Question 1

Why switch from Zoho Books India to HelloBooks?

Accepted Answer

Three differences matter most to small Indian businesses. 1) The free plan: Zoho Books Free is only for businesses with revenue up to ₹25 lakh a financial year and stops at 1,000 invoices a year; HelloBooks Free has no turnover or invoice cap and files GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for one GSTIN at ₹0. 2) Per-user pricing: Zoho's Standard plan includes 3 users and charges ₹180 a user a month, or ₹150 billed annually for each user beyond a tier's allowance; HelloBooks Pro at ₹499/month has unlimited users. 3) AI: Zoho lists Zia insights from Premium (₹3,599/month, or ₹2,999 billed annually); HelloBooks includes AI categorisation on every plan, Free included.

Question 2

Does Zoho Books Free file GST returns too?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Zoho Books Free includes GST filing and e-way bills, so both free plans file returns. The difference is the ceiling: Zoho Books Free is for revenue up to ₹25 lakh a financial year, with up to 1,000 invoices a year and 1,000 bills or expenses a year. HelloBooks Free has no turnover or invoice cap. E-invoicing and e-way bill volume are on HelloBooks' paid plans.

Question 3

Zoho's ecosystem is a strength — what do I lose?

Accepted Answer

Zoho One bundle (CRM + Inventory + Books + 40 other apps) at ₹4,200/user/month is genuine value if you use the whole suite. HelloBooks integrates with HelloGrowth (CRM) and HelloTime (Time & Payroll) — the Meru Fin Tech suite. If you're a single-product Zoho Books user, you lose nothing. If you use Zoho One heavily, the trade is whether the HelloBooks suite covers the same surface (mostly yes for SMB; enterprise-side gaps).

Question 4

Does Zoho Books automatically detect the GST-TDS (Section 51) ₹2.5 lakh threshold?

Accepted Answer

No. Both tools support GST-TDS and GSTR-7, but in Zoho Books it is a manual workflow — per Zoho's own help docs, users bear full responsibility for determining when the ₹2.5 lakh single-contract threshold is met, then selecting the GST-TDS tax on each bill themselves. HelloBooks watches the cumulative contract value automatically and, the moment a contract crosses ₹2.5 lakh, surfaces an inline prompt at bill entry to deduct 2% GST-TDS (1% CGST + 1% SGST intra-state, or 2% IGST inter-state) with one-click apply — running in parallel with Income-Tax TDS threshold prompts, so a crossed contract can't slip through to a short deposit or a GSTR-7 mismatch.

Question 5

Does Zoho Books track the Section 194Q ₹50 lakh per-vendor TDS threshold?

Accepted Answer

Zoho Books provides section-wise TDS reports, but it does not maintain a running per-vendor purchase aggregate that watches the ₹50 lakh Section 194Q floor and alerts you as you approach it. In HelloBooks, the 194Q aggregate dashboard shows each vendor's cumulative FY purchases, how close they are to the ₹50L threshold, and automatically applies 0.1% TDS on the bill that crosses it — so you're never exposed to missed deductions or 194Q non-compliance.

Question 6

What is a Section 197 Lower-Deduction Certificate and does Zoho Books handle it?

Accepted Answer

A Section 197 LDC is an Income Tax department-issued certificate that authorises a buyer to deduct TDS at a reduced or nil rate for a specific vendor, section, and validity period — instead of the standard rate. In Zoho Books you can manually override the TDS rate at bill level, but there is no LDC registry: you have to remember to override every bill, and nothing reverts automatically when the certificate expires. In HelloBooks you register the certificate once (vendor, TDS section, override rate, valid-from/to) and the system applies the reduced rate on every applicable bill without any manual action. When the certificate expires, HelloBooks falls back to the standard rate automatically.

Question 7

How does the Zoho Books India migration work?

Accepted Answer

Export from Zoho Books (Settings → Export → Backup) — runs ZIP bundles per data type. Upload to HelloBooks migration tool, the chart-of-accounts mapping is mostly 1:1 with Zoho's structure. Customers, vendors, items with HSN/SAC codes, opening balances, and transactions come across with GST codes intact. Typical mid-sized business: 2-4 hours. Multi-year ledgers with 100k+ transactions run in a couple of hours.

Question 8

Is the pricing comparison still accurate?

Accepted Answer

Zoho Books India prices, users and free-plan limits on this page were re-checked on 28 September 2026 against Zoho's pricing page and plan comparison (linked below). Zoho's prices exclude GST, and so do HelloBooks' India prices. Zoho revises its India pricing from time to time, so check the source before you decide.

Free plan	HelloBooks Free	Zoho Books Free
Price	₹0, no card, no expiry	₹0
Who can stay on it	Any business: no turnover cap	Revenue up to ₹25 lakh a financial year
Invoices	Unlimited	Up to 1,000 invoices a year
Bills	Unlimited	Up to 1,000 bills or expenses a year
Users	2 users, 1 GSTIN	1 user + 1 accountant
GST return filing	GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, unlimited, for one GSTIN	GST filing included
E-invoicing	Not in Free (Pro, ₹499/month)	Not in Free (Standard and above)
E-way bills	Not in Free	Included

Feature	HelloBooks	Zoho Books India
Pricing (monthly)	Free Plan at ₹0; Pro ₹499/mo with unlimited users, plus GST	Standard ₹899 (3 users); Professional ₹1,799 (5); Premium ₹3,599 (10); Elite ₹5,999 (15); Ultimate ₹9,599 (25) — plus GST; about 17% less billed annually
Extra users	Unlimited on Pro — no per-seat charge	₹180 a user a month, or ₹150 billed annually beyond the users included in each tier
Invoice limits	Unlimited on every plan, including Free	Capped per year on all six tiers — 1,000 on Free through 1,00,000 on Ultimate
AI on every plan	AI categorisation on every plan, Free included (free AI credits; upgrade for more)	Zia insights on Premium (₹3,599/month, or ₹2,999 billed annually) and above
GSTR-2B / 2A reconciliation	Automated 2B/2A match; ITC flagging built-in	Available — well implemented
E-invoicing (IRP)	On Pro: IRN + QR auto-generated, fed back to GSTR-1	Available on Standard and above
E-way bills	On paid plans: invoice → e-invoice IRN → e-way bill in one chain, no re-entry	Available on every plan, Free included
GST-TDS (Sec 51) ₹2.5L threshold auto-prompt	Auto-detects when a contract crosses ₹2.5L and prompts 2% GST-TDS at bill entry — one-click apply, flows into GSTR-7 Table 3	GST-TDS supported, but fully manual — you track the ₹2.5L threshold and pick the tax yourself; no auto-detect or prompt
TDS §194Q ₹50L per-vendor tracker	Cumulative purchase aggregate per vendor with proximity alert as you near ₹50L — 0.1% TDS kicks in automatically on the crossing bill	TDS section reports available; no dedicated per-vendor 194Q running-total or threshold alert built in
§197 Lower-Deduction Certificate (LDC) auto-apply	Register LDC (vendor, section, rate, validity) once — HelloBooks applies the reduced/nil rate on every applicable bill automatically, no manual override each time	TDS rate can be overridden at bill level; no LDC registry with auto-expiry-based revert
TCS §206C(1H) line on buyer's invoice PDF	Invoice PDF prints the exact section + rate (e.g. "TCS 206C(1H) @ 0.1%") with a withholding-net total — the buyer gets a clean source document to claim the TCS credit in their 26AS	TCS supported in the ledger and TCS returns; HelloBooks additionally surfaces the labelled section + rate line directly on the buyer's invoice PDF
Multi-GSTIN single workspace	Unlimited GSTINs included on Pro	Multi-branch on Premium ₹2,999+; multi-org organization-by-organization
Razorpay / Cashfree	Native integrations + fee reconciliation	Yes — included
CA practice tier	Per-client pricing, batch close, unlimited firm staff	Zoho Practice — separate product, different pricing

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