The Windows version operates fully offline, which is beneficial in areas with unreliable internet, and the ability to send invoices directly via messaging apps has reduced disputes over customer debts. However, the feature set differs across platforms, and the Android app serves only as a companion tool, lacking full functionality.
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We run [company type] on Sonbola, with the Windows program in the office, the web version when we are out, and the Android app for stock-taking. It is a general-purpose system rather than one built for a single trade: goods and services on the same invoice, multiple currencies and an editable chart of accounts, and it handles several warehouses and branches as part of the normal flow. Each invoice names the warehouse it draws from, stock moves between warehouses with a transfer document, and the branches work on the same companies and users without separate installations. A few things changed how we work day to day.
Invoicing is where we feel it most. When a walk-in customer or a new item is not in the system yet, we add it from inside the invoice in a pop-up and carry on; before, that meant leaving the invoice and losing the lines we had typed. Totals, VAT and discounts are calculated on the server as we type, so the printed invoice always matches the screen.
The WhatsApp integration replaced printing and scanning. An invoice or an account statement goes to the customer's phone with one click, and customers settle faster when the statement is in their chat rather than in an email they open days later. For our Saudi branch, ZATCA Phase 2 e-invoicing is built in: invoices are signed automatically, and when the authority rejects one, Sonbola explains the reason in plain Arabic, so we fix it ourselves instead of calling an accountant for every error code.
Stock-taking moved from paper to the phone. The Android app counts against the same items, syncs back in seconds, and the differences show up in the system without re-typing. Onboarding was quicker than we expected: the setup wizard walked us through the chart of accounts, items, contacts and opening balances with spreadsheet import at each step, and the trial came with a ready training company our staff practised on. Support is a WhatsApp message away, and we usually hear back the same day.
An unexpected benefit: new staff learn it fast, because everything is in the Arabic terms they already know and the web screens mirror the desktop program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
A few honest gaps. There is no AI layer yet: nothing reads a supplier's invoice or a receipt photo and enters it for us, suggests the expense account for a line, We still key everything in, and a smart assistant for the repetitive entries would be the first thing we would ask for.
The desktop program is Windows only, so the one Mac in the office uses the web version, which is newer and does not yet cover every screen of the desktop program; some of the deeper reports and settings still mean going back to a Windows machine. The Android app is focused on stock-taking and there is no iPhone version, so sales staff on the move use the web version in a browser rather than a native app. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
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