Wave Payroll is a payroll processing software for small businesses. It lets users compute and manage payroll for salaried workers and handle local, state, and federal taxes. We compiled Wave Payroll reviews from our website and around the web and found that it has generally positive ratings. We also shared its available subscription options.
Pricing & Features
Useful Resources
FAQ
Overview Video
Integrations
Top Alternatives
User Reviews
Summary of Wave Payroll User Reviews
What Wave Payroll does well:
According to positive reviews online, Wave Payroll has a great dashboard interface and is easy to use. Others are pleased with its efficient bookkeeping and reporting features. Some users also say that they like using it for invoice processing.
What Wave Payroll does not do well:
According to negative reviews online, Wave Payroll can sometimes freeze up while you are using it — causing users to lose unsaved data. Others mentioned that the software has some issues with federal, state, and tax compliance accounting.
Most Helpful Positive User Review:
“I’m a huge fan of Wave. I primarily use it for invoice processing. I’ve been with them for over a year now and watched their features grow and change directly based on user feedback — which is always heartening to see when it comes to any software. I regularly recommend them to clients who do direct billing.”
– Kelly M. Christensen
Most Helpful Negative User Review:
“I recently came across two critical issues that were in violation of the employment law that they seemed completely oblivious to. Employers terminating employees would have done so in a manner that violated the Act. With so many state/provincial and federal laws to be aware of, an employer needs to have 100% confidence that their payroll software is providing the correct amounts when dealing with terminations.”
– Chris
Wave Payroll Pricing
Wave Payroll offers two plans — Self Service States ($20/month +$4/employee) and Tax Service States ($35/month + $4/employee). The main difference between the plans is that Wave Payroll files your taxes for the Tax Service States plan, while they guide you when filing your taxes for the Self Service States plan.
| Plans | ($/month) | |
|---|---|---|
| Self Service States | ||
| Tax Service States |
Tax service states include California, Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, and Washington. Self-service states include the other 44 remaining states.
Wave also offer a 30-day free trial for those who want to try their services before paying for a subscription.
Wave Payroll Features
Check out the list below of some of Wave Payroll’s features.
- Data Migration
- Vacation, Benefits, and Bonuses Computation
- Automatic Filings and Payment
- Payroll Journal
- Direct Deposit
- Self-Service Pay Stubs and Tax Forms
Useful Wave Payroll Resources
How To Do Payroll: The Ultimate Guide – Do you want to know how to do payroll for your employees? Are you interested in learning about the specific details of payroll processing? Check out our ultimate guide to learn how to do your own payroll management.
How to Do Payroll Accounting: A Step-by-Step Guide – Need to know the difference between regular payroll and payroll accounting? Interested in learning how to perform your own payroll accounting? Here is our step by step guide on how to do it.
Other Payroll Resources – Want to learn more about payroll services? Wondering how to do it on your own using the latest software? Find out more using our in-depth guides, resources, and articles here.
Wave Payroll FAQ
Why is the base fee of Wave Payroll different for some states?
Some states such as New York, Texas, Illinois, Washington, and California have higher tax service rates because Wave files your taxes for you. Others are self-service states, which means that you are eligible for support and self-service tax forms only.
Can I pay contractors using Wave Payroll?
No. Wave Payroll is currently designed to pay your regular salaried employees only.
Will I still pay monthly fees if I don’t have any payroll needs at the moment? For example, I’m restructuring my company and hiring new people.
You can pause your subscription by deactivating it in the billing section. Once you are ready to use Wave again, you will be billed accordingly.
Wave Payroll Overview Video
This video provides an overview of Wave Payroll and how you can use the payroll software to help run your business.
Popular Integrations
When choosing a payroll software, it’s important that the software integrates with other applications your business is currently using. Here is a list of some of Wave Payroll’s popular integrations.
Top Wave Payroll Alternatives
Not sure if Wave Payroll is the right fit for you? Read our reviews of the top payroll software for comparison or check out one of these three Wave Payroll competitors.
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Chris
Wave Payroll is well designed, with a simple to use interface and great tools for administering your payroll.
I recently came across 2 critical issues that were in violation of the employment law that they seemed completely oblivious to. Employers terminating employees would have done so in a manner that contravened the Act. With so many state / provincial and federal laws to be aware of, an employer needs to have 100% confidence that their payroll software is providing the correct amounts when dealing with terminations.
Sure, I love the free base accounting product, but there is a big cost when it comes to finding workarounds for the software’s many limitations. Free has a distinct cost, and in the case of Wave, you should not underestimate that cost. Before committing your organization to the software, get familiar with some of the more substantial flaws in the program in terms of batch entries, foreign currency transactions, reporting, and customization. There are many weak areas that other SaaS accounting systems have solved. Sure, you have to pay, but $30-$40 a month to avoid the Wave headaches is worth it.
The payroll module is also not worth the money – there are a number of alternatives that are much better. They don’t integrate with Wave, but keep in mind that the ‘integration’ is just adding Journal Entries for the pay run divided into ‘Wages’ and ‘Employer’s Share of Deductions’. That isn’t exactly a detailed entry, and absolutely useless for reporting on specific deductions related to employment insurance, benefits, etc..
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Barbara Riddle
Everything is simple and user friendly, it is amazing that is free. I am so Thankful they can help me that much, I surely will use their payroll too when the time comes
Sometime it freezes, but I imagine any website may slow down once in the while, probably is for maintenance. I do work very odd times.
I am a free version client but I will sure use their payroll
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Tasleem Thawar
As the owner of two small businesses, I rely on Wave for my bookkeeping and reporting, but don’t use it’s invoicing or payroll functions. It’s a great free tool for what I need. I also use it to track my personal accounts, but find that it’s lacking in some key features there – few reports and charts.
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Kelly M. Christensen
I’m a huge fan of Wave. I primarily use it for invoice processing. I’ve been with them for over a year now and watched their features grow and change directly based on user feedback (always heartening to see when it comes to any software). I regularly recommend them to clients who do direct billing.
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Nachum Lopiansky
Best invoicing+credit card processing
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