent/printed out, I think its completely ok. I love that I could easily use my own logo. I love how everything automatically gets tracked. I love that its free! Its been really useful in my small and growing business, to keep track of all my income and expenses without me having to know much about accounting and without having to hire an accountant, on top of keeping all the receipts, written invoices and other transaction docs. It just simplifies life. I guess a complete accounting system is probably necessary when a business gets bigger, but for a small growing business and a newbie entrepreneur, who just needs a simple income statement, Zipbooks is the perfect tool to get one in the game, staying organized, tracking expenditure and income and having automated outputs that allow one to assess where to improve and streamline the business. The messaging system is pretty nice too. The response to queries from the Zipbooks team is quick and clear and quite personalized, which I'm very impressed by. Zipbooks is perfect.

ZipBooks provided simple software and it grew with me - from free to inexpensive.

I started with accounting but now I use it for invoicing and time tracking. I can share with other users as well. Reports are easy to see and simple to use.

Pros

You don't need to be certified to use it! Unlike other accounting options :). It was easy to use, the reports were great and it helped for invoicing, time tracking and accounting.

Cons

They are still growing their integrations to work with other software and solutions so you can't connect with very many apps outside paypal, stripe, and wepay.

Indispensable tool for managing the books of a small to medium business

At tax time, my job is significantly easier!

Pros

ZipBooks makes tax time easy - in the past I struggled to gather all the information needed to file taxes for our small business - after using ZipBooks for the last year, taxes are a breeze and I no longer dread the day(s) spent preparing my tax returns.

Cons

I wish there was a little more on the free tier - they do a lot to make you buy a subscription, which is an understandable business model, but sometimes I wish things like syncing a bank account more than once a day (especially if you have to change your password on the banking website) were included in the free tier.

Great Customer Service

For small business, it's perfect.

Pros

The software is user friendly. Easy to re-set up our company. Like the on-line look from the customer's point of view. It's easy to complete.

Cons

I do find it a bit frustrating that I cannot find out WHEN my deposits are estimated to hit my bank. It's either that it doesn't exist in the software, or that it's difficult, even for a daily user, to find it in the menu system.

Was GREAT, Recently VERY DISAPPOINTED

Easy to use, you just cant get your money

Pros

Easy to use, no frills, perfect for small business. Makes the daily chore of bookkeeping fairly easy.

Cons

CAN"T GET YOUR PAYMENTS!!! this is the second time that my payments are not posting to my account. Customer service is responsive, but point the finger at their processor. that does not get me paid. My customers orders have been delayed because of a ZIPBOOKS issue. I have been waiting for my payments to be released for now in 12 days. This is completely unacceptable. They used to be completely free now they want you to upgrade and pay a monthly fee to use the advanced services, but suddenly can't process payments in a timely manner, or in my case at all. Just something to think about before you start using this service. If you NEED to get paid, might want to find another service.