Switch from Zoho Books to Guliel: what moves today and how

Guliel is accounting and finance-operations software with a double-entry general ledger. Invoicing, expenses, purchasing, stock, payroll, reporting and the ledger run on one engine; in Zoho, full inventory, employee expense reports and payroll are separate apps that connect to Books. There is no Zoho importer or connector today; a connector is planned. So switching is a staged move: your customer list comes across by spreadsheet, your accountant posts opening balances as one journal entry, you issue new documents in Guliel from a start date, and your Zoho history stays in Zoho or in the exports you keep.

There is no forced cutover. Run Guliel beside Zoho Books first, keep Zoho CRM or Mail if you use them, let automations take over routine steps, and move fully when you're ready.

What moves today

Zoho data	Into Guliel today	How
Customers	Yes (live)	Spreadsheet import on Guliel's template: Name, Tax ID, Email, Phone, Address, City. Only Name is required.
Balances at your start date	Yes, as a journal entry (live)	Your accountant posts one balanced manual journal entry in Guliel's ledger.
Vendors	Not imported	Add them in Guliel, or invite them by email (live).
Items, from Books or Zoho Inventory	Not imported	Add them as items in Guliel, with a quantity and a low-stock threshold (live).
Bills and expenses	Not imported	New bills are captured in Guliel by scan or from a connected inbox (live).
Chart of accounts, manual journals	Not imported	Guliel's chart of accounts is fixed; custom accounts are planned.
Invoices, credit notes, payments, recurring profiles, attachments	Not imported	They stay in Zoho and in your exports.

Guliel's other import paths today are Morning client and document exports and the Israeli uniform file (מבנה אחיד). Neither reads Zoho data.

The switch, step by step

1. Pick a start date. Use the first day of a month or quarter, after your accountant has closed the period before it in Zoho Books.
2. Export from Zoho first. Export the customer list as CSV or XLSX. From Zoho Books reports, export the trial balance, balance sheet, general ledger and receivables aging as at the day before your start date. Keep them as your record.
3. Start free and set up the organisation. Each Zoho organization becomes its own Guliel organisation under one login. Check that your country is one of the 39 supported.
4. Import customers. On the Customers page, choose Import, then Other / spreadsheet template. Rename the headers to Guliel's template and upload. Guliel shows which columns it recognised, which required ones are missing and which it will ignore, then marks each row new, already imported or invalid, with the reason. Nothing is saved until you commit, and a bad row is skipped on its own. Files are CSV or .xlsx, up to 10 MB or 50,000 rows; re-uploading a file skips rows already imported.
5. Add suppliers and items. Enter suppliers by hand or invite them by email. A supplier that accepts with its own Guliel organisation is linked to yours and sees the purchase orders you send it. Add items with their current quantities.
6. Post opening balances. On the Ledger page, your accountant adds one journal entry dated the day before the start date, mapping Zoho balances onto Guliel's accounts (cash and bank, receivables, payables, tax, equity and the rest). Several Zoho accounts may map to one Guliel account. Debits must equal credits or the entry won't save. A journal entry carries no customer or supplier, so opening receivables are one figure, not a list per customer.
7. Lock the period. A manager sets the books lock date to the day before the start date. Postings dated on or before it can't be changed.
8. Run new work in Guliel. Issue invoices, record payments in full or in part, and capture bills; captured expenses wait for a person's approval before they reach the ledger.

Open Zoho invoices stay in Zoho. When one is paid, your accountant records the cash in Guliel with a journal entry (debit cash and bank, credit receivables). Keep Zoho, or at least its exports, for as long as you need the history.

On Zoho Invoice rather than Books? The customer export and the steps are the same. Take the opening balances from wherever your books are kept today.

What you get after the move

• A ledger that fills itself. Issued invoices, approved expenses, recorded payments and payroll post to a double-entry general ledger. Manual journal entries cover the rest: opening balances, accruals, adjustments. Reports include a trial balance, balance sheet, general ledger, income statement and cash flow, and the ledger exports as CSV. See accounting in Guliel.
• One engine instead of connected apps. Invoices, receipts, expenses, purchase orders and payslips are one document object with a type and a direction, and the ledger is computed from the same lines as receivables and payables. A supplier invoice links to the purchase order it bills, and captured bills are matched to purchase orders by amount and date. Payroll runs on the same engine: Singapore payroll with CPF, SDL, FWL and self-help group funds, a generic gross-to-net profile elsewhere, payslip PDFs for both (payroll).
• Your accountant in the loop. Invite them with their own role (manager, contributor or viewer). Captured expenses wait for a person's approval, and a manager sets the lock date. A sign-off queue where an accountant approves AI work is planned. See Guliel for accountants.
• AI under the same rules. Any MCP client, such as Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot, connects through OAuth 2.1 and acts within your role and scopes, under the same numbering, totals and balancing rules as a person.
• Documents for 39 countries. Invoices, receipts, credit and debit memos as PDF in the formats of 39 countries, multi-currency with stored exchange rates. Israeli businesses get tax documents in Hebrew; SHAAM allocation numbers are built and not switched on yet (Israel). See invoicing.

Check these before you switch

• Bank feeds and bank reconciliation are not in Guliel yet.
• Your country. India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico are not among the 39 countries yet.
• E-invoicing. Documents are PDF today. Guliel's Peppol access point is built, awaits OpenPeppol certification and is not yet connected to the app. If you send structured e-invoices from Zoho, keep that path for now.
• Tax returns. Guliel produces tax reports by period, with adapters for Israel, Singapore and the US. GST and VAT return preparation is planned; Guliel does not file tax returns.
• Quotes and recurring invoices. Guliel has no quote document and no recurring-invoice schedule; a monthly automation can create a draft invoice through the API.
• Stock depth. One quantity per item; no warehouses, batches or serial numbers.
• Payments. Guliel records payments against documents; it does not process them. A PayPal payment-link integration is planned.
• CRM, mail and projects. Guliel has no CRM, mail or project tool. A customer record imports; its links to other Zoho apps don't.

Time and cost

The customer import takes minutes; the opening entry takes as long as your accountant needs to map accounts. There is no migration weekend, because the history doesn't move.

Importing costs nothing on any plan. The Free plan is $0 per organisation, with 200 invoices, 100 expense scans, 10 reports and 5 automations a month. Standard ($20) and Premium ($99) per organisation per month are published prices; paid plans are not on sale yet. Pricing is per organisation, not per seat, so several Zoho organizations mean several Guliel organisations, each with the whole team on one fee: see pricing.

Still comparing? See Guliel vs Zoho Books, including when Zoho Books is the better fit.

FAQ

Can Guliel import my Zoho Books data directly?

No. There is no importer or connector for Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice today; a connector is planned. Customers come across by spreadsheet and opening balances by one journal entry.

Do I still need Zoho Books for my books after switching?

No. Guliel keeps its own double-entry general ledger, with journal entries, a trial balance, a balance sheet and a books lock date, and work done in Guliel posts there. Bank reconciliation is not in Guliel yet. Keep Zoho while you collect old invoices or need its history.

Will my Zoho invoice numbers carry over?

Zoho invoices aren't imported, so nothing is renumbered. They stay in Zoho as they are. New documents you issue in Guliel follow Guliel's own numbering for your country.

Will my Zoho CRM contacts come across?

Only as customers, through the spreadsheet. The link to Zoho CRM doesn't transfer. If that link carries your sales process, keep Zoho CRM.

What about recurring invoices?

They aren't imported, and Guliel has no recurring-invoice schedule. A monthly automation can create a draft invoice through the API. Keep the Zoho recurring profiles until that's set up.

Can Guliel replace Zoho Inventory?

For simple stock, yes: items, quantities, stock movements and a low-stock trigger for automations. Guliel has no warehouses, batches or serial numbers.

Is there a cost to migrate?

No. Importing is free on every plan, including Free.

Start free, import your customers, and post your opening balances when your accountant is ready.