QuickBooks Desktop for Mac vs. Wave Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Quickbooks Desktop for Mac is an accounting software designed for Mac users. It is designed to integrate with Apple iCloud. It provides core accounting features in line with the rest of the Quickbooks Desktop product line.N/A
Wave Accounting
Score 6.0 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting is a free, cloud-based accounting platform exclusively for small businesses. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and permits unlimited user access, invoicing, and expense management. Wave Accounting integrates with Wave's invoicing, receipt scanning, payment processing and payroll apps.N/A
Pricing
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
Chose QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
I used to use Wave Accounting for quite awhile and switched to Quickbooks for Mac this year because I need some more rigorous software and record keeping for my accountant. Wave Accounting was an excellent start for a small company but as soon as I had decent revenue, it became …
Wave Accounting

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
11 Ratings
29% above category average
Wave Accounting
6.2
24 Ratings
19% below category average
Pay calculation10.09 Ratings7.123 Ratings
Benefit plan administration10.06 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Direct deposit files10.08 Ratings1.220 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management10.05 Ratings7.712 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.07 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
6.0
11 Ratings
16% below category average
Wave Accounting
8.5
13 Ratings
19% above category average
API for custom integration6.07 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Plug-ins6.010 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
20 Ratings
24% above category average
Wave Accounting
9.5
43 Ratings
19% above category average
Single sign-on capability10.020 Ratings9.730 Ratings
Role-based user permissions10.017 Ratings9.334 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
10.0
22 Ratings
27% above category average
Wave Accounting
8.2
70 Ratings
8% above category average
Dashboards10.019 Ratings9.368 Ratings
Standard reports10.022 Ratings9.467 Ratings
Custom reports10.022 Ratings5.734 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
5.8
24 Ratings
24% below category average
Wave Accounting
6.8
73 Ratings
9% below category average
Accounts payable8.124 Ratings9.356 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.123 Ratings9.567 Ratings
Cash management6.218 Ratings9.359 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.824 Ratings9.563 Ratings
Expense management6.220 Ratings9.561 Ratings
Time tracking6.212 Ratings9.411 Ratings
Fixed asset management6.214 Ratings9.412 Ratings
Multi-currency support1.010 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Multi-division support6.211 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.210 Ratings6.815 Ratings
Electronic tax filing8.115 Ratings5.914 Ratings
Self-service portal6.213 Ratings1.739 Ratings
Global Financial Support1.07 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers6.213 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting6.214 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Localizations1.06 Ratings5.23 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations6.217 Ratings6.228 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting6.25 Ratings4.07 Ratings
Configurable Accounting6.29 Ratings5.516 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework6.29 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes6.213 Ratings4.317 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
7.7
15 Ratings
9% above category average
Wave Accounting
8.1
11 Ratings
14% above category average
Inventory tracking6.214 Ratings5.68 Ratings
Automatic reordering7.810 Ratings9.95 Ratings
Location management7.09 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Manufacturing module10.08 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
8.3
18 Ratings
11% above category average
Wave Accounting
7.6
52 Ratings
2% above category average
Pricing10.017 Ratings9.926 Ratings
Order entry10.016 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Credit card processing10.017 Ratings2.345 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.016 Ratings10.033 Ratings
Order Orchestration5.76 Ratings5.85 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility6.77 Ratings8.24 Ratings
Order exception Resolution5.66 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(32 ratings)
3.6
(79 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(9 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
5.4
(6 ratings)
6.2
(15 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
2.9
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
6.9
(4 ratings)
2.5
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.7
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop for MacWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
If you're a freelancer or running a very small business where you do your own bookkeeping I think this is a great option, especially if you're familiar with accounting and bookkeeping in general. If you're not so familiar with bookkeeping, I would say that the learning curve is too steep and you might want to look elsewhere for a more intuitive solution
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Wave
Wave Accounting was used for a small practice without a lot of the accounting considerations a large company would have. For the price, you really can't beat what Wave offers out of the box. All of the basic tools for things like invoicing and expenses are all easy to use. End of year accounting is easy with exports of data.
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Pros
Intuit
  • The program is very easy to learn, the interface is incredibly user-friendly and there are tons of free resources and tutorials available
  • It makes managing payroll really easy for the employee and accountant on staff. No more lost time sheets or late paychecks!
  • Managing bills and paying them has become streamlined and it's great having everything in one place so we don't lose track of things.
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Wave
  • Reconciliation is very difficult with multiple Wave transactions that need to be deleted or merged before it can be matched to a bank transaction.
  • Payroll worked fine for us but took several days to get it set up. We have switched to another bookkeeping system and another payroll system. Canceling with Wave took several days and they charge $6 for something even though the month was paid for in advance.
  • Credit card processing is nice and worked fine for us.
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Cons
Intuit
  • The #1 complaint is that setting it up right is a challenge. People waste time trying to figure it out only to realize that they don't know accounting so of course they don't know how an accounting program should be set up. Like any time you are in over your head, reach out to your network and find someone who can log onto your computer and walk you through it.
  • If you need to track the cost of wages to jobs you can't do it with the online payroll, but check for yourself because it's a function that landscaping companies and construction businesses usually need, so maybe they have added it by now. That would really help!
  • It's premise-based software and that means you take on the role of hardware admin, and it's a lot of work for what is increasingly becoming a smaller gap in the functionality between QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online.
  • QuickBooks for Mac 2015 has been updated consistently over the last 3 years and continues to provide for the bookkeeping needs of small companies using Macs in their offices. However, it has limited job costing functionality. It is similar in functionality to the 2010 version of QuickBooksPro which runs on Windows.
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Wave
  • I know that credit card processing is a way for Wave to make money, but I really wish they offered ACH payment on Invoices.
  • I do cash-based accounting, which means I have to make little journal entries at the start and end of each year to get my books to balance because Wave wants to do everything differently. This should just be a setting to flip, whether you want cash-based or accrual-based.
  • They use Yodlee for bank connection, which doesn't play nice with 2FA. Pretty much every time I log in I have to re-enter credentials, get a code sent to me, reauthenticate, and know that I'm going to have to do it again next week. Not really on Wave, but wish they could get it together nonetheless.
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Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
I haven't spent that much time with the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac, but I think I'm seeing it make the much-needed improvements. For example, something as simple as undoing the previous reconciliation was a terrible chore, and I'm glad that feature has been included in the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac
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Wave
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
Read full review
Usability
Intuit
The Mac version is OK overall. I find the Windows versions to be much more robust but Mac is quite good for Mac users. Though I think die hard Mac users should consider QuickBooks Online instead as there is a new QB for Mac app that makes using QBO much better!
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Wave
I am a professional bookkeeper and I have no problems using Wave and all of it's features. I can see that certain individuals who have no accounting knowledge might struggle with a few different features and entries, but that is why Wave has an emphasis in connecting users to Wave Pro's who will walk them through things
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Reliability and Availability
Intuit
I've been using the QuickBooks online version for a little over 6 months now (upgraded from Mac desktop) and I haven't had any access issues. There have been times when it was down for service/upgrade however there is always plenty of notification time given by the Quick Books Online Support team. These upgrade maintenance time frames are always over night hours and on the weekends so everything can be worked around very easily.
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Wave
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
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Performance
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Wave
Wave does tend to slow down when filtering your transactions screen especially by date. This is more of an issue when trying to trouble shoot certain transactions or clean-up a set of books.
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Support Rating
Intuit
Fortunately, I haven't had to reach out much for support.
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Wave
I never had to call Wave Support as we barely experienced any support-related problems on our side. However, I do know a few people that complained about Wave support. It would be nice as well, though if they could have more in your face tutorials for new users or how-to videos should we struggle to do something
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Online Training
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Wave
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
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Alternatives Considered
Intuit
I love using Quickbooks compared to other software we've tried. QuickBooks Online and TSheets interface. Customer service and problem resolution are generally excellent, with well-trained and proficient agents taking calls or on chat. Ease of use and accessibility via the mobile app. Great courses were available to help with learning the basics and some advanced accounting background. I love learning! Online accessibility - it can work anywhere with an internet connection. Linking to bank and credit card accounts is handy.
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Wave
Wave is FREE for most functions. Payment processing costs no matter where you go (as does payroll or taxes). Wave rises above tools like QuickBooks Online because they know that for our small firm, being nimble is the name of the game. We don't need exhaustive reporting and management like QB offers and we certainly don't want to pay for it
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Scalability
Intuit
No answers on this topic
Wave
Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • The ROI was good for when we were a smaller company because it is a lot cheaper than other more sophisticated programs.
  • The negative impact is that it caused a lot of extra manual entering and data entry that too often resulted in mistakes.
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Wave
  • Wave has been ROI positive for our company. With not having to pay for the service we can use our money for growing our business.
  • The fees on credit card transactions for invoices are reasonable especially as we don't pay a monthly subscription.
  • The invoicing feature has made our lives easier for us and our customers. The invoicing piece and AR tracking has been ROI positive as well.
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