As an Indian small business owner, you're likely here because the sheer number of accounting software options overwhelms you.
You’ve come across many enterprise-level solutions but don’t want them yet. Instead, you want options that can scale as your business does. Ideally, you’re searching for easy-to-use, free, or low-cost accounting software that can handle goods and services tax (GST) invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt scanning. Besides crucial accounting tasks, the software should also analyze financial information for decision-making.
If Zoho Books, TallyPrime, and Vyapar — three popular accounting software for Indian small businesses — are on your radar, this article will help you compare their features and pricing.
G2’s Small-Business India Regional Grid® Report for Accounting
Zoho Books makes account management for small businesses less painful with automated workflows, tax-compliant financial reports, and role-based access. You can set automatic discounts for invoices above certain thresholds. The software also makes calculating GST reports a breeze. The best part is you can file GST returns straight from Zoho Books and stay stress-free during the tax season.
On top of that, the platform allows multi-user collaboration, which is handy if you're working with external tax consultants and auditors. Small business owners can receive online payments or set up recurring transactions through partnerships with payment gateways and banks like Standard Chartered, ICICI, and Yes Bank.
Zoho Books also makes financial reconciliation easier by matching imported account statements with transactions.
Source: Zoho Books
Handle small business accounting like a pro with the following Zoho Books features:
| Highest-rated features | Lowest-rated features |
| Dashboards | Workflow capability |
| Tags/dimensions | Payroll |
| File exports | Direct deposit |
Zoho Books offers five pricing plans. Small businesses with revenue under 25 lakhs per annum can use the product for free.
| Zoho Books plans | Pricing |
| Free | Free forever |
| Standard | ₹749 |
| Professional | ₹1,499 |
| Premium | ₹2,999 |
| Elite | ₹4,999 |
| Ultimate | ₹7,999 |
* All plans are per organization per month and billed annually.
“Zoho Books has all the features needed for small business bookkeeping. One can generate GST-compliant invoices and make automated journal entries when customers pay invoices. The bank statements are automatically synced with Zoho books, making it easier to manage the books.”
- Zoho Books Review, Suman B.
“Capturing depreciation of capital assets is a bit complex. One can only find how to capture it by Googling it. This recurrent feature needs to be integrated better into Zoho Books. Also, the depreciation must be linked to assets for posterity instead of just capturing the amount."
- Zoho Books Review, Mohit Y.
TallyPrime, also popularly known as Tally, suits small business owners looking to weed out accounting, inventory, banking, payroll, and statutory and compliance-related business complexities. This accounting software helps you file returns for multiple GSTINs and avoid accounting errors with automated GSTR 2A/2B reconciliation.
TallyPrime also makes it easier for you to manage e-invoices and e-way bills. You can also share payment links with customers, thanks to TallyPrime’s payment gateway integrations. Advanced reporting capabilities help you stay on top of inventory aging, movement, and reorder levels.
Source: Tally Solutions
The following TallyPrime features ease how small business owners manage accounting tasks.
| Highest-rated features | Lowest-rated features |
| File exports | Tags/dimensions |
| Cash flow tracking | Account receivable (AR) automation |
| Income and expenses | Inventory tracking/ordering |
TallyPrime offers four pricing plans. You can also try the product for free for a week.
| TallyPrime plans | Pricing |
| Silver Rental | ₹600 |
| Gold Rental | ₹1,800 |
| Silver | ₹18,000 |
| Gold | ₹54,000 |
* All plans except Silver and Gold are per organization per month and billed monthly or annually.
"TallyPrime offers speedy and accurate bookkeeping along with multi-functional facilities. It also offers an advanced feature of e-invoicing which wasn't available in Tally ERP 9. You can easily generate e-invoices, mandatory for organizations crossing the prescribed turnover limit, simply by entering your user id and password. TallyPrime provides more advanced accounting features than other software and is user-friendly accounting software."
- TallyPrime Review, Mahesh Babu S.
“Server connection issues are very common with TallyPrime. It takes multiple tries to get to a solution finally. Plus, online support is not up to the mark. In most cases, we have to depend on local support providers."
- TallyPrime Review, Shyam K.
Vyapar is a GST billing software with inventory, billing, and accounting capabilities. Small businesses and startups use Vyapar to create GST bills, send payment reminders, and spot slow-moving inventory items. You can easily create GSTR 1, GSTR 2, GSTR 3, GSTR 4, and GSTR 9 reports based on purchases, sales, and expenses.
Vyapar makes it easy for small businesses to accept payments via credit or debit cards, united payments interface (UPI), e-wallets, QR codes, bank account transfer, national electronic funds transfer (NEFT), and immediate payment service (IMPS). Plus, you can see critical updates like cash flow, open orders, inventory status, and payment updates from a single dashboard.
Vyapar is also available as an Android mobile app and safeguards your accounting data with automatic cloud or local backup options.
Source: Vyapar
The following features make it easy for small business owners to manage GST billing, invoicing, and accounting.
| Highest-rated features | Lowest-rated features |
| Income and expenses | AR automation |
| Cash flow tracking | Payroll |
| Output document generation | User, role, and access management |
Vyapar offers two pricing plans along with a lifetime free basic usage option.
| Vyapar plans | Pricing |
| Free | Free forever |
| Silver Plan | ₹2,799 |
| Gold Plan | ₹3,499 |
* All plans are per company per year and billed annually.
“This is a really good software for small business owners. It saves you time and makes the accounting process smoother. You can also install this app on your phone to create and send invoices and bills. The best part is that it tracks your bills and transactions and helps you manage inventory."
- Vyapar Review, Hritik W.
"App syncing isn’t proper. Sometimes, the app lags while entering the invoice number. Tried connecting with customer support, but they couldn’t provide any proper solution.”
- Vyapar Review, Aviral G.
If you're trying to pick between Vyapar, TallyPrime, or Zoho Books, there isn't a one-size-fits-all accounting solution because small businesses have different priorities and needs.
Here’s a quick comparison table that tells you everything there’s to know about these three accounting software solutions.
Zoho Books is known for being feature-rich and offering a free plan on top of everything. It features built-in automation to help small business owners automate tedious accounting tasks. Plus, the advanced financial reporting capabilities ease how you gain insights into core accounting areas and make informed decisions.
The only catch is that every plan limits the number of users you can invite. So, you’ll have to pay ₹150 per user a month for each extra team member. Still, Zoho Books is the first choice among small business owners looking for feature-packed accounting software without breaking the bank.
TallyPrime is quite popular among Indian businesses of all sizes. Besides offering an intuitive design, this accounting software provides different business reports so you can make the right business growth decisions. Plus, it keeps your financial data secure with an additional encryption layer, TallyVault.
While it takes longer for non-accountants to learn Tally, and there's no free forever option, it's still the top pick for GST-compliant accounting software.
Vyapar is a cost-effective and GST-compatible accounting solution. Its user-friendly interface and business dashboard make it easy to visualize cash flow, inventory, and orders. Also, it generates more than 35 business reports for informed decision-making. Business owners can also use Vyapar to set up online stores with products and service catalogs. Vyapar is ideal for small businesses searching for low-cost, easy-to-use accounting solutions with inventory management capabilities.
It’s highly recommended to assess each solution’s pros and cons along with factors like budget, industry, ease of use, and other business needs. Also, consider signing up for free trials, plans, or product demos before purchasing.
Are you still comparing Tally vs. Vyapar and Zoho Books vs. Tally? Check out the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
A. While all three are user-friendly platforms, Vyapar is popular among small businesses because of its modern and visually appealing interface. There’s little to no learning curve for users planning to use Vyapar for the first time.
A. Both Zoho and Tally are great options for startups, small companies, and small and medium businesses (SMBs). However, Zoho Books is comparatively better regarding user interface, learning curve, integrations, and pricing. Besides being feature-rich and offering a simple layout, Zoho Books seamlessly integrates with other software solutions. Plus, you can access Zoho Books on the go without paying a hefty price.
A. Vyapar and Tally offer GST-compliant accounting solutions. Vyapar is cloud-hosted and offers annual pricing plans. TallyPrime stores data locally and offers perpetual licenses as well as monthly plans. Vyapar might be the way to go if you're a small business owner handling accounts on your own since it's user-friendly and affordable.
A. TallyPrime is a popular accounting and business management software with multiple capabilities. Some of the advantages of using TallyPrime are:
A. TallyPrime is an excellent choice for small businesses looking to manage accounting tasks, as long as they don’t mind the learning curve. On the other hand, Zoho Books is perfect for companies that need feature-packed, cloud-based, cost-efficient accounting solutions. Vyapar app suits freelancers and small business owners who want to start using it immediately without spending too much time learning it.
Looking to save money on software subscription costs? Optimize your company's software spend today with G2 Deals.
This article was originally published in 2023. The content has been updated with new information.
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