Let us know how well the content on this page solved your problem today. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses. One of the most helpful features of Wave is its tax filing feature. Wave now integrates directly with H&R Block to help you file your taxes. You can check out our comparison table to see how Wave compares against the top accountancy providers, what is the difference in meaning between cost and price too. Monitor your cash flow, stay organized, and stop sweating tax season.
Is Wave Right for You or Your Business?
Includes tools that help automate the reconciliation process and auto-categorizes transactions for you in the Pro plan, but you can’t set up your own bank rules; no global search function. With a Pro Plan subscription, you can connect your bank account with Wave and automatically import your transactions. We built our payroll tool for small business owners, so it’s easy to use AND teaches you as you go. Give your customers the option of paying with one click using a credit card, bank transfer, or Apple Pay. We spend hours researching and evaluating each accounting software system we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings. On the other hand, QBO only supports up to 25 users on its most expensive plan.
- Xero’s cheapest plan starts at $15 a month and limits you to sending just five invoices a month.
- All you have to do is share your business name, type, address and the currency you use.
- You can invite your accountants, bookkeepers or other business partners to Wave via email and designate their user roles.
The checkout feature is one-of-a-kind and a great addition for business owners who need to charge multiple customers quickly. If you’re a startup, micro-business or sole proprietor who doesn’t want to invest in accounting software but needs to keep track of your finances, Wave Accounting is a great option. As long as you’re content with basic features and don’t see yourself expanding in the foreseeable future, you’ll find this completely free, easy-to-use software particularly appealing. Since you don’t have to pay anything to get started, it’s certainly worth trying out. Wave has recently updated its pricing model to now include a paid plan. Now, many standard features (such as automatic importing of bank transactions) are only available if you purchase a monthly or annual plan.
All you have to do is share your business name, type, address and the currency you use. There’s no live support unless you pay for it so you’ll have to dig materials price variance definition for the answers to your questions in the help center or cross your fingers that the automated chatbot will help you out. FreshBooks is an affordable option for freelancers and small service-based businesses that operate mostly on the go. Moreover, you can integrate QuickBooks with hundreds of third-party tools available in the app marketplace. There are also add-on Intuit services like QuickBooks Payroll or QuickBooks Time. Our (non-judgmental) team of bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll experts is standing by to coach you—or do the work for you.
Paycor
Like Wave, QuickBooks Online is easy-to-use, cloud-based accounting software. QuickBooks Online boasts a robust set of features, including advanced options like project management and inventory features you won’t find with Wave. QuickBooks Online also has hundreds of integrations, connecting your accounting solution with other small business software and apps. However, there are a few features the software is still lacking.
Is Wave Accounting safe?
Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software. Wave is cloud-based software that boasts a solid set of accounting features suitable for most small businesses. In our last review, we found these features especially appealing because they were all completely free with no artificial limits. FreshBooks came to life as an invoice- and billing-specific software program that expanded into a total accounting solution. Its customizable invoices are at least as easy to generate as Wave’s invoices, and FreshBooks offers even more invoice automations than Wave or QuickBooks, such as automatic late-fee additions for overdue invoices.
Still, some accounting programs are more user-friendly than others, and Wave Accounting is among the easiest for first-time business owners to configure. Otherwise, unless you add an optional service like Wave Payroll or Wave Mobile Receipts, Wave Accounting is free to use. Users of Wave’s paid and free plans can both access receipt scanning, though only paid users can opt for free receipt liability definition scanning. In either case, Wave Accounting’s mobile app lets you capture unlimited receipts and import them in bulk in batches of up to 10 receipts. At no cost, users can send an unlimited number of invoices to an unlimited number of clients.
Should your business use Wave Accounting?
Next, you can add sales tax (if necessary), create customer profiles and customize your invoice templates. Be your own accountant, thanks to Wave’s automated features, low cost, and simple interface. Overall, we rate Wave 3.9/5 and recommend it for business owners looking for a cheap — or in most cases, free — accounting software option. Check out our comparisons among these top three accounting software options to find the right fit for your business. While Wave Payroll doesn’t have many unique perks that set it apart from the competition, it’s a good option for business owners who are already familiar with Wave Accounting’s interface. Like Wave Accounting, Wave Payroll is extremely intuitive and user-friendly, so you won’t have to worry about navigating a new software system while dealing with the complexities of making your first official hire.
However, its budget management tools are reserved for its pricier tiers, making it less appropriate for budget-conscious businesses. If you’re looking for a reliable tool to track your financial transactions, Wave’s bookkeeping features will definitely cut the mustard. Scoring a perfect 10/10 in our research in this category, it is head-to-head with our accountancy frontrunners, QuickBooks and Xero. It is worth noting that Wave offers a wide range of bookkeeping functions that include journal entries, bank reconciliation statements, customizable charts of accounts, and balance sheets.
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. For example, QuickBooks Online doesn’t have a free plan, but offers four paid plans, each with additional features, making it a great choice for scalability.