Payroll by Wave vs. Wave Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Payroll by Wave
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting headquartered in Toronto now offers Payroll by Wave, a payroll app for small businesses.N/A
Wave Accounting
Score 7.5 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.
$16
per month
Pricing
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Starter
$0
Pro
$16
per month
Pro - billed annually
$170
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Considered Both Products
Payroll by Wave
Chose Payroll by Wave
First is the cost. Since QuickBooks removed the inhouse solution and moved everything to the cloud, the cost for a small business is prohibited. Wave is reasonable in cost. Support for QB isn't great they are always trying to upsell and commit. Wave support in comparison …
Wave Accounting

No answer on this topic

Features
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
9.4
5 Ratings
13% above category average
Wave Accounting
6.2
24 Ratings
20% below category average
Pay calculation10.05 Ratings7.123 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration9.01 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.05 Ratings1.220 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management9.55 Ratings7.712 Ratings
Reimbursement management10.02 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
8.5
13 Ratings
10% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
6.5
45 Ratings
23% below category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings6.532 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings6.536 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
8.1
73 Ratings
3% above category average
Dashboards00 Ratings7.971 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.970 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings7.437 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
7.2
76 Ratings
6% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings8.459 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.470 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings9.262 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings8.565 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings8.764 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings9.812 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings5.016 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings5.914 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings8.040 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings5.23 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.530 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings4.07 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings5.017 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings7.019 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
8.1
11 Ratings
7% above category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings5.68 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings9.95 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Payroll by Wave
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
7.6
53 Ratings
0% below category average
Pricing00 Ratings9.926 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings2.345 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.034 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings5.85 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings8.24 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.4 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 7.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.7 out of 10
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.1 out of 10
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Score 8.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(6 ratings)
7.5
(82 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.8
(17 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
2.9
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
8.9
(2 ratings)
2.1
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
4.7
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Payroll by WaveWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
Wave
Great for small business payroll needs. Reports and taxes are taken care of, everything is automated and once you're set up it's literally just a matter of minutes to run payroll each time. You also get email reminders which is helpful. There are premium features available for companies with larger/more robust needs, and I would definitely recommend looking into this software if you are searching for a user friendly payroll 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
Wave
  • An intuitive, clear UI helps you know where everything is, what options are at your disposal. Calendars and timelines show that Wave really thought out how to provide you with useful tool.
  • Pay day can be automated and straightforward.
  • Wave onboarding provides guidance at what information to input next until you are all set up.
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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
Wave
  • Implement an employee time clock option through a separate link which automatically applies to the weekly time sheets.
  • Option to further customize payroll statements
  • Add a per employee payroll dashboard with the option to review rolling, quarterly, and weekly snapshot. Info to include gross pay, employer paid tax, employee paid tax, etc...
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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
Wave
No answers on this topic
Wave
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
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Usability
Wave
Very simple & straightforward system to learn and when time is always of the essence the efficiency is much appreciated
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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
Wave
No answers on this topic
Wave
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
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Performance
Wave
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
Wave
Quick response times, personalized service. They offer in-depth videos and guides for helping to get set up. Any time I have a question about taxes or reporting, they answer quickly and give comprehensive answers. Members of the team with whom I've interacted have been courteous, friendly, and helpful. Overall, great 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
Wave
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
Wave
First is the cost. Since QuickBooks removed the inhouse solution and moved everything to the cloud, the cost for a small business is prohibited. Wave is reasonable in cost. Support for QB isn't great they are always trying to upsell and commit. Wave support in comparison is 100% better, and most of the answers are in their manual
Read full review
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
Wave
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
Wave
  • Peace of mind that all the payroll tax-related stuff is taken care of accurately and on time.
  • Easy to use interface saves time and helps ensure I am paid on time.
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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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