Zahara

Implementing Zahara is designed to be a phased and structured journey that typically moves from kickoff to go-live within 2 to 4 weeks. The process begins with a 'Scoping and Kickoff' meeting where Zahara's onboarding team analyzes the client's existing chart of accounts, approval hierarchies, and integration needs. Clients then populate a 'staging spreadsheet' with their data (users, suppliers, nominal codes). The 'Implementation' phase follows, where Zahara's team configures the business units, divisions, and custom workflows. A 'Testing' period allows the client to run a prototype of the system, making necessary 'tweaks' to the approval logic. Finally, 'Training' sessions are conducted for admins and end-users, ensuring everyone is comfortable raising and approving orders. Zahara provides a dedicated onboarding specialist for the first month to ensure a seamless transition and to answer any post-launch questions before handing over to the standard support team.

Zahara offers extensive customization capabilities that allow it to mirror the most complex organizational structures. Users can create multiple 'Business Units' for different legal entities and further subdivide these into 'Divisions' (departments). Each division can have its own independent budget and its own bespoke 'Workflow' with multiple approval steps. These workflows can be triggered by 'Conditions'—for example, an invoice might only go to the Finance Director if it exceeds a certain value or belongs to a specific project. Beyond workflows, Zahara allows for 'Custom Fields' at both the header and line-item level, enabling users to capture data unique to their industry. Email templates sent to suppliers and approvers can be fully white-labeled with company branding and specific wording. For technical users, an open API and integrations with Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate allow for custom data flows between Zahara and thousands of other business applications.

Beyond the core monthly or annual subscription fee, the primary additional cost is the optional 'Concierge Onboarding' fee, which covers the professional setup of the system by Zahara experts. While basic setup is possible by the user, most organizations opt for this service to ensure best practices are followed. There are no hidden maintenance or update fees, as these are included in the SaaS subscription. However, costs can scale based on 'Bolt-ons' if a company exceeds its plan's limits—such as adding a new Business Unit (£28/month), purchasing blocks of additional users, or increasing the monthly invoice/PO processing quota. If a client requires an 'On-Premise Hybrid Implementation' involving complex local server work via SmartSync, there may be specific professional service charges associated with that installation and testing. Bank payment integration through partners like Comma may also involve separate transaction-based fees or partner subscriptions.

Zahara provides a multi-layered training ecosystem to ensure all users can master the platform. For 'Standard' and 'Enterprise' clients, live training sessions are conducted via video conferencing as part of the onboarding package. These are often recorded for the client's internal future use. For ongoing education, the 'Ask Zahara' knowledge base contains hundreds of step-by-step articles, troubleshooting guides, and 'How-To' videos. The company also runs a 'Webinar Series' focusing on new features (like Version 3 updates) and advanced system optimization. For large-scale rollouts, 'Train the Trainer' sessions are provided, empowering a company's internal AP champion to support their own staff. Additionally, Zahara's 'In-App' help and intuitive UI are designed to minimize the need for extensive training for 'casual' users who only need to approve or raise an occasional purchase order.

Security is built into Zahara's DNA, starting with its hosting on the **Microsoft Azure** cloud platform, which provides enterprise-grade physical and network security. Data is stored in UK-based datacenters with 15-minute incremental backups and 128-bit encryption for all databases. The company holds the **Cyber Essentials Plus** certification, a UK government-backed scheme that demonstrates a high level of protection against common cyber threats. Zahara undergoes **Annual Penetration Testing** by independent third-party firms to identify and remediate any application vulnerabilities. For user access, the system supports **Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)** via Google Authenticator and **Single Sign-On (SSO)** with Microsoft and G Suite. Administratively, Zahara employs a 'least privilege' model with granular user permissions, ensuring that staff can only see and action the data relevant to their specific roles.

As a cloud-native SaaS platform, Zahara follows a 'continuous delivery' model, with minor updates, bug fixes, and performance enhancements released almost weekly. Major feature releases occur every few months and are communicated via the 'Zahara News' blog and in-app notifications. A significant milestone was the recent transition to **Zahara 3**, a modular rewrite of the platform that allows for faster deployment of specific module updates (e.g., the new Suppliers module or the Contractor App) without interrupting the entire system. Users do not need to perform any manual updates; the latest version is automatically available upon login. The development roadmap is heavily influenced by the user 'Feature Request' forum, where customers can see which ideas are currently 'Under Review,' 'Planned,' or 'Completed.'

Zahara maintains a clear and transparent data ownership policy: the customer remains the sole 'Data Controller' of all information they input into the system, and Zahara acts as the 'Data Processor' under GDPR guidelines. This means that if a customer chooses to leave the service, they have the right to take their data with them. Zahara provides built-in tools to **export all document data** (including order and invoice line items) into CSV or Excel formats at any time. Furthermore, all original PDF documents uploaded to the system can be returned to the customer upon termination of the contract. The system's 'Reporting API' also allows customers to maintain a live mirror of their data in their own external databases or BI tools (like Power BI) for long-term archiving and independent analysis.

Zahara is architecturally designed to be highly 'elastic,' scaling effortlessly from small businesses with a few dozen invoices to large enterprises processing thousands of transactions across multiple countries. The system's 'Multi-Entity' structure allows organizations to add new companies or regional branches as they grow, with each unit maintaining its own distinct tax rules and local currency. From a performance perspective, being hosted on Microsoft Azure allows the infrastructure to scale CPU and storage resources automatically as data volumes increase. Operationally, the 'Divisions' feature allows for the segmentation of large teams into manageable units, preventing the interface from becoming cluttered as the user count grows. The introduction of 'Invoice Autopilot' in 2025 further enhances scaling by allowing teams to increase their processing volume without needing to hire additional AP staff.

Zahara offers flexible contract terms designed to suit different business needs. Customers can choose **Monthly Rolling contracts**, which allow for cancellation at any time with a 30-day notice period, providing maximum flexibility. Alternatively, **Annual Contracts** offer a significant cost saving (often 10-20%) in exchange for a yearly commitment. Annual plans are paid in advance and do not provide refunds for unused portions if canceled mid-term. Renewals are typically automatic unless notice is given. The service is governed by a robust Service Level Agreement (SLA) that targets 99.9% uptime, and the terms and conditions include clear data protection clauses (DPA) to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR. For Enterprise clients, custom Master Service Agreements (MSAs) can be negotiated to include specific support and uptime guarantees.

Zahara is fully committed to international compliance and data privacy standards. It is strictly compliant with the **GDPR** (General Data Protection Regulation), ensuring that all personal data is processed lawfully and securely within the UK/EU infrastructure. The company holds the **Cyber Essentials Plus** certification, which is a mandatory requirement for many UK government and public sector contracts. While Zahara itself is not an accounting system of record, it facilitates compliance with **Making Tax Digital (MTD)** and other tax regulations by ensuring that all financial data exported to ERPs like Sage and Xero is accurate and audit-ready. The system provides a permanent, 'immutable' audit trail of every approval decision, which is critical for meeting **ISO 9001** or **ISO 27001** standards within a client's own organization. Furthermore, its 'Bank Account Checking' and 'Duplicate Detection' features provide built-in controls to prevent financial fraud and ensure compliance with internal governance policies.