Skip to main content
TrustRadius
Wave Accounting

Wave Accounting

Overview

What is Wave Accounting?

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.

Read more
Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Wave Accounting is a reliable tool for staying up to date with accounting tasks such as creating invoices, tracking payments, and managing …
Continue reading

Disappointed in Wave Accounting

1 out of 10
January 19, 2024
I am an artist and the only user. In trying to reconcile sales tax in wave to what I report to the state by quarter using the P&L, all …
Continue reading

Good Accounting Software for SME's

9 out of 10
January 13, 2022
We use Wave Accounting for all the financial data of the organization (SME.) The payroll, however, was outsourced. The product addresses a …
Continue reading

Wave Accounting Review

1 out of 10
August 17, 2021
Went from Rave to RIOT over payout holdups. [It seems like] they've delayed my money countless times. They suspend payment, asking for …
Continue reading
Read all reviews

Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 44 features
  • Bank reconciliation (63)
    9.6
    96%
  • Accounts receivable (67)
    9.6
    96%
  • Standard reports (67)
    9.5
    95%
  • Dashboards (68)
    9.4
    94%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

View all pros & cons
Return to navigation

Pricing

View all pricing
N/A
Unavailable

What is Wave Accounting?

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…

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Would you like us to let the vendor know that you want pricing?

26 people also want pricing

Alternatives Pricing

What is Xero?

Xero is an online accounting software product for small businesses and personal finance. Its features beyond general ledger and double-bookkeeping include quotable invoicing, bank reconciliation, purchase order and expense management, and tax management. Third party apps can extend its features…

What is QuickBooks Online?

QuickBooks Online is a SaaS version of the QuickBooks product. It contains all of the features found in the local version. Higher-priced plans include greater automation, payment management, inventory and time tracking, and analytics features.

Return to navigation

Product Demos

How To Use Wave Accounting App | Get a hold of your Money! | Ibukun Awosika

YouTube

Wave Accounting Demo

YouTube
Return to navigation

Features

Payroll Management

Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.

6.2
Avg 7.5

Customization

This addresses a company’s ability to configure the software to fit its specific use case and workflow.

8.5
Avg 7.1

Security

This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.

9.5
Avg 8.0

Reporting & Analytics

Users can report on and analyze usage, performance, ROI, and/or other metrics of success.

8.2
Avg 7.6

General Ledger and Configurable Accounting

Financial management solution, including capabilities for general ledger and configurable accounting

6.9
Avg 7.4

Inventory Management

The ability to track and manage the flow of goods or materials into and out of an inventory.

8.1
Avg 7.0

Order Management

The ability to process orders, and track them from quote to cash.

7.6
Avg 7.4
Return to navigation

Product Details

What is Wave Accounting?

Wave Accounting is a fast growing, free, cloud-based accounting platform exclusively for small businesses (less than 9 employees) offered by Wave in Toronto. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and permits unlimited user access to always-available records and reports, as well as unlimited invoicing and expense management. Wave integrates with expense tracking software Shoeboxed. The software is mobile-accessible.

Wave Accounting integrates with Wave's invoicing, receipt scanning, payment processing and payroll apps, into one relatively comprehensive package. However, the automated payments and payroll functionality must be purchased; the payments addition bills per transaction, and the payroll feature bills by number of employees over a flat rate. To support the free platform, Wave integrates advertisements from business partners. Thus these are a necessary facet of the service.

Wave Accounting Competitors

Wave Accounting Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, and Xero are common alternatives for Wave Accounting.

Reviewers rate Multi-currency support and Order entry and Cost of goods sold highest, with a score of 10.

The most common users of Wave Accounting are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
Return to navigation

Comparisons

View all alternatives
Return to navigation

Reviews and Ratings

(172)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Wave Accounting is a reliable tool for staying up to date with accounting tasks such as creating invoices, tracking payments, and managing financial obligations. Users appreciate how Wave Accounting simplifies these processes, eliminating the need for manual tracking. The software offers an intuitive interface and essential accounting features that make it a popular choice for small businesses. It has been commended for its ability to quickly generate professional estimates and invoices, as well as provide performance insights through flow graphs and profit and loss graphs. Although some users have experienced drawbacks such as limited customer support and lengthy credit card acceptance processes, overall, Wave Accounting has been highly recommended by users who find it valuable for organizing their businesses. It is particularly useful for tracking inventory purchases, sales, expenses, managing independent contractor businesses, and is considered an affordable and powerful solution by accounting professionals in service-based industries.

Comprehensive and Versatile Software: Users have found Wave Accounting to be a comprehensive and versatile solution for bookkeeping and budgeting. It has been praised for its ability to effortlessly track and categorize financial transactions, streamline invoice creation without redundant data entry, as well as generate various financial reports.

Cloud-based Accessibility: The cloud-based nature of Wave Accounting is highly appreciated by users, providing them with easy accessibility from any computer while eliminating concerns about computer glitches or server problems. This feature has been mentioned by numerous reviewers.

Powerful Invoicing Feature: Users have lauded the invoicing feature in Wave Accounting for its power and user-friendliness. They can easily create and send invoices, keep track of due dates, and mark off paid invoices. The software also provides automatic invoice numbering, facilitating quick reference to different invoices.

Horrible Reconciliation Process: Users have expressed frustration with the reconciliation process in Wave, describing it as horrible. They find it difficult to match transactions and suggest a simpler method for reconciliation.

Lack of Customer Support Options: Many users complain about the lack of customer support options in Wave. They mention the absence of phone or chat lines and express frustration with the frequent response to read documentation. Users desire more personalized assistance and quicker ways to resolve their issues.

Limited Reporting Features: Users feel that the reporting features in Wave could be more robust and flexible. They report issues with exporting general ledger items and mention the need for improvements in sorting options for reports. Some users desire preset date options for reports and request further development of this aspect in Wave.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 25)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Vin Campbell | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I am personally using Wave Accounting (free version) as the primary accounting app to run the backend of my business. I use the program to create, send, and track invoices to my clients, and I use the link to my bank account to track my expenses, profit and loss, sales tax, and general income vs. expenditures. Having a piece of software this comprehensive that is completely free is a pure lifesaver. I am on a generally tight budget, so this feature solves a huge problem for me and my company!
  • Providing a comprehensive piece of accounting software for free
  • Invoicing + receiving payments--super easy and intuitive on both fronts
  • Bank account linking: They are working diligently to correct this, but it broke when they updated their system. Probably could have tested more banks prior to rolling out the upgrade
  • If you don't fully track and reconcile your books, you'll see carry over numbers--needs a better way to handle this.
First, I have already recommended Wave Accounting to everyone that has ever asked me about accounting software. This software is perfectly suited to small businesses with small operating budgets. Entrepreneurs can rejoice for sure--free is unheard of and I can't stress enough that this solution is 100% free! Now, they make money when the need arises for a small business to hire an accountant. That's their level-up plan that generates revenue. For me, I've yet to need this service, but if/when I do, I'll certainly use Wave first!
Ashley Mumm | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a one-woman consultation, I use Wave to manage my quotes as I bid projects. I use it as my main CRM as well to organize and keep track of current and potential clients. When bids turn into accepted projects, I convert them to invoices and track payments there as well. I've connected my bank accounts and have used the card terminal before as well. I like the mobile app function to monitor and track outstanding invoices.
  • Bid to invoice conversion is great.
  • Client information is easily added to documents.
  • Financial reports are in-depth enough.
  • Some design aspects could be improved upon in their document creation.
  • Some aspects of the interface are hard to use, and are not as intuitive as they should be.
For most small businesses that need something to use that is free and mobile-friendly, I would recommend Wave. It's been a great tool for me as a small outfit. I used it for my small construction company as well, though I found I was using it more for my marketing clients who were more mobile-friendly than the construction clients generally. For larger firms, a more CPA friendly tool may be better, though some tax preparers may know about Wave now.
Andrea Mitchell, MSW, APSW | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I own a small business and Wave is used for all of our accounting and expense tracking. It is linked to my checking account and I like that all of my expenses are already listed and I just need to go in every once in a while and categorize them. I used to do everything myself but as we have grown I now have our Office Manager do some of the categorizing and it is super simple for her to learn and do.
  • Links to bank account
  • Allows me to create new categories while other apps do not
  • It is completely free to use
  • I'm not a big fan of the invoice feature and don't use it
  • I haven't figured out a good way to get a full report of expenses at the end of the year for my tax accountant without having to make some tweaks.
  • The predictive categorization is most often incorrect.
It is really great for a small business with only minimal transactions to have to categorize. It is also perfect for someone who has zero accounting knowledge.
I'm not entirely sure who it would not work well with because I really don't know much about other businesses or accounting.
Jared Hammond | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Wave Accounting helps me keep track of my invoices and process payments from my customers. I don't have a large amount of time to spend, and Wave makes it very easy for me to do this. My customers can keep track of the invoices and easily pay online. It just works.
  • Accept payments online.
  • Easy invoice creation.
  • Overall accounting.
  • More integration options.
  • More options in mobile app.
I use Wave Accounting for my audio engineering and videography business. I have recommended this product to all of my colleagues, and they enjoy using it as well. It makes it easy to keep track of, send, and process payment for invoices.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Wave Accounting is being used as a way to organize all purchases and money coming in and to quickly look at reports if need be. It's also a nifty tool to create quick invoices that are nice looking, functional, and time-saving, being that I don't have to send automatic follow-ups.
  • Invoices
  • Reports
  • UI/UX
  • For people who aren't experienced with accounting, it can be a little confusing. I wish the help were a little more extensive.
I don't think that Wave Accounting would be the best solution if you're an enterprise-level company, but if you're a tiny business or a solopreneur, then Wave Accounting would be a great fit. Also, unless you use their added services, there won't be any other costs passed on to you.
Tiffany Rachann | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use wave for its essential accounting functions such as invoicing, payment receipts, and to track business-related purchases and expenses using the account connection feature. It's relatively easy to use and can copy and duplicate invoices, send reminders and gauge how often invoices are paid or not. It's primarily used by myself though I sometimes have my assistant send a simple invoice.
  • Allows the user to set up customer profiles and manage the intricacies of account payable tracking.
  • Allows the user to connect the app to a bank account thereby identifying purchases and business-related expenses. Awesome for tax time!
  • Allows the user to create vendor profiles and manage payroll accordingly.
  • Connecting the app to a bank that isn't listed in their database isn't seamless.
  • Sending multiple invoices to one client that needs to use different payment methods raises a red flag.
  • Receipts can't be exported as PDF's and must be sent from the email that was used during sign-up (can't be altered).
Overall, Wave is a good stand-alone option for a small business with a few employees and/or vendors. It's easy to set-up, navigate and trigger for reoccurring situations. The platform utilizes Stripe for payment processing so the standard fees apply (which if one takes payments upwards of $5,000 can be pricey) and the funds are deposited in a few days with ETA notifications on both the dashboard and via email.
David Schwartz | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Wave Accounting in mainly the IT department to track invoices and receive payments from clients for work completed and reoccurring sales. Wave makes it very easy to create an invoice template, add customers, create line items, and send invoices! The option to also allow credit card payments on the invoice through Wave is a nice feature and saves us time from having to contact the customer and take card information over the phone and the transaction fee they charge isn't bad at all considering other applications out there.
  • They make sending invoices pretty simple and you can choose from sending either from Wave or you can add an email account and it will allow you to send from the Wave account but using your own account to avoid confusion from your clients.
  • Being able to store products, line items, and various services so you can quickly create more invoices later is a great feature! It'll save the price or hourly rate for the next time you need to use it
  • Reoccurring invoices are one of my favorite features, it makes it simple to send invoices to customer who have a monthly fee you need to charge. Wave will send it automatically and there's no extra work for you to do to ensure your customer is up to date on current charges.
  • Taking payments - I would like to see them integrate with CashApp or Venmo since many of my clients like to pay via mobile apps like those and then I have to manually record the payment in Wave
  • I would also like to see a feature that allows you to download a PDF version of an invoice in their mobile app. Other than that the mobile app is great!
If you do freelance work then it's perfect! I love having Wave for side business we perform at work and it makes it so easy to set up a freelance operation with professional invoicing. When a customer, or perspective customer, receives one of Waves invoices it definitely helps to make you look more professional and gives your customer confidence that you aren't just the average Joe that's going to take their money.
J.P. VanderLinden | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
As a small business owner (founder, principal and independent contractor) with clients across the country, I quickly discovered that I needed a solution to manage my invoicing, cash flow and expenses for the business. Spreadsheets are fine, but I needed something professional but lightweight. I tried a few other solutions, but once I found Wave I was hooked. I've been using it for years, it's my go-to solution, and they keep adding features that make it better. I use it for estimates, invoicing, and bookkeeping.
  • Invoices are so easy to execute. Whether they are one-off or recurring, fixed or variable, single item or multiple line entries, they come out looking professional, polished and they get sent without any fuss. Put your client's info on them, add your logo, describe the services, add notes, set due dates, etc. all without cracking an abacus.
  • It's a little thing but I love how the estimates feature integrates with Invoices. You start by making an estimate for a client, with a defined expiry date. Once they accept, you can convert that estimate immediately into an Invoice and set it up to send.
  • Built-in payment processing is great. I don't have to worry about Paypal or Stripe or anything, Wave just handles my client's credit cards so I don't have to do a thing. They even have recurring billing for my retainer clients!
  • 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.
Wave is free to use, and they have some premium features you can pay for. For someone just starting out as a small business, freelancer or independent contractor, this is a Godsend. You can look professional, have something easy to manage, and yet also have excellent records come the end of the year. You won't spend a bunch of time having to learn the program, it's very intuitive and you get a host of great features that will make getting paid easy.
Lindsay Frey | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I used Accounting by Wave to invoice my clients, send payment reminders, send estimates, track my business expenses, and see profit & loss when it was time to do taxes. As a solo entrepreneur, it kept my business accounting separate from my personal, and I loved that it was a free service that looked professional when emailing clients.
  • Good design / branding – looks modern & professional & trustworthy for my clients (that's coming from a picky 'millennial'!)
  • Enjoyable & well-designed interface
  • Great options for their free product
  • Really no complaints!
It's great if what you need is simple, well-designed invoicing and bookkeeping. If you want to integrate more features (like CRM, proposals, questionnaires, lead management, etc) into the same app, go with something else.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Wave as our primary accounting solution for the entire company. We're small, but Wave has great features we're using across both backend financial management and front-end sales (quoting and invoicing). The ability to process payments has been a great tool for us as well and the auto-reminder feature on outstanding invoices saves a ton of time so I don't have to manually beat the bushes.
  • Quoting and Invoicing - This feature is huge to be able to manage customers and automate the process of sending invoices as well as reminding outstanding balance holders about their obligations.
  • Payment Processing - Once you get the invoicing down, the ability to process credit card and ACH payments in a single package is great. The fees are competitive and the turn-around time to money in the bank is quick.
  • Bank Integrations - I mean, this ought to be a standard thing these days, but Wave makes it super simple. There is no need to use esoteric APIs or ugly interfaces - everything is in the same Wave wrapper and the functionality is truly seamless.
  • The mobile experience leaves a lot to be desired. While I can use the receipt app to capture expenses, we live in a mobile digital world where I need to be able to create quotes and invoices on the spot and not back at my desk.
  • There are a few accounting and account related tools that could use some sharpening. For example, there isn't a good way to merge transactions - so when I snap a picture of a receipt and add it there is trouble reconciling against the bank. This shows up as two discrete transactions that cannot be merged - so one has to be manually deleted. It kind of defeats the purpose of scanning the receipts in entirely.
  • We've struggled with integrating debt accounts. For example, a shareholder may pay for something to get us by one day - how to we capture that as a debt owed? There isn't a way. The "shareholder debt" account doesn't talk to the rest of the system.
Wave is great at small business accounting where fairly simple quotes and invoices can be set up and payments can be received online or as mailed checks. Other or more complicated situations are not well suited to the platform. Any business that takes in Bitcoin or other alternative currencies will struggle to link the account types together.
Lukas Sundahl, MBA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Wave for our whole organization. We run various reports from within Wave to track and monitor performance for the firm. With Wave we can easily generate a professional sales invoice for our small company. The reports from the software give us a way to quickly analyze trends both short term and long term.
  • The ease of use with Wave makes it a great tool. Someone without much accounting experience can jump in and use the software.
  • The reports features in Wave make looking at financial statements a breeze. In addition you can quickly drill down into expense categories to see all transactions of a certain type.
  • It is very easy to generate a sales invoice and see the average period for our company to get paid.
  • I love the Wave Invoice app where we can track invoices on the go and verify payment history.
  • One area of improvement for Wave would be combining the various mobile applications into one app.
  • Another room for improvement would be on the dashboard level. It would be great if they could use more bar graphs and get away from pie charts for things like expenses.
  • Some of the other areas from improvement have been addressed by recent updates so I am excited to see what else Wave brings out.
Wave is well suited for small businesses looking to have an accounting service that won't hinder profitability. Wave is a great service for a small business owner just starting out and is flexible enough to meet demands of larger businesses. Wave even offers a paid payroll service if needed for any business owner. The ease of use with Wave makes it perfect for non-accountants, and for accountants they have tools available that they are used to seeing with other accounting software.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Wave is a great alternative to QuickBooks Small Business, and is being used to satisfy all of my small business' accounting needs. It also keeps my overhead low, because it is completely free- there's no initial or monthly subscription fee! It is completely online, so it allows me to access my account anywhere from any device, which is very helpful when I am travelling or when I forget to bring my laptop to work. Additionally, the interface is simple and easy to use, so there was no learning curve and very little stress in setting it up. It allows me to reconcile accounts, run various reports, and easily keep tabs on both my income and expenditures.
  • It connects seamlessly to my bank and credit card accounts, and typically inputs updated account information within 24 hours of the bank or credit card account being updated
  • It provides easy access to my financial information from multiple devices anywhere, anytime
  • It allows me to organize my income and expenses in easy to identify categories, helping me (and my accountant!) immensely during tax season
  • I can reconcile all accounts with a few clicks of a mouse, without hassle or stress
  • Wave doesn't have a comprehensive mobile app available, at least for Android. Wave does have supplementary apps, like an app that allows you to upload and categorize receipts, which then integrate into the main Wave interface. However, it would be great if there was an app that allowed for more on-the-go accounting.
  • On some occasions there is a delay of more than 24 hours between my bank accounts updating and Wave inputting the updated information
  • There are a few less "bells and whistles" in Wave than in QuickBooks, if those are things that are important to you and your business
Accounting by Wave is best suited for a small business with pretty straight-forward income and expenditures. I can't speak for it's usability for companies with bigger operations or more employees. Wave also includes basic invoicing and payroll functions, but from the little bit I have played around with those functions, they seem best on par with smaller, simpler operations. More complicated or specific needs would likely do best with a more "sophisticated" software.
Carl Grivakis | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Accounting by Wave has been an integral element of my business since I've been a part-time sole prop and stayed with me as a tool of choice as I moved into an S-Corporation. I use Accounting for invoicing, bookkeeping, receipt and expense management and to have a better idea of my cash flow. It pulls reports directly in from my bank and helps me assign expenses easily and resolve my books each month.
  • Wave is a wonderful integrated solution offering invoicing, bookkeeping, and cash flow analysis along with bank integration that auto updates.
  • Wave is a payment solution provider with an industry standard rate of 2.9ish% for credit card transactions and provides a good analysis for me as to when I typically get paid.
  • Wave pulls common data for me in building a customized branded invoice, allowing me to make the invoice process faster by adding repeat customers and listing my graphic design services.
  • Wave is owned by ADP and integrates well, but I'm less of a fan of ADP these days, so I'll need to work out how it'll work out with alternate payroll providers.
  • The app for Wave has some great functions, but the website has much more complete integration, where you can 'skip' sending an invoice if you're just using it to track invoices for retainer-based clients.
  • The receipt tracking app is separate from the accounting app, and could possibly be integrated better.
Wave is a great means to launch a business and run a low cost (free) accounting solution as you startup the gears on your own business. Wave is scalable and could work well with larger companies as you can provide a variety of access levels, and even give your accountant eyes into your books. I like that they also offer payroll and bookkeeping services at a cost, but I haven't used them yet.

Wave's invoicing is easy to follow and offers great payment options for my client.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I recently switched over to WAVE accounting from QuickBooks. I was using QuickBooks and had so many issues with posting expenses that I decided to cancel my subscription and jump over to Wave. Best move I ever made. It offers a great platform for my needs and best of all it's free. I am looking to add their payroll services which do come at a cost but I'm miles ahead without having to call support like I was constantly doing with QuickBooks. I am strongly suggesting you look into Wave for your accounting needs. Great job Wave team! Gil
  • First of all, it's free.
  • Easy to use. The Expense app is great when I'm traveling. I take a picture of my receipt and upload it. No more lost receipts with the Wave App
  • Constantly adding features
  • At times its a bit slow being an online service
I would absolutely recommend Wave. I'm a huge fan and spreading the word.
Marc Palud | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Wave is used to manage our quotes and invoicing for project work.
  • Simple to use.
  • Cloud based.
  • Works on mobile via a web browser.
  • They also have an app for invoicing.
  • It's an ad supported platform, [with] Google AdSense within the app. Other than that, fairly clean.
[Accounting by Wave is well suited for] Quick creation of invoices. [Also to] Send out overdue reminders, which can be automated.
December 28, 2016

Good Work Wave

John Murray Headshots | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I was having problems sourcing a suitable solution for taking credit card payments from clients. I found a great solution in some Irish software but was unable to charge clients remotely. To that point, my workflow was a bit all over the place. Invoicing and receipts one way; billing and accounts another. At a bit of a loss for a remote solution, I found Wave. For the first time I can manage all of my accounts in one place. [I can] record my outgoings with photographs of receipts (losing the paper bundles) and instantly invoice clients by the click of a few buttons on my phone or tablet. Brilliant software. Well worth using.
  • Fast invoicing
  • Easy to use
  • No more boxes of reciepts
  • I would like to see a button feature like the SumUp app.
  • A box for prices incl or excl tax for ease of pricing.
  • A Mac desktop version of the app. But I can use the website so I'm just being picky.
It's just so easy to use. I use it to send invoices and receipts directly to clients while still shooting with them. It's great for reminding me people owe me money. Because let's face it, I am a disaster.
Melissa Whaley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Wave is my primary accounting program for my business. I am a sole-proprietor business with no employees and prefer cloud based software so I can jump between working on my desktop, laptop, and tablet. I am able to use Wave accounting for all of my invoicing, receiving credit card payments, and tracking expenses. Because it is a full featured double entry accounting program it also is capable of tracking depreciable assets which many other paid online accounting programs do not do.
  • Wave invoicing is clean and easy to use to invoice all my clients, including using their mobile app.
  • Wave payments is great because you can see the payment details including when the money will deposit into your bank account. It also allows you to save payment methods for recurring payments.
  • Wave has excellent customer support, there are various subscription options if you need more dedicated support.
  • Wave does a great job of meeting the needs of small business owners by integrating receipts, invoicing, bank import, payroll, and expense tracking.
  • There are no preset date options for reports. It would be nice if you could select a quick option when running a report like "this month", "this quarter", "last month", "last quarter". It can bee a little cumbersome to manually enter the dates for a report especially when looking for previous years.
  • As a Wave Pro, I have clients who use Wave for Payroll. Under my "collaborator" access I cannot assist them with running payroll or view any payroll reports I have to use their personal login to access payroll. It would be nice to have an option to grant a collaborator more access including Payroll.
  • It would be really great to add a credit memo option. That way you could show that a client has a positive balance on their account. I know there are some funky work-arounds for this, but it's not worth the work to use them.
  • Bank reconciliation technically exists, but it's not intuitive for someone who is used to reconciling in a desktop software such as Quickbooks.
Wave is ideal for the solo-preneur service based start-up. It is meant for businesses who have operated out of a shoebox, or Excel spreadsheet, in the past and are looking to step up their game. It is not dummy proof so you still have to understand the very basics of accounting especially if you have bank accounts and credit cards auto importing transactions.

Wave does not have project management, or timed billing, like some other programs do, so if that is a high priority there may be other accounting software that fit their needs better. The bank reconciliation feature is a little weird so it might not be as strong for corporations that need to keep on top of account balances for tax reporting.
Peter Cullen | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
We use Wave Software for our small business clients who are getting started and need efficient and easy to use accounting software to manage their business finances, process payroll and have support for income tax preparation.
  • So easy to use and set up
  • Easy to collaborate with our Clients
  • Easy to view reports and share information in meetings with clients
  • The journal Entry Feature definitely could use improvements by allowing billable expenses to be posted to a Customer account
  • Reporting is still very basic and needs enhancement - ability to generate custom reports is needed
It is so not good for inventory and product related customers. It is best for service based customers and early stage companies.
David Goldstein | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Wave for several of business/personal accounts. I do all my personal bank and credit card work in Wave. I also use Wave to manage the back end of a rental property we own, and a high school reunion that has been ongoing for the past five years. As a Wave Pro Advisor, I work with a large range of clients who use Wave Accounting for their small to medium size businesses, and personal accounting. We set up the business Chart of Accounts, train in the use of Wave, assist on an ongoing basis managers and bookkeepers as needed. We encourage clients to do as much as they can and want to do in Wave, which is a great application for non-accountants who have limited or no experience in keeping a set of books.

I am a huge fan of Wave, as it is easy to set up, connect bank and credit card accounts, has a very good interface for feeding all transactions into Wave, and has a good set of reports available to allow us. and the client be able to quickly get a full view of the financial condition of the company, or the personal accounts.
  • Bank and credit card transactions feed seamlessly into Wave. Users don't have to manually enter transactions, and there are no mistakes entering numbers.
  • Categorizing transactions is, for the most part, easy and quick to do. Users learn by doing, and therefore grasp a much better understanding of their company's financial condition.
  • Users can create sales invoices and purchases, easily keeping track of money owed to them by their customers, and money owed to those they purchase from.
  • A broad set of reports is available at the click of a button, allowing instant looks at a wide range of company activity.
  • For each company account opened, users get a related Wave account for personal use.
  • Wave now offers a fully integrated payroll solution through Wave Payroll, a separate, but connected application.
  • Online accounting is the future, and Wave, which was created as an online application, continues to evolve and add new features to make it a better solution.
  • Project accounting is probably the most sought-after feature. Being able to individually track revenue and expenses for various events, etc., would be a huge plus.
  • A fuller set of reports would be helpful.
  • A small consideration, but to be able to view and print a P&L with categories in alphabetical order would be a big improvement. The workaround to export the P&L into Excel and sorting A-Z resolves this issue, but it should be unnecessary.
  • Being able to group categories in the P&L, for instance, would be a nice improvement.
Wave Accounting is well-suited for service-based organizations, less so for those that utilize inventory beyond simple tracking. Smaller companies, dba, LLC, S-Corps are ideal candidates for Wave. Wave is well-suited for people who have little or no experience with bookkeeping, used to "shoebox", Excel, manual tracking of revenue and expenses. Auto-feed of transactions is a huge plus for any and all who utilize Wave.
Eric Matthews | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Wave is one of the cloud-based accounting services I use with my clients. I have been using it for a few years now. It has been a great solution for clients who want an all-in-one solution for their small business bookkeeping. I have also tested it with my own books. It's especially good if you're trying to track both your business and personal finances in one app.
  • It has a very easy to learn interface.
  • They have a great support team that is quick to answer any questions you might have along the way.
  • The core of the service is completely free, so it's a great way to track your finances on a limited budget.
  • It has an optional payroll service built-in, which most other competitors don't offer.
  • The reports need some work. I would like to see some options for how the data is sorted (either by account number or name).
  • The payroll service is a bit limited if you have staff that have varied pay structures or are paid on different schedules.
The important thing is to figure out what the client wants to get out of their accounting software. Wave is well suited to sole proprietors or small shops that don't need all of the features that something bigger like QuickBooks provides. Since it's free, it's a great way for people on a tight budget to make sure they're keeping track of their books.

I wouldn't recommend it to larger companies who need very detailed and customizable reports or who have complex payroll needs.
Lior Zehtser, CPA, CA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We help support clients that are using Wave Accounting to run their businesses. It provides business owners with a free platform to manage their accounting records.
  • Payroll
  • Accepting Credit Cards
  • Reporting
  • Open API for third-party apps
  • Server speed can improve
It is suitable for non-complex businesses, businesses with low transaction volume and businesses just starting out.
Michael Schwanzer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It enables daily insights into our cashflow without any hassle of getting the data into it. Therefore we use it to plan spendings and know right away invoices are paid. Furthermore, having an accountant overlook our finances directly, it makes everything a lot easier. Automated invoices are a great way to save time.
  • Automated import of all transactions: saves time, nothing gets lost, no human errors from data entry.
  • The android app to scan recipes with seems to be a bit slow.
Can every transaction be imported from any bank?
Michele Craig CPA,CMA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Reseller
I am a small business bookkeeping consultant, that is to say that I recommend small business accounting software to other businesses who wish to manage their own basic bookkeeping. I have recommended, implemented and trained several clients on the use of Accounting by Wave. It is a robust solution which is very user-friendly for the novice bookkeeper. The bank interface ensures that business transactions are captured. It also allows my clients to track who owes them money, how much HST they owe, and other business results.
  • Bank or credit card interface - allows users to connect to their financial institutions and download transactions directly into the software. This ensures that nothing is missed. The user needs to review and accept transactions for final posting so no entries are entered without their review.
  • HST reporting - as many new businesses start as annual filers, tracking HST owing is a critical piece. The ability to separate and track HST in the software takes the guesswork out of how much money the client needs to set aside.
  • The user interface is very friendly and walks the user through setting up the software. This may seem like a small piece, but for someone who has never managed books and perhaps never managed a business before, a friendly interface is just the thing to keep them from running for the hills!
  • Well, I have to say it...it's FREE! There is an advertising sidebar and there are a couple of pay for use add-ons such as payroll and credit card processing but they are optional and economical.
  • There is a smartphone app that interfaces with the client datafile and which allows for invoicing customers on the road, reducing paperwork and speeding up collections. Invoices look polished and professional.
  • I would like to see the bank reconciliation module fleshed out. There is a basic version but no reconciling screen.
  • Their is an optical character recognition app called "Receipts by Wave" that try as I might, I just can't seem to get it to work. Some further development there would be nice.
I wouldn't recommend this software to a company that requires multi-currency accounting or inventory tracking, nor would I recommend it for a business larger than 10 employees. This software is designed for the micro business and best suits a service-based business.

In Simcoe County where my practice is located, we have many rural areas which don't have high-speed internet, so I don't recommend any cloud-based software for those clients who are still on dialup or whose internet would more appropriately be named "intermittentnet".
Tory Norman, CPA | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
While we do not use Wave Accounting at Squire for our internal accounting needs, as an accounting software company we do outsourced accounting for companies using the software and consult and train other companies in setting up and using Wave more efficiently. Wave is a great solution for small businesses in service-based industries looking for an affordable way to track simple accounting needs in a powerful and easily accessible way.
  • Price point - most features are free
  • Cloud and mobile based software available on many devices wherever you are
  • Clean and simple user interface
  • Functionality to download all transaction history to CSV for off-site records or conversion to another software at a later date
  • Functions are simple and basic - really tailored for service-based industries
  • There is little growth opportunity within the software for rapidly growing entrepreneurs
  • No fully functioned tablet app, instead there are a family of separate apps for different functions or accessing the main site via the tablet browser
Recommending Wave really depends on the business. If the owner is not currently using accounting software, is a small business that is single-owner or a simple partnership, has about five employees or less and is either service-based or simply buys and resells inventory then this can be a great fit and would get my recommendation. Businesses that don't tend to do well in Wave are businesses that require manufacturing, assembly, kits or other more advanced inventory needs within the software.
Return to navigation