Ocrolus vs Zera Books for Bookkeepers
Ocrolus is built for enterprise lenders verifying income for loan underwriting. Zera Books is built for bookkeepers converting client bank statements to Excel for QuickBooks and Xero. Different tools for fundamentally different jobs.
Enterprise Lending Verification vs Self-Service Bookkeeping
If you're a bookkeeper who found Ocrolus while searching for bank statement conversion tools, here's what you need to know: Ocrolus is not designed for bookkeeping workflows.
Ocrolus serves enterprise lenders like PayPal, SoFi, Square, and LendingClub. Their platform extracts financial data from bank statements to verify income, detect fraud, and assess lending risk. That's a completely different use case than what bookkeepers need.
When you're processing client bank statements for month-end close, you need:
- Bank statement PDF to Excel/CSV conversion
- AI categorization for QuickBooks/Xero chart of accounts
- Client management dashboard to organize multiple clients
- Multi-account auto-detection for statements with checking + savings
- Self-service access without sales calls or account managers
Ocrolus offers income verification, fraud detection, and lending risk assessment. You'll pay enterprise prices ($74K-$522K annually) for features you'll never use.
Zera Books is built specifically for bookkeepers. $79/month unlimited. Self-service signup. AI categorization for QuickBooks and Xero. No lending features you don't need.
What Each Platform Is Actually Built For
Ocrolus
Enterprise Lending Verification
Built for fintech companies and lenders processing thousands of loan applications.
Core Use Cases:
Target customer: PayPal, SoFi, LendingClub, mortgage companies processing 10,000+ loan applications monthly.
Zera Books
Self-Service Bookkeeping
Built for bookkeepers and accountants processing client bank statements for month-end close.
Core Use Cases:
Target customer: Bookkeepers, CPAs, and accounting firms managing 20-100+ clients with monthly statement processing.
Why Ocrolus Doesn't Fit Bookkeeping Workflows
No QuickBooks/Xero Categorization
Ocrolus categorizes transactions for lending risk assessment, not accounting chart of accounts. No mapping to QuickBooks categories.
Enterprise Sales Required
No self-service signup. Must schedule sales calls, go through discovery, and negotiate custom contracts before accessing the platform.
$74K-$522K Annual Cost
Enterprise pricing is designed for fintech companies processing thousands of loans. Massive overkill for bookkeeping volumes.
No Client Management
Ocrolus doesn't have a dashboard for organizing conversions by bookkeeping client. It's designed for enterprise batch processing via API.
Feature Comparison for Bookkeepers
| Bookkeeping Feature | Ocrolus | Zera Books |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Statement to Excel | ||
| AI Categorization for QuickBooks/Xero | ||
| Client Management Dashboard | ||
| Multi-Account Auto-Detection | ||
| Self-Service Signup | No | Yes (2 minutes) |
| Transparent Pricing | Custom enterprise quotes | $79/month unlimited |
| Direct QBO/Xero Export | ||
| Batch Processing | ||
| Invoice Processing | ||
| Financial Statement Processing |
"We were drowning in bank statements from two provinces and multiple revenue streams. Zera Books cut our month-end reconciliation from three days to about four hours."
Manroop Gill
Co-Founder, Zoom Books
The bookkeeper perspective:
"We needed bank statement conversion for our accounting workflow, not income verification for loans. Zera Books is exactly what we needed - upload statements, get categorized transactions, import to QuickBooks. Simple, affordable, self-service."
Typical Bookkeeper Workflow: Ocrolus vs Zera Books
With Ocrolus (Weeks to Start)
Schedule demo with enterprise sales
Wait 3-5 days for callback
Discovery call and needs assessment
45-60 minute call explaining use case
Receive custom pricing proposal
$74K-$522K annual range
Contract negotiation and technical scoping
API integration planning
Implementation and onboarding
2-6 weeks with account manager
Total time: 4-8 weeks to first conversion
With Zera Books (Minutes to Start)
Create account (30 seconds)
Email + password, instant access
Start trial (1 minute)
Add card, $1 for one week trial
Upload client bank statement
Drag and drop PDF
Download categorized Excel
AI-categorized for QuickBooks/Xero
Import to accounting software
Pre-formatted for clean import
Total time: 2-3 minutes to first conversion
What Zera Books Offers Bookkeepers
4 Document Types
Process bank statements, financial statements, invoices, and checks. Most competitors only handle bank statements.
Learn about bank statementsAI Categorization
Transactions auto-categorized for QuickBooks and Xero chart of accounts. No manual mapping required.
See AI categorizationClient Management
Organize conversions by client. Track history. Access past statements. Built for firms with 20-100+ clients.
View client dashboardMulti-Account Detection
Statements with checking + savings + credit card? Zera AI auto-detects and separates into individual Excel tabs.
Multi-account featureDirect Integrations
Export directly to QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Xero, Sage, Wave, and Zoho Books. Pre-mapped formats.
Works with your existing software$79/Month Unlimited
No per-page fees. No per-client fees. No volume limits. Process 100 statements or 1,000 - same price.
View pricingFrequently Asked Questions
Is Ocrolus designed for bookkeepers?
No. Ocrolus is designed for enterprise lenders, fintech companies, and mortgage providers who need to verify income and detect fraud for loan underwriting. Their core features (income verification, fraud detection, lending risk assessment) are irrelevant for bookkeeping workflows. Zera Books is specifically designed for bookkeepers processing client bank statements for QuickBooks and Xero.
Can bookkeepers use Ocrolus for bank statement conversion?
Technically yes, but it's not practical. Ocrolus requires enterprise sales calls, custom pricing ($74K-$522K annually), API integration, and account managers. For a bookkeeper processing 20-50 client statements monthly, this is massive overkill. Zera Books costs $79/month with self-service signup and is built for exactly this workflow.
Does Zera Books have AI categorization for bookkeepers?
Yes. Zera Books automatically categorizes transactions for QuickBooks and Xero chart of accounts. This is what bookkeepers actually need - categorized transactions ready to import. Ocrolus focuses on income verification and fraud detection, not accounting categorization.
How much does Ocrolus cost for bookkeepers?
Ocrolus uses enterprise pricing with no published rates. You must go through sales calls to receive a custom quote. Market data suggests pricing ranges from $74,000 to $522,000 annually based on volume and features. Zera Books is $79/month unlimited for bookkeepers - transparent pricing without sales calls.
What integrations does Zera Books offer for bookkeepers?
Zera Books integrates directly with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop (QBO/IIF export), Xero, Sage, Wave, and Zoho Books. Export formats are pre-mapped to each accounting software, so transactions import cleanly with proper categorization. Ocrolus focuses on lending API integrations, not accounting software.
Can Zera Books handle multiple bookkeeping clients?
Yes. Zera Books includes a client management dashboard where you can organize conversions by client, track conversion history, and access past statements. This is designed for bookkeepers managing 20-100+ clients. Ocrolus is designed for enterprise workflows with dedicated account managers, not self-service client management.
Built for Bookkeepers. Not Enterprise Lenders.
Skip the enterprise sales process. Skip the income verification features you don't need. Get bank statement conversion designed for bookkeeping workflows. $79/month unlimited.
99.6%
Extraction accuracy
$79/mo
Unlimited conversions
2 min
To first conversion