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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.

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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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)
    9.5
    95%
  • Accounts receivable (67)
    9.5
    95%
  • Standard reports (67)
    9.5
    95%
  • Dashboards (68)
    9.4
    94%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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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

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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.

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Product Demos

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

YouTube

Wave Accounting Demo

YouTube
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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
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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).
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Comparisons

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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

(1-3 of 3)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
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.
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting (12)
52.5%
5.3
Accounts payable
70%
7.0
Accounts receivable
70%
7.0
Cash management
90%
9.0
Bank reconciliation
90%
9.0
Expense management
80%
8.0
Time tracking
N/A
N/A
Fixed asset management
N/A
N/A
Multi-currency support
60%
6.0
Multi-division support
10%
1.0
Regulations compliance
80%
8.0
Electronic tax filing
N/A
N/A
Self-service portal
80%
8.0
Inventory Management
N/A
N/A
Order Management
N/A
N/A
Payroll Management (5)
N/A
N/A
Pay calculation
N/A
N/A
Benefit plan administration
N/A
N/A
Direct deposit files
N/A
N/A
Salary revision and increment management
N/A
N/A
Reimbursement management
N/A
N/A
Reporting & Analytics (3)
60%
6.0
Dashboards
90%
9.0
Standard reports
60%
6.0
Custom reports
30%
3.0
Customization (2)
N/A
N/A
API for custom integration
N/A
N/A
Plug-ins
N/A
N/A
Security (2)
50%
5.0
Role-based user permissions
50%
5.0
Single sign-on capability
50%
5.0
  • Works very well with our small business customers so we are pleased
entry level software - does not yet compare to XERO
7
Accounting Tax Planning Analytics
4
Understanding what types of analytics clients need to see in their WAVE account Setting up bank feeds customizing Chart of Accounts POsting Manual Jounals
  • Start-ups
  • Mobile workforce
  • Virtual Teams
  • Fractional CFO
  • none so far
  • more mature companies as WAVE evolves
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
easy to use, bank feeds work as expected, reporting while basic covers most needs
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
Jeanne Harris | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I recommend it to many of my clients, set it up, monitor it and, in some cases, handle some of the date categorization. In some cases, clients use only the invoicing feature which provides us with information for revenue entries in our on-site software and information to process sales tax reports.
  • It does a wonderful job of invoicing and billing - great for tracking outstanding receivable and payables.
  • Love the ability to add my own general ledger accounts.
  • Entering journal entries is easy and provides needed flexibility.
  • We need to be able to create a template for general journal entries so that we don't have to enter every line on repetitive monthly entries.
  • Need the ability to choose cash or accrual for sales tax reporting.
  • Re sales tax liabilities, I really don't want a separate liability account for each sales tax jurisdiction. When I pay, I make one payment for multiple jurisdictions.
Who will be doing the data entry? Which features are most important?
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
N/A
N/A
Inventory Management
N/A
N/A
Order Management
N/A
N/A
Payroll Management
N/A
N/A
Reporting & Analytics
N/A
N/A
Customization
N/A
N/A
Security
N/A
N/A
I use Simply Accounting for clients with more complicated needs. Wave is great for small businesses with simpler needs. But it does complement very nicely with things like have a client do their own invoicing while we maintain everything else in Simply
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
April 29, 2015

Wave review

Jayant Kanitkar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Sole proprietor that is using it to keep books, send invoices, and prepare financial statements.
  • Auto download information from bank and credit cards and prepare financial statements that can be easily managed
  • Prepare invoices, send and collect money via credit card
  • Easy to understand instructions
  • Log in screen is confusing. You may end up creating a second account instead of logging in to your current one. It then takes customer service help to delete the second account.
Accounting by Wave is perfect for small businesses and sole proprietors - especially for whom QuickBooks or other heavy hitters are too complex.
Low cost, ease of use.
Haven't tried all of their features yet - still in testing mode.
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
N/A
N/A
Inventory Management
N/A
N/A
Order Management
N/A
N/A
Payroll Management
N/A
N/A
Reporting & Analytics
N/A
N/A
Customization
N/A
N/A
Security
N/A
N/A
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