If that’s the case, Wave Accounting will likely live up to your expectations. Its invoicing and online payment acceptance features can help you get paid while its reporting and money management tools ensure you stay on track for tax season and future business growth. However, the only software Wave Accounting syncs with is Wave’s own payroll service. Otherwise, users must sync Wave with their favorite business management apps through Zapier, a third-party service. Wave also offers a free app to help you manage your invoices on the go.
- We love that even though Wave is free and freelance-focused, it doesn’t assume freelancers can afford to skimp on financial accuracy.
- Wave isn’t ideal for contractors and other companies needing project management features.
- You can also sign up for Wave Payments to get paid from an invoice.
- The graph below shows how Wave scores across each category compared with two of its competitors, Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online Plus.
- Solid accounts receivable features make light work of tracking money owed.
Sage Accounting offers some of the least expensive accounting plans available and stands out for its in-depth inventory tracking. While Wave has a lot to offer when it comes to invoicing, know that it’s still slightly less automated wave accounting review than some competitors. This isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it might require a bit more bookkeeping work. The payroll service that Wave Accounting offers can help make it easier to pay your contractors and employees.
The great news is there’s a free app called Wave to help you handle bookkeeping. Wave is the cheapest accountancy software you’ll be able to get your hands on, but it’s not the only worthy contender out there. In fact, with a research score of 4.7/5, QuickBooks is our top-ranked accountancy software for small businesses. If you’re looking to gain a firmer grasp of your business’s finances, Zoho Books offers excellent budget management features for as low as $15 per month.
We like how easy it’s to record a new bill and enter an expense without paying. You can snap a photo of your expense receipt and upload it to Wave through the mobile app, but this requires an $8 per month subscription to Wave Receipts. You can attach a receipt to transactions within the web interface of Wave for free. If Wave isn’t a good fit for you, read through our article on the year’s best free accounting software. The article kicks off with Wave, but it includes reviews for nine other free bookkeeping programs that you might prefer. Of course, if you freelance, you don’t need to worry about running payroll either now or in the future.
Wave is a safe accounting option for businesses and uses standard best security practices including data encryption and regular data backups with secure servers. For a free software program, Wave boasts an impressive, robust feature set that rivals even some paid accounting software programs. Wave’s invoices are easy to customize with your business’s logo, colors and contact information (Figure A).
You can’t count on Wave for managing fixed assets, which isn’t surprising for a free program. In our case study, Fit Small Business purchased a job trailer with a bank loan. Wave will record the purchase price in the fixed asset and note payable accounts—but that’s the only thing it does. You can connect your bank account to Wave and upload bank statements to synchronize your transactions. Instead of establishing a live connection with your bank, you can import QuickBooks Online files, which is very convenient. We’ve already hit on a few accounting features that set Wave apart, but there are a few more perks to cover.
Top Wave Accounting alternatives
Just click on the arrow to display all of the options available for that particular feature. Help is also available from the menu bar, as is the live chat option. One of the more helpful options is the Integrations tab, which allows you to easily connect with various apps that integrate with Wave. Wave product support is available by submitting a support request from the Wave website. For new Wave users, chat support is available for 60 days after purchase to help with any product setup issues. After the 60 days, chat support is only available for Payments and Payroll customers.
Wave At A Glance
You also get unlimited bank and credit card connections, and integrations with PayPal, Stripe, and more. Then there’s the mobile apps for iOS and Android, double-entry accounting, and automatic backups. Wave is a free cloud-hosted accounting software that allows you to track income and expenses, perform bank reconciliation, capture and organize receipts, and create professional-looking invoices.
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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. NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. Strong invoicing feature competes with that of paid products; app lets users send invoices on the go; offers significantly fewer reports than competitors; no inventory tracking. Accounting apps like Wave wouldn’t be useful if they didn’t allow you to import transactions from your bank and credit card accounts.
Wave is a very good financial management tool for freelancers, small proprietors and micro-businesses. Complete beginners will quickly get the hang of its most-used features. Wave https://personal-accounting.org/ is a smart and usable financial management tool for very small businesses. It does not perform like a fully-featured accounting package, and shouldn’t be compared to one.
Wave Accounting: Quick Fact File
Xero has more advanced features, hundreds of integrations, and also supports unlimited users. However, Xero doesn’t have a free plan, with monthly subscriptions starting at $12. With limitations on Xero’s lowest-tier plans, users will have to upgrade to a more expensive option to take advantage of everything the software has to offer. Xero also doesn’t support multiple businesses, so pricing can add up quickly for some users. And it’s worth noting that while Xero has more features, the software also has a steeper learning curve than Wave. Users can connect an unlimited number of bank accounts to Wave Accounting software, ensuring every transaction is accounted for and financial snapshots are up to date.
Wave does not integrate with QuickBooks, but if you want to connect QuickBooks and Wave you can use Zapier as a solution. You can import Wave data into QuickBooks Online if you are switching accounting software without needing a Zapier integration. Plus, thanks to its integration with the budget-friendly Wave Payroll solution, Wave Accounting can also work well for small businesses with employees. Since the software allows for multiple users, it may also appeal to midsize and growing businesses where more than one person keeps an eye on company finances. The software setup wizard guides you through four easy setup steps to generate an uncluttered, straightforward dashboard (Figure B).
To recap, Wave can manage invoicing, track expenses, and do bookkeeping. 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. The main difference between Wave accounting free and paid is that the latter provides access to additional features, such as Wave payroll, payments, and invoicing. With the free version of Wave, you can still do your bookkeeping and track expenses. While Wave provides unlimited invoices, it might be best to look elsewhere if you are looking for more robust account software.