As of 2024, Wave has introduced a second paid plan that gives small businesses the option to scale up with Wave as they grow. Reports are important for managers, owners, and decision-makers. The software must have enough reports that can be generated with a few clicks.
Reports
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 paid version of 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. FreshBooks came to life as an invoice- and billing-specific software program that expanded into a total accounting solution. Wave’s invoices are easy to customize with your business’s logo, colors and contact information. If you want professional help to get your business up and running, you can access bookkeeping experts through Wave for $149 per month.
Wave Accounting vs. Xero
If you have the Pro plan, you can sync with your bank account to have Wave add transactions for you automatically. 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.
Unlimited users
- Whenever you enter a transaction with a sales tax, it records the amount automatically in the sales tax liability account.
- This feature is perfect for those who are just getting started with accounting.
- Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.
- Wave accounting is a cloud-based accounting website designed for freelancers, self-employed contractors, small business entrepreneurs, and startup owners.
- Wave Accounting is the best free accounting software solution for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small-business owners alike.
Wave accounting provides different levels of support for customers who use different parts of Wave. Keep reading our Wave bookkeeping review to find out more about the pricing plans as well as the most prominent features of this software. 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. Wave offers a decent number of support resources to customers, but the response times can be slow. Furthermore, customers using the free Starter plan will have limited support options.
It’s also intuitive so you don’t need to be an accountant to use it successfully. Similar to other reputable cloud-based accounting software products, Wave encrypts the data you share with it and monitors its server facilities 24/7. When you reconcile your books, you’ll navigate to the “Reconciliation” tab within the Accounting menu. If you need to manually edit, add or remove any transactions, you can do so on the Reconciliation or Transactions pages. Next, you can add sales tax (if necessary), create customer profiles and customize your invoice templates.
Wave Accounting also uses double-entry accounting, which is much more accurate than basic single-entry accounting. Most accounting software use the double-entry system, though FreshBooks’ cheapest plan is what is the difference between a notable exception. We love that even though Wave is free and freelance-focused, it doesn’t assume freelancers can afford to skimp on financial accuracy.
Wave also has some of the most appealing invoices on the market. Wave also offers time-saving automations, such as recurring invoices, automatic billing, and receipt scanning. Approval is subject to eligibility criteria, including identity verification and credit review. Your deposit times may vary based on your financial institution.
You can access personalized support through the Wave Advisor program where you can get coaching and year-round advice from a Wave expert starting at $149 per month. While that is very reasonable for the services delivered, it’s only a starting price—and Wave doesn’t publish any additional pricing information. Wave Accounting scored poorly in this criterion because of the amount of manual data entry that is required to set up a company file for existing businesses.