Headquarters
Chennai, IndiaFounded
2011CEO / Founder
Sridhar VembuEmployees
10000+Funding
BootstrappedProducts
1 product listedAvg. AI Score
8.0/10Website
www.zohobooks.comProfile updated
Zoho Books is a cloud accounting product from Zoho Corporation, launched in 2011 as part of Zoho's broader business software suite. Zoho was founded in 1996 in Chennai, India by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas.
Zoho Books serves more than one million small businesses in over 160 countries with multi-currency, VAT/GST, and payroll support. It integrates natively with Zoho CRM, Invoice, Inventory, and other Zoho apps.
Zoho Corporation is bootstrapped, profitable, and privately held. Sridhar Vembu stepped aside as CEO of Zoho Corp in January 2025 to focus on R&D; Mani Vembu is the current CEO of Zoho Corporation.
Dated, source-cited figures. Estimates are marked.
All products by Zoho Books reviewed by our AI panel of experts.
Six independent reviewer personalities assessed Zoho Books's product on their own terms. They landed within 0.5 points of each other, an unusually strong consensus.
Averaged across 1 reviewed product in our catalog. Scores are out of 10.
Who Zoho Books competes with, and how they differ.
QuickBooks Online dominates U.S. small-business accounting with the deepest third-party app ecosystem and accountant/bookkeeper network, but its per-feature add-on pricing runs higher than Zoho Books at comparable tiers.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewedXero offers unlimited users on every plan and native multi-currency support, making it the stronger pick for international or multi-partner businesses than Zoho Books' more region-locked country editions.
FreshBooks focuses narrowly on invoicing and time-tracking for freelancers and service businesses, trading Zoho Books' broader inventory and multi-entity accounting features for a simpler, invoicing-first workflow.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewedWave gives away core invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt scanning with no monthly subscription fee, undercutting Zoho Books on price for solopreneurs but lacking its inventory management and advanced reporting.
1 product reviewed on TopReviewedSage competes on long-standing brand trust with accountants and strong tax/compliance localization in the UK and Australia, at pricing broadly comparable to Zoho Books but with a thinner automation feature set.
Key milestones in Zoho Books's history, with sources.
30th anniversary: surpasses 1 million paying customers
Zoho Corporation marked its 30th anniversary, reporting more than 1 million paying customers and 150 million users worldwide across Zoho, ManageEngine, Qntrl, and TrainerCentral.
prezohoweb.zoho.comSridhar Vembu steps down as CEO; Shailesh Kumar Davey takes over
Co-founder Sridhar Vembu stepped down as Zoho Corporation's CEO to become chief scientist focused on R&D, handing the group CEO role to co-founder Shailesh Kumar Davey.
business-standard.comMerged with Gofrugal Technologies
Chennai-based retail ERP maker Gofrugal Technologies, founded by Sridhar Vembu's brother Kumar Vembu, merged into Zoho Corporation as a division, effective July 1, 2023.
gofrugal.comCrossed $1 billion in annual revenue
Zoho Corporation announced it had crossed $1 billion in annual revenue, achieved without ever raising outside venture funding.
prezohoweb.zoho.comZoho Workplace launched
Zoho Corporation introduced Zoho Workplace, combining its productivity, collaboration, and communication apps into a single unified suite.
en.wikipedia.orgZoho One launched
Zoho Corporation launched Zoho One, a bundle of 35+ integrated business applications for a flat $30 per employee per month, positioned as an operating system for running an entire business.
zoho.comZoho Books launched
Zoho Corporation launched Zoho Books, its online accounting product for small businesses, with cash flow statements, time tracking, and recurring expenses at launch.
zoho.comAdventNet renamed to Zoho Corporation
AdventNet, Inc. formally renamed itself Zoho Corporation as its SaaS business, by then over $100 million in revenue, overtook the original network-management product line.
en.wikipedia.orgZoho CRM launched
AdventNet launched Zoho CRM, the company's first major SaaS application outside network management; it grew to roughly 1 million users by 2008.
en.wikipedia.orgDot-com crash forces pivot to enterprise IT management
The 2001 dot-com crash cut AdventNet's customer base from roughly 150 to 3; rather than sell the company or lay off staff, Vembu used cash reserves to keep it running and pivoted into IT management software, later branded ManageEngine.
en.wikipedia.orgFounded as AdventNet, Inc.
Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas founded AdventNet, Inc. in New Jersey as a network-management software company; the business later became Zoho Corporation.
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