Wave is cloud-based accounting software that allows you to manage your bookkeeping, invoicing, and payment processes in one place. It allows you to create and send unlimited bills and invoices, manage invoices on the go with Wave’s mobile app, and generate financial reports among others.
The best things about Wave are that it is easy to set up and that it has a free plan that many businesses find sufficient for basic accounting. A downside is that it lacks advanced accounting features, like project management and inventory accounting. If you’re interested in the program after reading our detailed Wave review, you may sign up for the free plan (Starter) or upgrade to the paid version (Pro) for $16 monthly.
Wave used to offer its accounting and invoicing features for free but it recently introduced a paid version (Pro). It has additional features, like live unlimited receipt capture, live chat and email support, and a discount on credit card processing fees.
Pros
- Offers a free plan for businesses with basic accounting needs and a single user
- Has a new paid version that’s more affordable than most other similar software
- Is pretty straightforward to set up
- Makes it easy to record a bill and manage unpaid bills—even in the free version
- Generates different types of accounting reports
- Now includes live chat and email support in the paid version
Cons
- Doesn’t allow you to connect your bank accounts with the free subscription
- Can only add one user in the free plan
- Is not a good fit for large businesses or businesses with inventory
- Can’t set up separate income and expenses by classes or locations
- Can’t reconcile bank statements when timing differences exist
Would you like to learn more about the suite of financial management tools offered by Wave Financial? Check out our guide to Wave Financial software.
Wave Alternatives & Comparison
Do you want to know how Wave stacks up against other popular accounting software? Learn through our comparisons:
Our guides to the leading Xero alternatives and best FreshBooks alternatives, which include Wave, may also be of interest to you.
PROS | CONS |
---|---|
Easy to set up | Invoices are not customizable |
Great basic accounting features | No live support in the free plan |
Includes payroll |
Below, we summarized the reviews we gathered from users and shared our expert opinions:
- Ease of setup: Some reviewers mentioned that Wave has a nice and user-friendly interface and layout, making it easy to set up even for those with no accounting experience. I also find Wave extremely easy to set up and use, even for the new paid version.
- Great basic accounting features: Many users are satisfied with the basic accounting features offered in the free plan, including invoicing and income and expense tracking. However, it’s a bit of a letdown that Wave no longer lets you connect bank accounts in the free plan.
- Payroll is included: One reviewer likes that Wave includes built-in payroll, either as a paid add-on in the free plan or included in the paid version.
- Invoices are not that customizable: One user wishes that they could customize the invoices—but they’re pretty much limited. Wave allows you to upload your company logo and choose the theme color, and we believe you can still make decent invoices out of this. Invoices in the paid version have more customization features than the free plan.
- Limited customer support in the free plan: Some dislike that Wave has no customer support options in the free plan—unless users enroll in a paid service. We’re happy that Wave includes free live chat and email support in its new paid version.
Here are the average Wave review scores from third-party sites:
- Software Advice[1]: 4.4 out of 5 based on more than 1,500 reviews
- G2.com[2]: 4.4 out of 5 based on around 300 reviews
Fit Small Business Case Study
We’ve developed an internal case study to evaluate accounting software across 15 different categories based on a common set of facts and functions. The graph below shows how Wave scores across each category compared with two of its competitors, QuickBooks Online Plus and Zoho Books. We provide a detailed explanation of the scores in the Features section.
The case study ratings are based on the features and capabilities of the paid version, Pro.
Wave vs Competitors FSB Case Study
Touch the graph above to interact Click on the graphs above to interact
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Wave From $0, $16 as tested
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QuickBooks Online From $30 per month; $90 as tested
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Zoho Books From $0; $50 as tested
As seen in the chart above, Wave beats QuickBooks Online and Zoho Books in pricing and ease of use. However, Wave’s two competitors have notable advantages in terms of features, like banking, A/P and A/R management, inventory, and project accounting.
As mentioned earlier, Wave used to be completely free. Now, it offers a free plan and a paid subscription that costs $16 per month. We docked a few points primarily because the free plan no longer supports an unlimited number of users.
However, both the free (Starter) and paid (Pro) plans offer basic features, such as invoicing, income and expense tracking, and payment processing. The Pro plan has additional inclusions, as outlined in the below.
Pricing & Features | Starter | Pro |
---|---|---|
Pricing (Cost per Month) | $0 | $16 |
Pricing (Cost per Year) | $0 | $170 |
Credit Card Processing | From 2.9% plus 60 cents per transaction | |
Maximum Number of Users | 1 | Unlimited |
Wave Receipts (Unlimited Receipt Scanning) | $11 per month or $96 per year | ✓ |
Access Live Chat & Email Support | Requires a paid add-on | ✓ |
Issue Unlimited Invoices | ✓ | ✓ |
Track Bills | ✓ | ✓ |
Print Financial Statements | ✓ | ✓ |
Upload Bank Statement Transactions | ✓ | ✓ |
Connect Bank & Credit Card Accounts | ✕ | ✓ |
Restrict User’s Rights | ✕ | ✓ |
Track 1099 Payments for Independent Contractors | ✕ | ✓ |
Email Invoice Delivery | User’s own email | Wave’s built-in email |
Add-ons available:
- For Starter users:
- $11 per month for unlimited receipt scans via their mobile app
- For Starter and Pro users:
- Wave Payroll: Fixed monthly cost of $40 for tax service states or $20 for self-service states; there’s also an additional $6 per month, per active employee or independent contractor. Read our Wave Payroll review for more information.
- Wave Advisor: $149 per month for bookkeeping support
- Accounting and payroll coaching: One-time fee of $379
Wave Accounting Features
Wave earned high marks for general features, and it could have aced the criterion if users could use account numbers in the chart of accounts and import a chart of accounts. However, we like that it’s fast to set up a new account, and it’s simple to add business information, such as company name, type of business, address, and contact details.
By default, Wave sets up your chart of accounts based on common accounts and categories, but you can add other accounts if you need to. To add an account, go to the Chart of Accounts page under the Accounting menu, and choose from the tabs at the top of the page for the account or category you wish to add:
With the paid version, you can connect your bank account to Wave and upload bank statements to synchronize your transactions. However, Wave’s reconciliation feature is not as seamless as those in other software like QuickBooks Online. For instance, while it has an automatic reconciliation feature, it doesn’t allow for any reconciling items, such as checks written but not yet processed by your bank.
The free Starter plan does not allow you to connect a live feed to your bank or credit card accounts. However, you can upload your bank statements from comma-separated values (CSV) or Excel files and perform bank reconciliations.
If you need to print dozens of checks, you’ll prefer QuickBooks Online, as Wave users have to write checks by hand. Read our QuickBooks Online review to learn more about our recommended alternative.
Wave is one of our best A/P software because of its ability to record unpaid bills even in the free Starter plan. However, we docked a few points because we found some weaknesses, such as the inability to create purchase orders, track transactions by vendor, and attach receipts to unpaid bills.
Nevertheless, we are impressed with how easy it is to manage unpaid bills in Wave. Your A/P transactions can be conveniently managed from the Purchases menu, which consists of all the features you need to record your purchases: Bills, Vendors, and Products and Services.
Depending on your subscription, you can snap a photo of your expense receipt and upload it to Wave through the mobile app. All users can attach a receipt to transactions in the desktop interface, although you can’t attach them to unpaid bills.
To record a bill in Wave, click on the Create a Bill button, and then the Add bill screen will appear:
Unfortunately, you can’t create a recurring transaction directly from the bill, which is something you can do in other software like QuickBooks. You also can’t create recurring expenses and create and send purchase orders (POs).
The program did well in A/R management, and it could have scored higher if there were more options to personalize invoices. The Starter plan allows you to upload your company logo, but you can’t choose from invoice templates and change the invoice color. You can create decent invoices in the Pro plan, but they aren’t as customizable as those in other software like QuickBooks Online.
Once an invoice is created, you can email it directly to your customer in the paid version. The free plan doesn’t let you do that, but it provides you with a link to your invoice so that you can include it in your own email.
Other tasks you can perform in Wave’s A/R system include:
- Set up recurring invoices
- Create a product or service item to auto-fill invoices
- View outstanding invoices without generating a report
- Track sales tax collected and remitted by jurisdiction
- View detailed tax reports
Wave isn’t ideal for contractors and other companies needing project management features. You can’t set up projects and assign them to team members—meaning you can’t also track actual income and expenses by projects. You can only create customized estimates and send them to new or prospective customers.
Wave allows you to add sales taxes to invoices, bills, estimates, and expense and income transactions. Whenever you enter a transaction with a sales tax, it records the amount automatically in the sales tax liability account.
While you can track your sales tax in Wave, there’s no way to file your returns or pay your tax liability. This feature is also handy if you’re working with independent contractors and need to generate a 1099 form for tax filing. The sales and income tax features are evaluated across the other categories, so it has no separate video.
Wave’s inventory management feature is very basic, so if you’re a product-based business, you should consider alternatives like QuickBooks Online or Xero. You can add a product or service, but not the quantity purchased or sold. This means that Wave can’t calculate your COGS, which is important if you deal with inventory.
We examined Wave’s inventory management feature across the other categories, mostly in A/R and A/P, so there is no separate video for inventory.
Wave scores well in this category because of its robust reporting capability. We tried to generate 16 types of reports and successfully generated the following: profit and loss (P&L) statement, cash flow statement, A/P aging, A/R aging, general ledger, trial balance, transaction list by customer, and expense by vendor. In addition to missing some desired reports, Wave’s reporting feature doesn’t allow for customizing your reports.
Wave recently retired its separate Wave Receipts app and combined that functionality with the Wave Accounting app. Free plan users will need to subscribe to Wave Receipts, but it’s included in the paid Pro plan. It’s great that Wave now has a single app, but the app still has limited features.
It performs pretty basic tasks, like sending invoices, receiving payments, and capturing an expense receipt. You can’t input or pay bills, categorize bank transactions, and view reports, which can be a problem if you often do business on the road.
Wave took a hit in integrations because you can’t connect it to time tracking and electronic bill pay processors. While you can integrate it directly with Google Sheets and BlueCamroo, other integrations must be made through Zapier. If you have a Zapier subscription, you can integrate a lot of ecommerce apps.
Wave also integrates with its own suite of products, which include Wave Payroll, Wave Invoicing, Wave Payments, and Wave Money. As a Wave user, you also have access to Wave Advisors, an assisted bookkeeping service.
For more information, check out our:
Wave is easy to use and has a low learning curve, whether you’re in the free or paid version. The interface is clean and not overwhelming, and you can easily find your way around. The dashboard includes shortcut buttons so that you can easily create new transactions, like bills, estimates, and invoices. Even if you don’t have accounting experience, you can familiarize yourself with the features of Wave in less than a week.
Wave has limited customer service in its free plan. Your only support is through an automated chatbot or by browsing through self-help resources. If you need access to email and live chat support, you must purchase an add-on in the free plan or upgrade to the paid version.
You can access personalized support through the Wave Advisor program where you can get coaching and year-round advice from a Wave expert. These support services are expensive for most small businesses, and we can’t fully recommend them to you unless you have a budget to spare.
Wave Accounting Assisted Bookkeeping Options
The Wave Advisor program is an in-house bookkeeping, accounting, and tax service from Wave. The advisors are trained employees of Wave who will assist you with your bookkeeping needs. The program has several packages:
- Bookkeeping support: This package is $149 per month. Bookkeeping pros from Wave will handle all your bookkeeping needs per month. You don’t have to worry about anything because a dedicated Wave Advisor will do it for you.
- Accounting and payroll coaching: This package is a one-time payment of $379, unlike the bookkeeping support, which is a month-to-month contract. This program is ideal for business owners or freelancers who want to handle their bookkeeping confidently. Wave Advisors will train you in accounting and payroll so you can do it yourself (DIY) for your business.
If you’re a busy person, we recommend getting bookkeeping support. However, go for the coaching package if you’re the kind of business owner who wants to do the bookkeeping yourself.
How We Evaluated Wave
We evaluated Wave using an internal scoring rubric with 15 major categories.
5% of Overall Score
In evaluating pricing, we considered the billing cycle (monthly or annual) and the number of users.
5% of Overall Score
This section focuses more on first-time setup and software settings. The platform must be quick and easy to set up for new users. Even after initial setup, the software must also let users modify information like company name, address, entity type, fiscal year-end, and other company information.
5% of Overall Score
The banking section of this case study focuses on cash management, bank reconciliation, and bank feed connections. The software must have bank integrations to automatically feed bank or card transactions. The bank reconciliation module must also let users reconcile accounts with or without bank feeds for optimal ease of use. Lastly, the software must generate useful reports related to cash.
5% of Overall Score
The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions. A/P features include creating vendors and bills, recording purchase orders and converting them to bills, creating service items, and recording full or partial bill payments.
5% of Overall Score
This takes into account customer management, revenue recognition, invoice management, and collections. The software must have A/R features that make it easy for users to collect payments from customers, remind customers of upcoming or overdue invoices, and manage customer obligations through analytic dashboards or reports.
10% of Overall Score
Businesses with inventory items should choose accounting software that can track inventory costs, manage COGS, and monitor inventory units.
10% of Overall Score
Service or project-based businesses should choose accounting software that can track project costs, revenues, and profits. The software must have tools to track time, record billable hours or expenses, send invoices for progress billings, or monitor project progress and performance.
4% of Overall Score
In this section, we’re looking at sales tax features. The software must have features that allow users to set sales tax rates, apply them to invoices, and enable users to pay sales tax liability.
4% of Overall Score
Reports are important for managers, owners, and decision-makers. The software must have enough reports that can be generated with a few clicks. Moreover, we’d also like to see customization options to enable users to generate reports based on what they want to see.
10% of Overall Score
Customer service is evaluated based on the number of communication channels available, such as phone, live chat, and email. Software providers also receive points based on other resources available, such as self-help articles and user communities. Finally, they are awarded points based on the ease with which users will find assistance from independent bookkeepers with expertise in the platform.
10% of Overall Score
This requires the software to allow users transitioning from other bookkeeping software to import their chart of accounts (COA), vendors, customers, service items, and inventory items. Ideally, there will be a wizard to walk the user through the import process.
10% of Overall Score
Ease of use includes the layout of the dashboard and whether new transactions can be initiated from the dashboard rather than having to navigate to a particular module. Other factors considered are user reviews specific to ease of use and a subjective evaluation by our experts of both the UI and general ease of use.
5% of Overall Score
This includes the availability of integrations for payroll, time tracking, and receiving e-payments. We also evaluated whether an electronic bill pay integration was available.
5% of Overall Score
The software must have a mobile app to enable users to perform accounting tasks even when away from their laptops or desktops. Some of the features we looked into include the ability to create and send invoices, accept online payments, enter and track bills, and view reports on the go.
7% of Overall Score
We went to user review websites to read first-hand reviews from actual software users. This user review score helps us give more credit to software products that deliver a consistent service to their customers.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, Wave still offers a free plan, but it’s now limited to a single user. If you need to add multiple users, you must purchase the paid version, which costs $16 a month.
Yes. Wave uses 256-bit transport layer security (TLS) encryption for data security, and all accounting data are stored in servers monitored 24/7. Your credit card numbers are also not stored in Wave.
Yes, Wave offers payment processing through Wave Payments. You only need to pay for the processing fees: 2.9% plus 60 cents per transaction for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover; and 3.4% plus 60 cents for American Express. When you upgrade to Pro, you’ll receive discounted rates: 2.9% plus 0 cents for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover and 3.4% plus 0 cents for American Express. To learn more about its features, check out our Wave Payments review.
Yes, Wave includes a sales tax tracking feature. You can set up multiple sales tax rates, apply them to invoices, and generate reports to help with tax compliance.
Bottom Line
Despite several limitations, Wave still has plenty to offer small businesses. It offers essential functionality that will help you pay bills, invoice customers, and track your expenses even in the free Starter plan. You’ll need to upgrade to the Pro plan for $16 per month if you want live customer support.
[1]Software Advice
[2]G2.com