QuickBooks Online Advanced vs. Wave Accounting

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
QuickBooks Online Advanced
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Online Advanced is a SaaS-based accounting software designed to scale with growing businesses. It includes the functionalities of QuickBooks Online, as well as more robust business analytics, customization, and resource management.N/A
Wave Accounting
Score 7.9 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
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Starter
$0
Pro
$16
per month
Pro - billed annually
$170
per year
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Considered Both Products
QuickBooks Online Advanced
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
I evaluated other packages. Wave is/was very appealing because it is free. However, I'm not certain is would scale enough with our business. Xero was tempting but it could not integrate with our bank and thus required manual entry. QuickBooks allowed us to maximize our …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
There is literally no comparison - Wave is a "cute little" accounting software system that does a nice job tracking someone's checking account and basic household expenses, but if you are a serious business, you certainly need a comprehensive software package like QuickBooks …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online Advanced is on par with Xero, and both are market leaders in the Online Bookkeeping solutions. Multi-dimensional reporting is better than Xero but Xero has better WorkPapers, Hubdoc app and allows for online filing of accounts to Companies House and to HMRC. …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks is much easier to use and train on. It makes dealing with your company's taxes a breeze. Reporting on your financial information is easy. Much of the functionality in the software is intuitive and easy to figure out. Other software reconciliation features aren't as …
Chose QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online is a no brainer; everything is going cloud so your accounting should too. That trumps the desktop versions of this software hands down. Price is a factor as desktop versions are bought outright and supported for about 5 years, so they are a little bit cheaper. …
Wave Accounting
Chose Wave Accounting
It is a useful solution but not designed for the UK market. For a businesses that want to see their debtors, creditors, profit and loss and balance sheet it is a great solution, however with those needing legal UK compliance the software will not work as well and the other free …
Chose Wave Accounting
Albeit Xero is much more robust and does require a monthly subscription payment. Wave Accounting is perfect for the very small client that does not have funds to pay for accounting subscriptions nor the high level of transactional/account management required of some clients.
Chose Wave Accounting
This was my first invoice company. I had seen Freshly before. Venmo is far less of an accounting tool. QuickBooks seems terrible with a monthly cost. Which is why I hadn't moved companies yet. But I just learned my Website host, Wix, offers it right through my site and Clients …
Features
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.1
96 Ratings
5% above category average
Wave Accounting
8.5
13 Ratings
9% above category average
API for custom integration7.779 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Plug-ins8.584 Ratings7.011 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
7.8
168 Ratings
5% below category average
Wave Accounting
6.5
45 Ratings
23% below category average
Single sign-on capability7.9148 Ratings6.532 Ratings
Role-based user permissions7.8164 Ratings6.536 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.1
181 Ratings
3% above category average
Wave Accounting
7.7
73 Ratings
2% below category average
Dashboards8.8170 Ratings7.571 Ratings
Standard reports8.4180 Ratings8.770 Ratings
Custom reports7.1172 Ratings6.837 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.3
185 Ratings
9% above category average
Wave Accounting
7.2
76 Ratings
5% below category average
Accounts payable8.2179 Ratings8.159 Ratings
Accounts receivable8.5174 Ratings8.170 Ratings
Cash management8.1155 Ratings9.162 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.5177 Ratings8.565 Ratings
Expense management8.3164 Ratings8.464 Ratings
Time tracking8.092 Ratings9.811 Ratings
Multi-currency support8.546 Ratings10.019 Ratings
Multi-division support7.881 Ratings7.19 Ratings
Regulations compliance8.283 Ratings5.016 Ratings
Electronic tax filing9.4101 Ratings5.914 Ratings
Self-service portal7.8100 Ratings8.040 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers9.177 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting7.979 Ratings4.05 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.1160 Ratings8.530 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting7.670 Ratings4.07 Ratings
Configurable Accounting8.588 Ratings5.017 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework8.367 Ratings1.03 Ratings
Standardized Processes7.8123 Ratings7.019 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings9.812 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings5.23 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.1
75 Ratings
8% above category average
Wave Accounting
8.1
11 Ratings
8% above category average
Inventory tracking8.175 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
QuickBooks Online Advanced
8.0
124 Ratings
5% above category average
Wave Accounting
7.6
53 Ratings
0% below category average
Pricing8.091 Ratings9.926 Ratings
Order entry7.384 Ratings10.018 Ratings
Credit card processing8.6109 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
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
QuickBooks Online Advanced
-
Ratings
Wave Accounting
6.2
24 Ratings
19% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.123 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.54 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings1.220 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings7.712 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.48 Ratings
Best Alternatives
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Small Businesses
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.5 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 7.5 out of 10
Enterprises
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.6 out of 10
BlackLine
BlackLine
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(186 ratings)
6.5
(82 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.3
(13 ratings)
7.8
(3 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(6 ratings)
8.3
(17 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
6.7
(4 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
2.9
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
2.1
(12 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
4.7
(3 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.2
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.1
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
QuickBooks Online AdvancedWave Accounting
Likelihood to Recommend
Intuit
Smaller businesses that need affordable accounting software that many people are used to should look at Quickbooks. QuickBooks makes it easier for people to access your books from multiple locations. If cost is an issue, QuickBooks is very affordable, given you do not need to install and maintain a server.
Read full review
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
  • It allows us to link to bank accounts in order to get up-to-date, real-time information, which is so important in today's lightning speed work world.
  • The "canned" reports are excellent and allow for extreme customization also. This makes them very helpful to both me and my clients.
  • The user interface for QuickBooks Online Advanced is easy to navigate and is intuitive for novices. The screens are well laid out and have cohesiveness on each screen to match tasks with others that match up well.
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
  • Proper advice in QuickBooks Online Pro for the usage if QuickBooks Online Advanced will be more efficient.
  • More features and space in the app for organization of the self-created workflows.
  • The stability of QuickBooks Online Advanced can still be better.
  • There are still file-size issues and limitations on transactions and attributes of transactions.
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
QuickBooks Online Advanced is very easy to use and the data is very transparent. The reporting shortfalls (not being able to report the current month and YTD results on the same report) as well as the issues with the limitations with the management reports.
Read full review
Wave
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
Read full review
Usability
Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced is great and effective. I use it for almost three months and it definitely does their job
Read full review
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
No issue at any time with Availability
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Wave
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
Read full review
Performance
Intuit
It can be access at any time and reports is generate in less than a minute
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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
No answers on this topic
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
The online training was easy to follow and understand. The online training gave us the specific instructions to follow
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Wave
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Intuit
Need to make an option for non-profit organizations
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Wave
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Intuit
QuickBooks Online Advanced isn’t as robust as Netsuite or Sage, but it is generally a great choice for most businesses. This software will meet or exceed the needs of most companies, and should be the first part of your accounting software decision. I would even reach out to a QuickBooks Online Advanced expert to ensure you need to step up to Sage or Netsuite before doing so on your own.
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
Software is very flexible
Read full review
Wave
Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
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Return on Investment
Intuit
  • QBOA has shown my clients the increase and decrease of my monthly income activity
  • I am able to project my income and spending more easily
  • The P&L reports has shown me a lot and by customizing to focus on my income and expenses has allowed me to better budget
Read full review
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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