Zoho unveils payroll, retail & solo apps for Canadian SMEs

Zoho has introduced three new software products tailored to the Canadian small-business market, adding payroll management, retail operations, and solo-entrepreneurship tools to its suite. The launch comes as the company reports significant growth in customer numbers and staff across Canada.

The company reports a more than 50 per cent rise in Canadian customers over the past year and has more than doubled its local staff headcount. These figures reflect increasing adoption among small businesses and self-employed professionals seeking purpose-built software.

Support for solopreneurs

Zoho Solo targets independent professionals and freelancers, providing an all-in-one app for client, invoice, and payment management on a mobile-first platform. Expense tracking, task management, and real-time reporting are available within the system.

The Solo program is stripped down for a single-person business operation, in a mobile-preferred format. Ashok Ramamoorthy, Senior Product Manager at Zoho, said this move reflects the growing number of business owners using business tools on their phones.

"We see a lot of solopreneurs who don't carry their laptops or larger devices...They will quickly do their work on the mobile, do the meetings, raise the invoice, then send it to the customers...and work on the job," said Ramamoorthy. 

Zoho Solo is localised for Canadian users with Canadian Dollar support, compliance with federal and provincial tax regulations, and language options including Canadian French.

Zoho Solo is hosted on Canadian servers to ensure compliance with local privacy and data-residency requirements. LSP told TechDay the company launched two data centres in 2023 (in Toronto and Montreal) to store Canadian customers' data within the country's borders.

Retail solution

Retailers in Canada now have access to Zoho POS, which enables inventory management, pricing, promotions, and multi-outlet operations. The point-of-sale system is designed to interface with standard hardware such as barcode scanners, tills, and displays. It also supports bilingual operation and offers compliance with regional tax frameworks.

Multi-store capabilities help businesses manage sales and stock across different provinces from a single device, whether desktop or mobile. Retail analytics and inventory functions aim to assist Canadian retailers with oversight and control as they expand or adapt operations.

Canadian-tuned payroll

The company's new payroll tool, Zoho Payroll, automates payroll processes for businesses of all sizes, ensuring compliance with federal and provincial regulations.

The system supports calculations for including Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), and multiple insurance and parental leave schemes. Employers can manage multi-province payroll, employee benefits, and variable vacation pay-all in line with Canadian requirements. It also generates mandatory documentation such as Records of Employment (ROE), T4 slips, and RL-1 summaries for submission to government agencies.

Employees also have access to a self-service portal on iOS and Android, where they can view or download pay stubs, review contributions, and track benefit entitlements. Integration with existing Zoho accounting and expense management software streamlines recordkeeping and reimbursement procedures.

Artificial intelligence

Additionally, all three products leverage Zoho's artificial intelligence models, which emphasise privacy by not training on customer data. The models assist with contextual and workflow automation, without requiring businesses to share operational or client data outside the platform.