Tally vs Zoho Books: accounting software at 20 people

The honest answer to Tally vs Zoho Books is that both can keep the books of a 20-person Indian company well. Tally is the safe choice if your CA already works in it and you like owning a licence. Zoho Books is the easier choice if your team wants to work in a browser, from anywhere, with bank feeds and invoicing built in.

Who this is for: founders and finance leads at Indian companies of 10 to 50 people who have outgrown Excel and a CA's spreadsheet, or who are wondering whether to leave Tally.

Prices in this post were checked on the official sites on 20 October 2026. They all exclude 18% GST.

What changes at 20 people

At five people, almost anything works. Your CA keeps the books once a month, you send them the bank statement on WhatsApp, and nobody minds.

At 20 people, three things change.

1. There are more hands in the books. Someone raises invoices. Someone approves bills. Someone runs payroll. Your CA still files the returns. Each of them needs access, and you need to know who changed what.
2. Month-end gets longer. More vendors, more bank lines, more TDS. If the books close on the 25th of the next month, your numbers are always six weeks old.
3. Investors and lenders start asking. A board wants a monthly pack. A bank wants statements and ageing. Diligence wants a clean trial balance.

So the question isn't just "which software". It's "how will we keep the books every day, and who will do it". The answer to that usually picks the software for you.

TallyPrime: what it does well

Tally is the default for Indian accounting, and for good reason.

• Your CA knows it. Most Indian CAs and accountants have used Tally for years. Handing over a Tally file is normal, and there's no learning curve on their side.
• It's complete for Indian compliance. GST returns, TDS, inventory, multiple companies and branches. It has been built around Indian rules for a long time.
• One-time licence. You can buy it once and keep using it. Tally's pricing page says every plan comes with all features.
• Fast for heavy data entry. People who use it every day are very quick with the keyboard.

What to think about. Tally is installed software. If your team works from different places, you'll need to plan how they get to the same company file, often through a hosting partner. Bank statements usually come in as files rather than a live feed, and it's built for accountants more than for a founder who wants to glance at cash on their phone.

TallyPrime prices (October 2026)

Source: Tally's customer pricing page (opens in a new tab).

Zoho Books: what it does well

Zoho Books is cloud accounting from an Indian company, and it's popular with startups.

• Works in a browser and on phones. Everyone logs in to the same books from anywhere. Your CA gets their own login.
• Invoicing, bills and payments in one place. You can send invoices, take payments online, and record bills without a separate tool.
• Bank reconciliation built in. Listed on every plan, including the free one.
• GST filing and e-invoicing. GST reports and filing are on every plan. E-invoicing is listed from Standard upwards.
• Grows with you. Higher plans add payroll, budgets, fixed assets, cash-flow forecasting and inventory.

What to think about. Pricing is per organisation with a set number of users, and limits on invoices and bills each year. Some features you might want at 20 people, such as payroll and budgets, sit on the Premium plan. If your CA prefers Tally, check how they'll work with you before you switch.

Zoho Books prices (October 2026)

Extra users are ₹150 a month each on yearly billing. Payroll has a per-employee add-on (₹60 a month per employee on yearly billing) from Premium. Source: Zoho Books India pricing (opens in a new tab).

Other options worth a look

BUSY. Another long-standing Indian desktop package, popular with traders and distributors. On BUSY's pricing page, the Standard edition (billing, accounting and full GST) was ₹16,500 for a single-user lifetime licence, with a yearly renewal of ₹6,500 for updates and GST connectivity. A subscription version, BUSY Magic SMART, was ₹8,000 for 360 days. Good if you hold stock and want something lighter than Tally. Source: BUSY pricing (opens in a new tab).

Margin (ours). We built Margin for Indian startups that want the books kept close to daily rather than once a month. From what's on Margin's page today: it suggests matches for bank lines from your bills, payment runs and receipts, and a person approves them before anything reaches the books. It prepares GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, matches bills against GSTR-2B, works out TDS returns, and runs payroll with PF, ESI and professional tax. It makes a monthly board pack and a 90-day cash-flow forecast. Your CA gets their own login and a Tally export. Books is ₹1,999 a month; Books and Payroll is ₹3,499 a month for up to 25 people. It's India only, and it's newer than everything else on this list, so weigh that too.

What it costs a 20-person company for a year

A rough comparison for a company of 20 people, with two or three people in the books and payroll for everyone. Before GST.

Software is the smaller cost. The bigger one is time: how many hours a month someone spends matching bank lines, chasing bills and fixing entries. Ask each vendor to show you a month-end on your own data before you decide.

How to choose, in five questions

1. Where does your CA work? If they're deep in Tally and won't move, either stay on Tally or pick a tool that exports cleanly to Tally.
2. Who keeps the books every day? An in-house accountant is often fastest in Tally. A founder or a small team usually prefers a browser.
3. Do you hold stock? Inventory-heavy businesses should look closely at Tally, BUSY or Zoho's higher plans.
4. Do you need payroll in the same place? It saves a monthly export. Check which plan it's on.
5. What will investors ask for? A monthly board pack and clean month-end close matter more after a round than any feature list.

Talk to your CA before you decide

Your CA will live with this choice as much as you will. Before you sign up for anything, ask them four things:

1. Which software do they already use for clients like you, and how do they prefer to receive your books?
2. Can they work in a browser-based tool with their own login, or do they need a Tally file every month?
3. Who will file GST and TDS returns, and from which system?
4. What do they need at year-end for the audit, and in what format?

A good CA will be flexible. If yours insists on Tally and nothing else, factor that into the decision rather than fighting it later.

How to move without losing your history

Switching accounting software is less scary than it sounds if you do it in order.

1. Pick the date. The start of a financial year (1 April) is cleanest. The start of a quarter works too.
2. Close the old books properly. Get your CA to finalise the trial balance up to the switch date.
3. Carry over balances, not every entry. Opening balances for every ledger, plus open invoices and bills (who owes you, whom you owe). Keep the old ledger as a file for audit.
4. Set up the basics first. Chart of accounts, GSTINs, TDS sections, vendors and customers, bank accounts.
5. Run both for one month. Enter the same month in both, compare the trial balances, then stop the old one.
6. Tell your CA and your team the new routine. Who uploads statements, who approves bills, when month-end happens.

Common mistakes

• Choosing on price alone. A cheaper plan that adds five hours of manual work a month costs more.
• Switching in the middle of a quarter without your CA. GST and TDS returns become a mess.
• Not checking user limits. A plan with three users won't fit if your CA, accountant, founder and HR all need logins.
• Moving every old entry. You only need opening balances and open items. Keep the history as a file.
• Forgetting payroll. If payroll sits in another tool, someone exports and re-enters it every month.

Questions people ask

Is Tally or Zoho Books better for a startup?

It depends on how you work. Tally suits a company whose CA already lives in Tally and wants a one-time licence. Zoho Books suits a team that wants cloud access, bank feeds and invoicing from a browser. At 20 people, the bigger question is who keeps the books every day, and where they like to work.

How much does TallyPrime cost in India?

On Tally's own pricing page in October 2026, a single-user TallyPrime licence was ₹22,500 for life and a multi-user licence ₹67,500, plus 18% GST. Yearly software services renewal was ₹4,500 for Silver and ₹13,500 for Gold. Monthly subscriptions started at ₹750.

How much does Zoho Books cost in India?

Zoho Books' India page listed plans from ₹749 a month (Standard, three users, billed yearly) to ₹7,999 a month (Ultimate). Payroll appears from the Premium plan at ₹2,999 a month, with a per-employee add-on. There is a free plan for businesses under ₹25 lakh in yearly revenue.

Can I move from Tally to cloud accounting without losing data?

Yes, if you plan it. Move at the start of a financial year or a quarter, carry over opening balances and open invoices, keep last year's ledger as a file, and run both systems side by side for one month. Your CA should sign off the opening trial balance before you switch.

Sources

• TallyPrime customer pricing, Tally Solutions (opens in a new tab) (checked 20 October 2026)
• Zoho Books pricing, India, Zoho (opens in a new tab) (checked 20 October 2026)
• BUSY pricing, BUSY Infotech (opens in a new tab) (checked 20 October 2026)
• Margin Ledger, 1936 AI

This is general information, not tax advice. Check with your CA for your company's situation.