Zuora: Enterprise Monetization at Scale

My main use case for Zuora  is that my clients use it extensively. My clients are using Zuora  for their billing and payment collection as well as their revenue recognition rules. My clients are full integrated users so they have a direct integration with their ERP  and CRM  to help streamline the financial operations and reduce close times.

The best features Zuora offers include the automation, which is probably the best they have with the extensiveness of automation and the post-sale tasks that they are able to automate for people so that the close times take a lot less time.

The automation helps my clients by ensuring that the billing, payment collection, and revenue recognition are all automated, so they are not having to take extensive time to reconcile billing and ensure payments are collected and make sure the revenue recognition rules are followed. That is all built into the system for them so that they can do that quickly and efficiently.

The integration with Salesforce  definitely helps streamline my clients' operations there as well as their ERP  so that they are not worried about data migration missing the completeness and accuracy. It all integrates seamlessly.

Zuora has definitely reduced the close time that it takes my clients to close the periods and it has also helped with their pricing models that they are able to make much more sophisticated and easy to follow within the system. It has reduced the close time by four days, down from a ten day close to a six day close.

Zuora could be improved with more training and examples. It is a very steep learning curve because it is a complex system and you definitely need time to make sure it is set up and managed correctly. Anything they could provide their customers with in terms of training would be the biggest improvement.

I think they could document the workflows a little bit easier so people understand them more. They can sometimes be cumbersome, but if people were able to visually see them, it might be a little bit easier.

I have been using Zuora for two and a half years.

Zuora is stable.

Zuora's scalability is good as companies continue to grow. They can definitely build more things into it and definitely ensure that the workflows built with them as well grow with them as well.

The customer support is generally pretty good. With the pricing obviously being a little bit higher, you do get better customer support, so they are very open to helping and ensuring that you can find a solution.

I did not previously use a different solution.

My experience with Zuora's pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that it is expensive. It would be better for mid-market to enterprise companies. I think it prices out a lot of the smaller market firms or companies that would use it.

They were able to decrease their headcount by three people by using the system, showing a clear return on investment.

This was the first solution I looked at and I went with this.

I would advise others looking into using Zuora to just make sure it fits your company appropriately. It is expensive compared to other billing solutions and if you need that complexity, it is worth it, but if you are pretty straightforward, I do not know if you would need it. I found this interview productive and would suggest a tech stack review. I would rate this review an eight out of ten.

I provide solutions for customers using Zuora  and work with them end-to-end. I create customers, provide subscriptions with rate plans, and handle manual setup through the UI. For automated bulk processes, I create workflows according to requirements.

My customers primarily use Zuora  for subscription products. Zuora's pricing strategies help improve my customers' pricing approaches as I work with companies as a resource. They provide requirements and I develop solutions accordingly.

For manual processes with Zuora, we use merge fields with coding in Word templates. If we miss any coding elements, manual errors become excessive.

I integrate Zuora with Salesforce  as my CRM  system and with various ERP  systems including SAP. These integrations use primary key links through Zuora's 360-degree view or Zuora Sync. With a primary key ID, we can manually update all components. For bulk records, we can handle this automatically.

Zuora's most valuable features include product catalog setup. Zuora's product catalog setup is particularly valuable because most B2B and B2C operations depend on it.

Zuora's subscription analytics feature encompasses order management capabilities. Zuora's payment platform features enhance transaction efficiency through features including post-payment options.

Zuora's payment platform includes several integrated components that ensure security, reliability, and efficiency with transactions. Transaction initiation is straightforward, allowing for payment acceptance and dispersal.

I do not focus on Zuora revenue recognition features.

Zuora's documentation from the knowledge center is somewhat complicated and should be simplified for beginner-level users who are ready to learn. Sandbox features and workflow settings need enhancement.

Zuora's integration can be tricky. With hands-on experience, understanding where features are located makes the process automatic. Without hands-on experience, integration takes considerable time. Although the integration is smooth, it depends heavily on hands-on experience.

Providing exact pricing figures for Zuora is challenging because it uses a tiered structure with standard plans. Zuora should improve access to premium support and add-on modules with standard and professional plans by creating easier, balanced feature models.

I typically participate in Zuora's initial setup and deployment.

I have been using the solution for about three years and nine months.

My experience with Zuora's technical support is very good. They respond within 24 hours.

When Zuora's support team has in-depth knowledge, they provide thorough solutions. Otherwise, they ask clarifying questions about what you need and where the issue lies.

I would rate Zuora's technical support between 8.5 to 9.

The setup process requires setting billing settings and creating customer accounts in Zuora. Before that, product rate plans must be created using pricing and packaging strategies with charge models and rate plans. After creating these, customers are subscribed to the appropriate plans. Zuora allows modeling of order management with plan upgrades and downgrades. Manual setup is straightforward, while automation can be handled through bulk processes and workflow coding for invoice posting.

I find Zuora's overall setup process easy.

Zuora is affordable in India in terms of base costs. However, certification costs are very expensive. The university provides certification for 20,000 INR, which equals approximately $200, making certification very costly. Overall, Zuora is not affordable when certification costs are considered.

When Zuora's support team has in-depth knowledge, they provide thorough solutions. Otherwise, they ask clarifying questions about what you need and where the issue lies.

Zuora's Subscription Metrics Engine includes six types of models with nine key setup components.

For manual processes with Zuora, we use merge fields with coding in Word templates. If we miss any coding elements, manual errors become excessive.

I rate this review overall at 6.

I am a solution architect working with multiple clients, and most of them are using Zuora . I have been working in my current field overall, in my current area of expertise for three years.

Automated invoicing is great and makes the process easier than it was five years ago. Zuora  requires continuous improvement to enhance the efficiency of the workflow, and it is necessary to have someone in charge for that part.

I believe the pricing is quite high for some companies using Zuora. Although it is great, the pricing is expensive.

Scalability can be difficult if you only have one tenant, but if you are enabled for multi-tenant, it is great.

You need a team for deployment because, as someone with a tech background, it is difficult sometimes to coordinate because you need a finance team to set up the rules for the finance part. For the tech side, I believe one person is enough, but for the finance portion, you need the financial team for the company.

I have been using Zuora since 2019 for everything.

I think the stability is good with Zuora. I have not encountered any issues in the last year, at least. I think it is continuously working.

Scalability can be difficult if you only have one tenant, but if you are enabled for multi-tenant, it is great.

I think the support is great with Zuora. They have a very strong team of people working on support. Every time you encounter an issue, they are willing to help.

Zuora support is great. They are actively working on resolving the issues that you may encounter.

I have not worked with solutions quite similar to Zuora. I have experience with CRM  systems such as Salesforce , but I do not think they are comparable to Zuora.

If you have a team working with you from Zuora, the initial deployment is easy. If you are alone, it is somewhat difficult sometimes.

You need a team for deployment because, as someone with a tech background, it is difficult sometimes to coordinate because you need a finance team to set up the rules for the finance part. For the tech side, I believe one person is enough, but for the finance portion, you need the financial team for the company.

I have tried integrating Zuora with Microsoft Dynamics  and Salesforce .

With Salesforce, the integration is very easy. With Dynamics, it is sometimes difficult because they do not have the connectors properly configured for Dynamics.

I have not used the Subscription Analytics feature that much, so I would not be able to say much about that.

I think the stability is good with Zuora. I have not encountered any issues in the last year, at least. I think it is continuously working.

I give this review an overall rating of 9.