Zoho Strengthens Saudi Arabia Presence with 40% Growth, Launches New Solution for Accountants

Zoho, a leading global technology company, has recorded 40% revenue surge in 2022 in Saudi Arabia, while expanding its local partner network by 43%. The company launched Zoho Practice, an end-to-end practice management solution for accountants, and announced partnership with Telr, a leading regional payment gateway provider. These announcements were made on the sidelines of Zoholics, the company’s annual user conference, taking place in Riyadh. 

“Zoho’s remarkable growth in Saudi Arabia, coupled with its local partnerships, launch of localised offerings, integration with Telr, and the introduction of Zoho Practice demonstrate Zoho’s deep understanding of the Saudi market and its dedication to providing comprehensive digital solutions tailored to the specific needs of Saudi businesses. These developments will significantly contribute to the growth of the local digital ecosystem and empower businesses to succeed in the ever-evolving digital landscape,” said Hyther Nizam, President Middle East and Africa, Zoho.

Growth momentum in Saudi

Zoho’s revenue growth in Saudi Arabia is being driven by strong demand for its wide range of cloud-based business software, which includes top-selling products such as Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, and Zoho One. The company’s software is used by businesses of all sizes in Saudi Arabia, from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to large enterprises. Saudi Arabia has become Zoho’s fastest-growing market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

As part of its commitment to the market, Zoho has been launching Arabic UI in its popular products with RTL orientation. The company recently released the Arabic UI in Zoho Connect, a social intranet app. The Arabic UI is also available in Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho Commerce, Zoho Creator and more. 

Furthermore, Zoho’s Finance Platform has witnessed a growth of 50% growth in new customers in the MEA region with Saudi Arabia being one of the key markets driving the growth, and now offers 230+ extensions to finance apps in Zoho Marketplace, including with Telr. 

Partnership with Telr

Zoho and Telr have announced their partnership that aims to streamline secure digital payments as well as offer enterprise-level technology to small and medium companies to help them digitally transform.

Zoho users can utilise Telr integration from Zoho Marketplace to accept and process payments in over 120 currencies, and scale their operations across various geographies. In addition, as part of the recently-signed MoU, Zoho will provide Telr customers access to its diverse portfolio of 55+ applications at a discounted rate. This will enable them to move all their business operations—from sales and marketing to finance and HR—to the cloud. This provides the businesses with the ability to scale, and agility to adapt to changing market conditions.

As part of the partnership, businesses can participate in workshops, roadshows, and programs co-organised by Zoho and Telr to learn about running a digitalised business, processing electronic payments, and scaling a business beyond geographical borders.

Khalil Alami, the Founder & CEO of Telr, expressed excitement about the collaboration

with Zoho. “This partnership signifies an important milestone for Zoho users, granting

them access to Telr’s exceptional services and diverse payment methods, including

local payments, to ensure secure transactions for merchants and their customers.”

Alami emphasized that “this partnership aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030 objectives to

advance the region’s digital economy, demonstrating our steadfast dedication to aiding

SMEs on their path to success.”

Empowering Saudi Accountants with Zoho Practice

During Zoholics, Zoho also launched Zoho Practice, an all-encompassing practice management solution for accountants that enables accountants to go beyond traditional services such as accounting, bookkeeping, auditing and tax filing, and provide business insights like how to curb organisational spend or identify additional revenue sources.

“The introduction of VAT (Value Added Tax) and the expansion of Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority (ZATCA) obligations require accountants to regularly adapt to the frequently-changing compliances. This is driving a shift towards expertise in tax and regulatory matters, as well as the ability to provide proactive advice to clients. With Zoho Practice, we aim to help accountants in Saudi Arabia increase productivity, and provide value-added services, so that they can grow their firms and achieve new heights of success,” added Nizam.

Zoho Practice offers client management, document management, task management, timesheet, and billing capabilities. The application also offers a few industry-first capabilities like advanced collaboration through chat, voice or video call, and documents sharing, and AI-driven anomaly detection to identify inconsistencies in transactions.

Zoho Practice comes pre-integrated with Zoho Books, ZATCA-compliant accounting software tool and Zoho Expense, the travel and expense management app, providing a comprehensive central repository while enabling seamless interoperability between an accountant’s practice and their client’s finance and operations.