QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise vs. Wave Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a widely-used accounting package designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It is the top of the QuickBooks line. Pricing starts at $3,000 for five users, and goes up depending on the number of additional users. They also offer an Advanced Inventory module for $999 / year.
$1,261
per year
Wave Accounting
Score 7.1 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 EnterpriseWave Accounting
Editions & Modules
Gold
1,261
per year
Platinum
1,522
per year
Gold with Remote Access
1,785.60
per year
Platinum with Remote Access
2,083.20
per year
Diamond
3,060.34
per year
Diamond with Remote Access
3,600.36
per year
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Chose QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
We have also used Wave Accounting software because it's free, we like it because it's free, and when we have a company that it's not making money yet, we would always use Wave because of the fact that is free and that we don't have to spend a monthly fee like Quickbooks Desktop …
Wave Accounting
Chose Wave Accounting
Wave's price point was in line with what my company needed to manage basic accounting (payable and receivable accounts). It made it easy for me to issue monthly invoices to clients and track when invoices were paid. The software makes these tasks easy to manage and inputting …
Chose Wave Accounting
Circling back to the "free" thing again. For a small business, I am getting for free what QuickBooks Online charges no less than $40/month. Moving away from "free," these other solutions I listed above do more, and these would be the right solutions for the right needs. All of …
Chose Wave Accounting
Unfortunately we did not do our due diligence before selecting Wave. We came across them through our payroll provider (ADP) and assumed that it was good since we have had a great experience with ADP. In the future I would strongly recommend others to not just read online …
Chose Wave Accounting
Day and night. I found QuickBooks Legacy for Enterprise clunky and outdated and the user experiences are without compare.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.2
88 Ratings
9% above category average
Wave Accounting
6.2
24 Ratings
19% below category average
Pay calculation8.686 Ratings7.123 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.953 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Direct deposit files8.277 Ratings1.320 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.470 Ratings7.712 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.771 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
6.6
59 Ratings
7% below category average
Wave Accounting
8.5
13 Ratings
18% above category average
API for custom integration6.646 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Plug-ins6.656 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
8.3
125 Ratings
5% above category average
Wave Accounting
7.6
43 Ratings
4% below category average
Single sign-on capability8.595 Ratings8.530 Ratings
Role-based user permissions8.0123 Ratings6.834 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.7
138 Ratings
3% above category average
Wave Accounting
6.8
70 Ratings
10% below category average
Dashboards7.5120 Ratings7.068 Ratings
Standard reports7.9136 Ratings7.267 Ratings
Custom reports7.5133 Ratings6.334 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.3
142 Ratings
1% below category average
Wave Accounting
6.1
73 Ratings
19% below category average
Accounts payable8.5137 Ratings7.056 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.3137 Ratings7.467 Ratings
Cash management7.7123 Ratings7.059 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.0134 Ratings7.463 Ratings
Expense management7.7123 Ratings7.861 Ratings
Time tracking7.062 Ratings7.211 Ratings
Fixed asset management7.093 Ratings7.212 Ratings
Multi-currency support6.850 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Multi-division support6.676 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Regulations compliance6.954 Ratings6.815 Ratings
Electronic tax filing7.868 Ratings5.914 Ratings
Self-service portal6.753 Ratings2.039 Ratings
Global Financial Support5.928 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers7.552 Ratings7.04 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting7.459 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Localizations7.335 Ratings5.23 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.099 Ratings5.828 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting7.668 Ratings4.07 Ratings
Configurable Accounting7.264 Ratings5.516 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework7.038 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes7.071 Ratings4.017 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
6.9
87 Ratings
1% below category average
Wave Accounting
8.1
11 Ratings
15% above category average
Inventory tracking7.184 Ratings5.68 Ratings
Automatic reordering6.045 Ratings9.95 Ratings
Location management7.054 Ratings8.12 Ratings
Manufacturing module7.544 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
7.4
105 Ratings
2% below category average
Wave Accounting
7.6
52 Ratings
0% above category average
Pricing7.680 Ratings9.926 Ratings
Order entry7.585 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Credit card processing7.074 Ratings2.845 Ratings
Cost of goods sold7.392 Ratings9.833 Ratings
Order Orchestration7.643 Ratings5.85 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility7.841 Ratings8.24 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.033 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 8.9 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.8 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.8 out of 10
Enterprises
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.8 out of 10
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.8 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
7.8
(153 ratings)
5.4
(77 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
4.7
(9 ratings)
6.7
(14 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(5 ratings)
6.3
(8 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(3 ratings)
2.9
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
6.0
(10 ratings)
3.7
(12 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(3 ratings)
4.7
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(17 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(2 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Desktop EnterpriseWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
Quickbooks Desktop Enterprise is great for any small business. It makes book keeping easy, efficient, and accurate. I couldn't imagine trying to manage the books without it. The checks and balances prevent unintentional mistakes or fraud. The security measures that can be put in place can give the owner the peace of mind that they can control access and truly know what is going on with their business at all times. A larger business with multiple users may be better suited for QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise requires a third party for remote access and only permits one user.
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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.
Read full review
Pros
Intuit
  • Made for small to mid-sized product-based businesses.
  • Once you use the program, you will be amazed at how important the tool is and how it can be used to analyze and manipulate numbers.
  • Saves a lot of time and money than if you do all the things manually.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Cons
Intuit
  • There is confusion on checking the BILLABLE box when entering bills into Job.
  • There is also confusion if use the cost of goods or Items on the items list is not properly set up, and it does not show items on the job profitability report.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Intuit
We've been using QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions from when the business started, 11 years ago. I don't see us changing programs any time soon as it is working pretty well for us now. It would be extremely time consuming to start from scratch with a new accounting or inventory management program.
Read full review
Wave
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
Read full review
Usability
Intuit
I like the QuickBooks Enterprise edition so much I moved my company to it this year. I like the overall functionality of the program and I am very familiar with the user interface which makes my job easier. One of the things I dislike about the online version it is not modeled after the desktop edition and I have a hard time getting around in the program.
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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
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Intuit
I really did experience any event that required that much attention. for the most part the system is reliable and does not break down
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Wave
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
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Performance
Intuit
QB is a good and reliable system. We probably should have explore the other modules rather that jump in to the conclusion that we needed a new ERP.
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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
Very rare do I call the Quickbooks Enterprise Solutions support staff and I get a customer service associate quickly. On average, my wait time is near an hour, and at times even longer. After spending the first three minutes discussing my problem, they then begin to poke and prod around, sometimes the questions continue. But 80% of the time, the problem is over their head and they have to escalate the issue. The only problem is this escalation arrives usually after spending forty-five minutes poking and proding around but learning nothing. In short, my experience is rarely all that well, let alone great
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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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In-Person Training
Intuit
It is a very easy system to learn, so with the help it was even easier. QB is a good solid system, but it lacks some of the complexity other systems have. with QB you need to get additional modules to get the same functionality that other systems offer standard
Read full review
Wave
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Intuit
easy to learn system, specially with some kind of support. Just like with any other system, things get lot easier if you have guidance to lead you in your search for answers. having said that, QB is very easy to use and very easy to teach. you wont spend much time memorizing where to click.
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Wave
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
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Implementation Rating
Intuit
If you're loading QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions onto a computer that you're going to directly log into, you should be able to do it yourself. If you are going to connect to a server through a network or remote connection, you should probably have a professional IT person set it up for you.
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Wave
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Intuit
1. Excellent, customizable features
2. Ability to manage all accounting, payroll, banking etc. in one place
3. Easy to setup and use
4. Backups are easier due to the vault etc.
5. Paperless
6. Easy to learn
7. Ability to visualize your entries and enter them
8. Integrates well with other products
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
Read full review
Scalability
Intuit
It is not a fair rating because we did not invest in different modules to accommodate for business grow and complexity expansion.
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Wave
Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
Read full review
Return on Investment
Intuit
  • Good value for the price. The initial setup was quick and easy.
  • When properly set up and processes are followed it's decent at managing inventory which is something we had problems with. Have to have a dedicated employee to builds.
  • Rolling up costs in multi-level BOM's is a project each time we have to review costs, it's very time consuming to manually update all assemblies.
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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.
Read full review
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