SaaS start-up Zoho launches new line of products focusing on accounting firms

Chennai based Indian SaaS company Zoho launched Zoho Practice, a free end-to-end practice management solution for chartered accountants (CAs) on Wednesday. The software aims to provide accountants a one-stop solution to streamline their firm's workflows, and seamlessly collaborate internally and with their clients.

Sivaramakrishnan Iswaran, Global Head at Zoho Finance and Operations Suite, said, "Over the last 15 years, we have gone from offering an invoicing solution to a suite of products, and now we have evolved into a comprehensive Finance Platform, powered by a strong ecosystem. As we have grown, working closely with various stakeholders, we have also broadened our understanding of the financial ecosystem.”

“This has enabled us to not just expand geographically, but also innovate and launch new solutions. Today, we have launched Zoho Practice to serve one of the most critical stakeholders in the financial ecosystem—the Chartered Accountants. Our aim is to help them increase productivity and achieve operational efficiency, so that they can focus on growing their firm," he added.

The company said, Zoho Practice is a one-stop solution for CAs, and comes with client management, document management, task management, timesheet, and billing capabilities. The application also offers a few industry-first capabilities, built from the ground up for distributed firms, like advanced collaboration through chat, voice or video call, and documents sharing. It also offers AI-driven anomaly detection to identify inconsistencies in transactions, so that the issue can be rectified quickly.

Moreover, the practice management solution comes pre-integrated with Zoho Books (accounting app), Zoho Expense (travel and expense management app), and Zoho Payroll (payroll management app), providing a comprehensive central repository while enabling seamless interoperability between an accountant's practice and their client’s finance and operations.

CA Sanjib Sanghi, Chairman EICASA and, Vice Chairman EIRC of ICAI said, "Today, CAs have to spend a lot of time providing important services like accounting, auditing, consulting and tax filing for clients. Additionally, they must also manage clients, track services they request, and have their related documents organised. Zoho Practice is a complete solution that consolidates all these important aspects, simplifying a CA firm’s day-to-day operations, equipping them with the insights needed to provide exemplary services, and helping them manage their team efficiently."