Additionally, free Wave Accounting users don’t have access to customer service. While you can check out articles on Wave’s knowledge base, you won’t be able to connect with a live person who can talk you through any accounting software problems. Wave’s biggest perk is probably its cost, or its lack thereof The bookkeeping for landscaping business only charges you’ll accrue with Wave Accounting’s free plan are typical online payment and transaction fees you pay with any payment processing service. 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 scanning.
They’re more expensive, of course, though they both have entry-level versions that may be affordable for microbusinesses and freelancers. And the more advanced versions we reviewed are well-suited to larger small businesses thanks to their intuitive operations, smart feature sets, and flexibility. You can invite your accountants, bookkeepers or other business partners to Wave via email and designate their user roles. They can receive “editor permissions” and access accounting and reports as well as purchases easily.
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If you want more in-depth support, accountants and payroll coaches are available starting at $379 per month. Finally, Wave’s billing, payment acceptance, and invoicing features all work together to ensure you get paid on time. In other words, Wave has many of the invoicing perks you get with invoice-heavy software like FreshBooks, but at no cost. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.
Connecting your accounts
In addition to its accounting software, Wave offers paid services, including Wave Payments, Wave Payroll and Wave Advisors for bookkeeping support and accounting coaching. Create beautiful invoices, accept online payments, and make accounting easy—all in one place—with Wave’s suite of money management tools. To review Wave, we set up a free Wave Accounting account that we used to create invoices, record sample transactions and generate financial reports. We also read verified Wave Accounting and Wave app reviews on third-party sites like Gartner, Trustpilot, the App Store, Google Play and more.
- If that’s the case, Wave Accounting will likely live up to your expectations.
- Wave Accounting gives you free unlimited invoices, users, expense and income tracking, credit and bank account connections, and more.
- Wave Accounting imposes fewer limits than most of its competitors on everything from users to vendors.
- For small businesses any larger than that, however, Wave is limited.
- It’s always available, and it’s backed up for extra peace of mind.
Can I share Wave Accounting with accountants?
Wave’s introduction of a second plan on top of its free accounting tool makes unspent money today could lose value in the future it a more scalable solution than its previous one-plan-only structure. Still, with just one paid plan, Wave can’t accommodate growing businesses the way multiplan competitors like QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks or Zoho Books can. 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. Wave’s invoices are easy to customize with your business’s logo, colors and contact information.
Until recently, Wave was best-known for its completely free accounting solution. As of 2024, Wave has introduced a second paid plan that gives small businesses the option to scale up with Wave as they grow. At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations.
Compare your accounting software options
With the higher-tier QuickBooks plans, you have access to inventory management, billable expenses and project profitability tools, none of which are offered with Wave. Since Wave only has one accounting plan, though, it’s not perfect for business owners who want to add accounting features as they grow. And its email-only customer support means users are largely on their own if they encounter an immediate problem. Wave has moved more features—most notably, estimates—but the apps could still use improvement. A better dashboard and access to transactions would be a good start, though you can work with invoices, estimates, payments, customer and product records, and receipts. I encountered occasional text degradation on both an iPhone 13 Mini and a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, making some pages look sloppy, though usually readable.
Simran is very helpful and goes above and beyond to help me as I am a fairly new freelancer and user of the Wave Advisor services. We also took our expert’s view into accounting when calculating our star ratings. Wave has helped over 2 million North American small business owners take control of their finances. Wave has helped over 2 million small business owners in the US and Canada take control of their finances. She always has everything in order and is ready for any questions i may have. If you didn’t receive an email don’t forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support.
You can enjoy features such as unlimited income and expenses tracking, digital receipt upload and transaction management and access its invoice mobile app at no cost. Wave Accounting offers free software, meaning you won’t need to submit a credit card or payment information to use it. It can help you manage your bookkeeping, accounting and invoicing processes through a few internal integrations. With Wave’s free plan, users can accept online ACH payments for a standard transaction fee of 1%.
The landing pages for invoices and estimates provide useful, detailed overviews of your activity and the product cost and period cost defined status of your sales forms. Customer statements are simple—a choice of outstanding invoices or account activity generated one at a time. 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. If you’re a freelancer or other solo service provider, Wave is a better option.