Plooto Review

Why We Chose Plooto as the Best for Payments

Many businesses struggle to manage accurate, on-time payments to vendors and stay on top of incoming money. Plooto can help with these issues by unifying accounting software with payments and automating payment workflows. The platform helps you create professional invoices, send them automatically, and accept payment via Plooto’s credit card processing system. For accounts payable (A/P), you can set up approvals and pay bills directly via the Plooto Network, which includes over 150,000 vendors and suppliers. All transactions are reconciled with your business’s bank account and recorded in the books automatically. Because of its end-to-end financial management functions, Plooto is our choice for the best accounting software for payments.

Plooto’s A/P automation dramatically simplifies your business’s payment workflows. Source: Plooto 

What We Like About Plooto

• Plooto’s 150,000-plus vendor network is larger than many other accounting software programs. 
• Plooto’s flat-rate pricing structure makes it easy to understand what you will pay each month. 
• Plooto includes credit card processing services. 

What We Don’t Like About Plooto

• Plooto is more of a payment management solution and lacks actual accounting features. 
• The software syncs only with QuickBooks and Xero. (Its highest-tier plan integrates with Oracle NetSuite.)
• Plooto does not offer a mobile app. 

Ease of Use

Plooto boasts a clean, modern user interface. When testing the software, we found the main dashboard exceptionally easy to navigate. Features aren’t buried under complex drop-down menus. Instead, you have six straightforward tabs for document capture, payables, receivables, contacts, accounts and controls. We liked this intuitive layout and appreciated the clearly labeled buttons and step-by-step instructions. 

Connecting to a bank account is straightforward; the software displays your current balance. The upper-right-hand corner shows any active connections to QuickBooks or Xero, the two accounting platforms Plooto integrates with. You can easily sync Plooto with QuickBooks or Xero by clicking the Sync With button. (The highest Plooto tier also allows Oracle NetSuite integration.)

Plooto’s dashboard is straightforward, intuitive and easy to navigate. Source: Plooto

Features

Plooto offers a wealth of helpful features for businesses that send and receive many payments. These functions can help your business boost productivity and maintain a steady cash flow. Here’s an overview of some of our favorite Plooto features.

Accounts Payable Automation

Plooto’s A/P workflow automation impressed us. You can set customized parameters to route payment approvals to the right person in your business, thereby reducing the time you spend chasing down managers to approve payments. We like that you can set maximum approval authorization amounts for specific employees in your organization. It’s easy to import bills through QuickBooks and Xero accounting software or to create them manually within Plooto. 

Another noteworthy feature is Plooto’s automated international payments solution. Plooto automatically converts your payments to the receiving bank’s currency, saving you the hassle of manual currency conversions. Businesses that perform many international transactions will find this tool particularly valuable. 

We also liked that Plooto’s A/P tools include payment timing, so you know exactly when cash will leave your business’s bank account. Controlling payment timing can help you manage your business’s cash flow. 

Vendor Network 

Plooto’s vendor network, called the Plooto Network, is one of the platform’s marquee features. Paying bills can be excessively time-consuming for many small business owners, but Plooto eliminates this issue by helping you pay bills directly from the software. With more than 150,000 suppliers and vendors, the Plooto Network impressed us. Very few accounting software programs we reviewed offer such an extensive bill-pay service. We also like that Plooto allows you to pay by check, credit card, e-check and automated clearing house (ACH). To pay a bill, search for the vendor in Plooto’s system, verify that you have the correct name, and enter your account number. 

The Plooto Network lists over 150,000 vendors and suppliers, and you can add your own suppliers, as well. Source: Plooto

Credit Card Processing 

Plooto’s in-house credit card processing is another feature that sets Plooto apart from other platforms we reviewed. This tool helps your business get paid quickly via invoices you generate. If you’re synced with QuickBooks or Xero, you can import invoices from the software and create payments based on those documents. Invoice payments are then reconciled in your accounting software. Plooto charges 2.9 percent plus 30 cents per transaction. Plooto also extended the payment cutoff time from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET — a helpful move for businesses that want to settle their payments quickly. 

Document Capture

We really like Plooto’s new and improved document capture tool. This user-friendly feature will be a major time-saver for businesses. Plooto’s document capture function allows you to upload and edit bills and invoices, extract information, and reconcile your accounts automatically with your full-service accounting software. We were impressed that document capture is included in the base subscription fee; other accounting software solutions we reviewed weren’t so generous. 

Plooto’s document capture tool helps you save time while extracting information from bills and invoices. Source: Plooto 

Accounts Receivable 

Plooto includes several cool tools to manage your accounts receivable (A/R). The software can automatically import invoices from your accounting software and allows your customers to enter payment information so you can debit their accounts on a recurring basis. Plooto’s A/R automation also includes account reconciliation, contract management, status reporting, and ACH and credit card payments. 

We were also impressed by Plooto’s payment tracking features. Like Plooto’s payment timing tool, payment tracking provides a timetable for when you can expect deposits to clear your business bank account. This is another feature that will give business owners more insight into how cash flows into their bank accounts. 

Plooto makes it easy to set up recurring payments for your customers. Source: Plooto

Integrations 

Plooto integrates with QuickBooks and Xero, two of the best accounting and invoicing software platforms. Businesses on the highest payment tier can also sync with Oracle NetSuite. These integrations allow you to import bills into Plooto for easy payment, create audit trails, and reconcile your business records in your preferred accounting software. While Plooto doesn’t offer many stand-alone bookkeeping and accounting software features on its own, it helps supplement accounting software with its top-notch payment platform. 

Plooto integrates with QuickBooks and Xero for bill payment. Source: Plooto 

Check Payments

Plooto is one of the few accounting programs that still offer old-fashioned paper check payments for businesses that prefer that option. The company will print and mail checks on your behalf for a small fee and reconcile the transaction with your integrated accounting software. 

Pricing

Plooto offers two business plans. (The company also has plans geared specifically toward accounting firms.) Pricing is flat-rate, with some additional fees for different payment types. 

• Plooto Grow: The Grow plan, which starts at $32 per month, allows unlimited approvers and accountant users. You get automatic two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Xero. You can conduct unlimited ACH transactions per month (50 cents each). This plan would be best for small and midsize businesses. 
• Plooto Pro: The Pro plan costs $499 monthly and includes everything in the Grow plan, along with user access management with single sign-on (SSO) and priority customer support. Large businesses would likely benefit the most from this plan.

Here are some other fees to note: 

• Cross-border payments: $10
• Paper checks: $2
• ACH payments: 50 cents
• Credit card payment processing: 2.9 percent + 30 cents 

Implementation/Onboarding

Plooto offers a 30-day free trial of its plans, plus 10 domestic transactions at no cost. We appreciated that sign-up took us just a few minutes on Plooto’s website and that we didn’t need to provide any credit card data or other sensitive information for the free trial. 

From the main dashboard, you can connect to your business bank account and sync your Plooto account with your accounting software quickly. Plooto provides instructions within the software to help new users navigate the features. If you get stuck, you can contact a member of Plooto’s help team for additional setup support. 

Customer Support

Although Plooto doesn’t offer some of the white-glove treatment of other accounting software companies we reviewed, its customer service goes beyond that of many other business software providers. In an era when many companies employ automated customer service systems, we like that Plooto maintains in-person customer support. The company’s customer support hours extend from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, which is longer than most other accounting software providers we reviewed. Plooto also offers live chat and email support.

Limitations

Plooto has numerous upsides, but we did identify the following limitations: 

• Limited accounting software features: While Plooto is packed with unique and useful tools for automating payment workflows, it lacks many of the advanced accounting and bookkeeping features of other accounting software programs we reviewed. In our view, Plooto is more of a complement to a product like QuickBooks Online or Xero than a substitute. If you’re interested in a more traditional accounting software platform, read our in-depth review of QuickBooks Online and our detailed Xero review.
• Comparatively limited vendor network: If you’re just looking for software to manage bills, keep in mind that Bill’s network of 3 million vendors dwarfs Plooto’s 150,000-vendor offering. We believe business owners should examine Plooto’s payment platform as a whole and not focus only on one feature. 
• Technical issues: Several customers on independent, user-generated review sites said they experienced technical difficulties when adding some clients to the payment platform. Because Plooto doesn’t provide dedicated account representatives, some users ended up repeating problems to various customer support representatives. 
• No mobile app: Plooto lacks a mobile app, which is inconvenient for business owners who want to perform small business accounting tasks on the go.

Methodology

We researched and analyzed dozens of accounting solutions to help small businesses choose the right accounting software for their needs. To generate our quantitative scores and use cases, we reviewed features such as payment and invoicing capabilities, integrations, mobile apps, report generation, supported user count and customer service options. We also assessed pricing and the availability of free trials. 

We examined the companies’ websites and participated in software demos. Additionally, we studied user reviews to get independent opinions of each platform’s pros and cons. When evaluating payments specifically, we focused on unique features related to making and receiving payments and time-saving and productivity tools. You can read more about our editorial process here.

Bottom Line

We recommend Plooto for …

• Businesses seeking a solution to automate payment workflows. 
• Companies that want the convenience of a vendor payment network.
• Businesses that already use Xero or QuickBooks.

We don’t recommend Plooto for …

• Companies that want software strictly for accounting and bookkeeping purposes and not for payments. 
• Businesses that make frequent international transactions. 
• Business owners who want a mobile app so they can work on the go.