Wave Accounting Review: App Features, Pricing, Pros & Cons

We love that even though Wave is free and freelance-focused, it doesn’t assume freelancers can afford to skimp on financial accuracy. When everything is neatly where it belongs, tax time is simple. Wave’s smart dashboard organizes your income, expenses, payments, and invoices. While Wave has a lot to offer when it comes to invoicing, know that it’s still slightly less automated than some competitors. This isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it might require a bit more bookkeeping work. Wave’s software is simpler—designed for easy use for freelancers and small businesses—while QuickBooks’ platform is designed to cover complex business needs and grow as your business grows.

Wave Accounting Review: Pros, Cons & Key Features

NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy. Similar to other reputable cloud-based accounting software products, Wave encrypts the data you share with it and monitors its server facilities 24/7. Allows an unlimited number of users in the Pro plan, but is not complex enough for businesses with more than a handful of employees; ideal for very small service-based businesses, freelancers or contractors. Last but not least, Wave integrates with popular accounting software.

1. Wave Accounting does a lot for the price—but it can’t do everything.
2. Wave Accounting’s Starter plan is free and its Pro plan, which includes more features, is $16 per month.
3. Businesses can link their bank accounts to the platform, import bank statements, and add expenses manually.
4. Our robust small business accounting reports are easy to use and show month-to-month or year-to-year comparisons so you can easily identify cash flow trends.
5. However, some users complain that the customer support team is not always able to solve more complex issues.

This is particularly true if you don’t have much accounting experience and would like an easy-to-use, fully functional tool. It’s one of the only truly free options on the market and can allow you to manage your accounting processes in one convenient place. Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in 40+ currencies. You can also get 9 major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas invoice payments like a local.

Wave accounting software free vs paid: what’s the difference?

Since you don’t have to pay anything to get started, it’s certainly worth trying out. Wave allows you to search transactions, design accounting reports and reconcile data across other Wave products. Plus, you can calculate sales tax automatically, customize payment terms and enjoy access to easy-to-understand cash flow insights. It also features a well-laid-out, clutter-free dashboard with individual tabs for sales, purchases, accounting, banking, payroll and reports.

You can connect your bank account to Wave, which will automatically import and match your banking transactions with your recorded income and expenses. There is also an option to manually upload a bank statement into the application or add manual transactions, which is a nice feature if you’re not comfortable connecting your bank or credit card information. For instance, Wave can be used to track overdue client payments, create and send invoices and estimates, set up recurring invoices, and create payment reminders. Wave even lets businesses store client information in comprehensive customer profiles, letting users access a range of important information from one user-friendly dashboard.

Our tools work together,so you work less.

One of the biggest disadvantages of Wave is that it doesn’t have any dedicated time-tracking features. If you need to track your time for billing or invoicing purposes, you’ll capital assets explained need to use separate time-tracking software. Get support from Wave’s team of bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll experts.

It’s a solid platform for basic accounting needs, but it doesn’t go in for so many advanced features. The vendor also provides expert accounting coaching by real advisors, which is a great resource. Honestly, these features outpace those included with some paid accounting software. For instance, Xero only includes expense tracking with its priciest plan, which starts at $65 a fasb’s new standard for classifying deferred taxes month.

When it comes to Wave payroll, the monthly fee starts at $20 plus $6 for each employee or contractor for states where payroll taxes must be paid and filed manually. Explore more details on the competition in our full roundup of the best accounting software for small businesses. You can also use Wise’s free invoice generator to create and send unlimited invoices. The number of users you can add and customers you can invoice is limited depending on which plan you select. For the other 36 remaining states, Wave offers you guidance and support for tax vertical analysis common size analysis explained filings and payment.

QuickBooks Online

If you do want live support, you’ll need to invest in an Advisor or paid service. Like Wave, you can add an unlimited number of users on any plan using Xero. However, Xero comes with extra features such as multi currency support and analytics.