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ZipBooks vs Manager

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Our analysts compared ZipBooks vs Manager based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Accounting Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Overview Pricing Benefits & Features Analyst Ratings Comparison Charts User Ratings Analyst Summary Screenshots
ZipBooks Software Tool
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Manager Software Tool
SelectHub Award Winner
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Product Basics

Analyst Rating

we're gathering data
Detailed Analysis

User Sentiment

Excellent User Sentiment (300 Reviews)

Analyst Rating

69 Detailed Analysis

User Sentiment

Excellent User Sentiment (81 Reviews)
ZipBooks is a cloud-based accounting and invoicing platform designed for entrepreneurs and small businesses. It works independently or with certified accountants who will prepare monthly financial statements for a user's business.

It's also available as an iOS app with credit card processing, chart of accounts, business listings, machine learning, time tracking, team management and other capabilities that are specifically designed for the app.
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Manager, a cloud-based accounting software, streamlines financial tasks for small and medium-sized businesses. Its intuitive interface simplifies bookkeeping, from recording transactions and managing accounts payable/receivable to generating reports and filing taxes. Geared towards entrepreneurs and accountants, Manager empowers users with control and flexibility. Key benefits include automated data entry, real-time financial insights, and robust inventory management. Popular features like bank reconciliation and custom reports enhance efficiency and decision-making. Compared to similar products, Manager boasts user-friendliness, affordability (starting at around $15 per month per user), and a supportive online community. While it may lack advanced features of enterprise-level software, Manager excels as a user-centric accounting solution for growing businesses.

Pros:
  • Easy to use
  • Affordable
  • Real-time insights
  • Mobile access
  • Active community
 Cons:
  • Limited reports
  • No payroll integration
  • Basic inventory management
  • Learning curve for taxes
  • Limited customer support
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$15 Monthly, Freemium
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$15/User, Monthly, Freemium
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Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
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Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • User-Friendly Interface: Users don't require a master's degree in accounting to operate ZipBooks because its features and interface are intuitive, making it easy to use no matter the level of experience.  
  • Affordable: ZipBooks offers four payment options with distinct features such as free, smarter, sophisticated and the accountant plan offers adjustable pricing. This makes it a viable option for anyone with a small budget, such as small businesses or freelancers trying to get their careers off the ground. 
  • Knowledgeable Experts: ZipBooks' certified bookkeepers can provide users with financial advice and recommendations when assisting with accounting practices. 
  • Record and Document Tasks: Keeping track of every task, project and file can be cumbersome. Thanks to ZipBooks, users can create and allocate responsibilities to specific projects so everything is chronicled and accessible in one place.  
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  • Effortless Bookkeeping: Streamline daily tasks with intuitive data entry, automated calculations, and pre-defined accounts, freeing up time for strategic planning and growth.
  • Financial Clarity at Your Fingertips: Gain instant insights into your business performance with real-time reports and dashboards, allowing you to make informed decisions based on accurate data.
  • Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity: Automate repetitive tasks like invoicing, bank reconciliation, and expense tracking, boosting team productivity and minimizing errors.
  • Scalability for Growth: Manage your finances with ease as your business expands, accommodating multiple users, currencies, and locations with flexible configurations.
  • Cost-Effective Solution: Access powerful accounting tools at an affordable price point, making Manager a budget-friendly option for small and medium-sized businesses.
  • Control and Customization: Tailor the software to your specific needs with customizable accounts, reports, and workflows, ensuring your financial data is organized and accessible.
  • Mobile Access on the Go: Manage your finances from anywhere with secure mobile access, allowing you to review reports, approve invoices, and stay connected on the move.
  • Collaborative Environment: Share financial data and collaborate with colleagues in real-time, enhancing communication and transparency within your organization.
  • Secure and Reliable: Protect your financial information with industry-standard security measures and cloud-based data storage, ensuring peace of mind and data integrity.
  • Supportive Community: Leverage the knowledge and expertise of a thriving online community, finding answers, tips, and support from fellow Manager users.
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  • Accountant Access: Users can easily share information with accountants and financial experts with ZipBooks' accounting accessory. This tool enables users to effortlessly track routine transactions and extend completely accurate data for filing taxes, preparing financial reports and asking for sound financial advice to their accountants. The accounts receivable feature enables users to monitor invoices and payments so the money they make and amounts they owe will promptly update in their accounts receivable reports. Users can also review what their clients have already paid, outstanding amounts and the normal amount of time it takes them to pay. Transactions made outside of ZipBooks can be added manually for full accuracy. 
  • Oversee Accounts Receivable: The accounts receivable tool enables users to review their accounts receivable history while also providing smart insights on which particular accounts are paying in a rational timeline. This module also extends an elaborate list of customers who make late payments so users can establish more payment reminders. Users can also create a snapshot of general payment trends in a given year for proper budgeting.  
  • Perform Accurate Bank Reconciliations: Users can employ the bank reconciliation extension in the accounting tool to automatically transfer transaction information into their ZipBooks account so they can always see the most current account balance. This function also allows users to sort and study transactions by placing a checkmark on each transaction that appears on users' bank statements. ZipBooks will even monitor transactions that aren't verified so users will always stay in the know about their finances. Other extensions included within the accounting tool include bank connecting, auto-categorization, chart of accounts, project accounting and tagging. This tool is also supplied with several reports such as aging, balance sheet, general ledger, income statement, taxes invoiced and trial balance. 
  • Regulate Billing Processes: ZipBooks' billing management accessory allows users to choose regular or subscription-based invoicing for constant billing to fit their needs. Users can personalize their invoices with logos, particular colors and contact information. This tool can also trace customer payments, invoice history, overdue balances and collected taxes and alert users when an invoice has been paid. The credit card processing extension enables users to accept payments from every major credit company from approximately 22 various countries. Users can also take digital payments from Square and PayPal.  
  • Initiate Concurrent Bills: Thanks to the recurring billing function, users can set up future payments and never worry about them getting to the right customer again. There are dynamic features users can adjust to instantly autofill invoices with precise customer information. This function can immediately bill customer credit cards on a monthly basis and securely store credit card information. Other functions that come with the billing module include estimates, invoices, customer management, mobile access, multi-currency, reminders, saved items, team management and time tracking.  
  • Machine Learning Insights: ZipBooks' machine learning function of the intelligence module is similar to adding a supercomputer to a user's team because it blends work with research to immediately pick a category for each transaction. The more users work with the machine learning tool, the more it can learn about the way they chronicle and sort their transactions until it can auto-categorize. If there's a classifying error, users can make the correction and the extension will learn from its mistakes. The machine learning function will also categorize every bank transaction that a user imports and provide a confidence score based on their accounting knowledge and history.  
  • Thorough Business Wellness Check: Users can implement the business health score extension to check and finetune the health of their business that will aid in making better business decisions. This function can search for concurrent clients, punctual payments, sales growth and repeating revenue. Other helpful functions within the intelligence accessory include invoice quality score, recommendations and smart search.  
  • Manage Billable Expenses: To get reimbursed for expenses users' business accrue for customers such as paint supplies needed to paint a house or parts to fix a car, users can develop a transaction, mark it as billable and add the name of the client to be billed with the billable expenses function in the expense management tool. The expense will be added to the customer's invoice. The vendor management extension enables users to view expense histories, keep vendor contact information updated, and review payments owed. When users attach a bill or expense to a vendor's name, ZipBooks will instantly pinpoint general contacts as vendors. If users no longer use someone as a vendor but want to keep their contact information handy, they can easily change the name back to contact. Other functions included in the expense management module include receipt saving and split categories. 
  • Deliver Review Invitations: ZipBooks' growth accessory's reviews extension enables users to automatically or manually send invitations via email or text message to clients to review their business online. Users can employ ZipBooks' widget component to share customer reviews onto their website. This extension also allows users to reply to customer reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp and other platforms. 
  • Locate and Manage Search Ranks: The ranking function in the growth module permits users to see where their business ranks in search results based on specific keywords customers may use when searching for a business, service or product on maps, computers or mobile search apps. Users can accordingly add keywords for more insight and install parameters to identify searches within particular target areas. This function also allows users to track the progress of their rankings such as rising, falling or consistencies. Other extensions within the growth accessory include widgets and business listings.  
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  • Remittance Advice: Simplify the record-keeping process by informing suppliers or vendors of completed payment including, the purpose, type, invoice number and invoice date. 
  • Fixed Asset Management: Store all asset-related data and make it easy to find the specific data in a hurry. Simplify the audit and reporting process with centralized asset information. 
  • Bank Reconciliation: Prevent theft, keep mistakes at bay and identify accounting errors with bank reconciliations. Know which cash transactions cleared and which are outstanding. Check the validity of bank charges from the by account. Identify the fraudulent use of money, prevent additional charges and give the bank the time to restore the account in case of theft. 
  • Recurring Billing: Minimize the possibility of missed payments or plate payments with recurring billing. Bring greater stability to the business with revenue predictability. Ensure customer data is compliant to PCI standards. Boost flexibility, increase customer retention by making it easy for subscribers to change plans. 
  • Multi-Currency: Spend less time making accounting adjustments due to exchange rate differences. Keep money in multiple currencies in one account. Manage foreign exchanges with reduced transaction cost with convenience and simplicity. 
  • Profit And Loss Statements: Track expenses, profit and loss, revenue with detailed profit and loss statements. Present data in a digestible format and easily sort through stored data. 
  • Cash Management: Minimize excessive spending and use income efficiently. Keep a tab on how revenue is used, manage cash collections and plan expenditures. 
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Product Ranking

#33

among all
Accounting Software

#322

among all
Accounting Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Banking And Cash Management Budget And Expense Management Financial Statements And Revenue Management General Ledger And Chart Of Accounts Integration And Extensibility Inventory Management Journal Entries Mobile Support Multi-company Accounting And Asset Management Platform Capabilities Project Accounting Reporting And Analytics Tax Management 93 97 94 69 86 71 15 73 73 20 60 100 54 62 100 0 25 50 75 100
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 300 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 81 reviews
92%
of users recommend this product

ZipBooks has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 300 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

94%
of users recommend this product

Manager has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 94% when considering 81 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

5.0 (15)
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4.8 (78)
4.1 (12)
4.5 (93)
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4.5 (99)
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Awards

ZipBooks stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated Manager and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Platform Capabilities. Manager stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award
Platform Capabilities Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Free Plan: ZipBooks offers a free plan that includes unlimited invoices, the ability to accept digital payments, and basic reporting features, making it a cost-effective solution for freelancers and small businesses with basic accounting needs.
User-Friendly Interface: The platform is known for its intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface, allowing users to quickly create professional invoices, track expenses, and manage their finances without extensive accounting knowledge.
Time Tracking: ZipBooks includes time-tracking tools that enable users to accurately record billable hours for projects and clients, simplifying the process of generating invoices based on actual time spent.
Integrations: ZipBooks integrates with popular payment gateways like PayPal and Square, as well as other business tools such as Slack and Google Calendar, streamlining workflows and reducing manual data entry.
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Completely Free: Offers a fully-featured desktop version with no limitations, costs, or ads.
User-Friendly Interface: Intuitive design makes it easy to navigate and manage finances, even for those without accounting experience.
Flexible Chart of Accounts: Customize account structure to match specific business needs, ensuring accurate tracking and reporting.
Comprehensive Reports: Generate a wide range of financial reports, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and more, providing valuable insights.
Offline Functionality: Access and work on accounts even without internet connectivity, ensuring productivity regardless of location.
Cross-Platform Compatibility: Works seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing flexibility for different operating systems.
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Limited Integrations: ZipBooks may not integrate with all the applications a business uses, potentially leading to manual data entry and reduced efficiency.
Scalability Concerns: Some users have expressed concerns about ZipBooks' ability to handle the needs of larger businesses or those with more complex accounting requirements as they grow.
Customer Support: While ZipBooks offers support, some users have reported challenges in obtaining timely or comprehensive assistance for their inquiries.
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Limited Customization Options: Some users find certain features or reports cannot be tailored as extensively as desired, potentially hindering specific workflows.
No Dedicated Mobile App: Lacks a native mobile app, limiting on-the-go access and requiring web browser usage for cloud-based access, which may not be ideal for all users.
Basic Payroll Features: Handles essential payroll tasks but may not suffice for businesses with complex tax regulations or extensive payroll needs, potentially requiring integration with other software.
Potential Feature Lag: Some users report a delay in the implementation of highly requested features, which could impact those seeking the latest functionalities.
Cloud Version Cost: While the desktop version is free, the cloud-based version incurs a subscription fee, which may deter those seeking entirely free cloud-based accounting solutions.
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ZipBooks: Accounting made easy. ZipBooks is a cloud-based accounting software that helps small businesses manage their finances, but how does it stack up against the competition? Users appreciate its ease of use and affordability, making it a great choice for those who are new to accounting software or have a limited budget. The platform offers features like invoicing, expense tracking, and basic reporting, which are essential for many small businesses. However, some users have noted that ZipBooks lacks more advanced features found in other accounting software, such as inventory management and in-depth financial reporting. Additionally, customer support has received mixed reviews, with some users finding it helpful while others have experienced challenges. One of ZipBooks' unique features is its integration with popular business apps like QuickBooks, Google Drive, and Salesforce, allowing for seamless data transfer and increased efficiency. The software also includes project management tools, which can be beneficial for businesses that need to track time and tasks. ZipBooks offers a free starter plan, making it an attractive option for budget-conscious businesses. Paid plans provide additional features, such as payroll integration and reputation management. Overall, ZipBooks is a solid choice for freelancers and small businesses that prioritize ease of use and affordability. However, businesses with more complex accounting needs or those requiring extensive customer support may want to explore other options like QuickBooks Online or Xero.

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Manager's user reviews in the past year paint a contrasting picture. Fans adore its free, full-featured desktop version, praising its "intuitive design" and "flexible chart of accounts" that cater to specific business needs. "Manager beats anything else free by a mile," exclaims one user, highlighting its "comprehensive reports" and "offline functionality" as major wins over cloud-based competitors. Another reviewer applauds its "cross-platform compatibility," appreciating seamless usage across Windows, macOS, and Linux.** However, some users yearn for more in-depth customization. "Limited options for tweaking reports" and "basic payroll features" leave them wanting, especially compared to paid software like QuickBooks. The lack of a native mobile app also disrupts their workflow, making on-the-go access cumbersome. And while the cloud version offers more features, its subscription fee stings some users who enjoyed the desktop's "completely free" model. Ultimately, Manager seems to shine for solopreneurs and small businesses seeking a functional, free accounting solution. Its strengths lie in user-friendliness, flexibility, and offline accessibility. However, those with complex needs or seeking advanced features might find its limitations outweigh its free price tag.

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Screenshots

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