Monitor your cash flow, stay organized, and stop sweating tax season. With Bookkeeping, you outsource your bookkeeping to us and let the pros handle it. With Accounting Coaching, we ensure you are set up correctly and coach you on how to do it yourself.
Customizable invoicing
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy. Wave Accounting can be a great option if you run a very small service-based business or don’t need more advanced features that alternatives might offer. For small businesses any larger than that, however, Wave is limited. Unlike competitors, Wave doesn’t offer many advanced features to increase the software’s functionality.
Bank data connections are read-only and use 256-bit encryption. When everything is neatly where it belongs, tax time is simple. Wave’s smart dashboard organizes your income, expenses, payments, and invoices. If you want professional help to get your business up and running, you can access bookkeeping experts through Wave why you might need an audit of your financial statements for $149 per month.
How does Wave Accounting work?
Wave used to be free unless you signed up to accept customer payments or used the app’s payroll features. Since my last review, it’s added a fee for scanning and uploading receipts ($8 per month or $72 billed annually), a feature that competitors offer free. The company also offers advisory services from in-house accounting and payroll coaches and bookkeepers for a fee. Wave has been one of the best accounting applications for years because it’s good and it’s free (unless you need payroll, and many microbusinesses don’t). Our Editors’ Choice winners for small business accounting programs are Intuit QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks for their superior capabilities, usability, and customizability, but neither is free. While Wave is free to use, it doesn’t offer multiple plans to increase its functionality.
How much does Wave charge per transaction?
This is particularly true if you don’t have much accounting experience and would like an easy-to-use, fully functional tool. It’s one of the only truly free options on the market and can allow you to manage your accounting processes in one convenient place. FreshBooks has an excellent mobile app that allows you snap photos of receipts, send invoices and track mileage. While Wave has a lot to offer when it comes to invoicing, know that it’s still slightly less automated than some competitors. This isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it might require a bit more bookkeeping work. Wave Advisors are trained in-house professionals in bookkeeping, accounting and Wave features.
- In our Wave Accounting review below, we’ll cover Wave’s features, add-ons, pros and cons to help you decide.
- Our Editors’ Choice winners for small business accounting programs are Intuit QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks for their superior capabilities, usability, and customizability, but neither is free.
- Its invoicing and online payment acceptance features can help you get paid while its reporting and money management tools ensure you stay on track for tax season and future business growth.
- The software setup wizard guides you through four easy setup steps to generate an uncluttered, straightforward dashboard.
- Xero’s cheapest plan starts at $15 a month and limits you to sending just five invoices a month.
Our tools work together, so you work less.
Have an eye on the big picture so you can make better business decisions. Our robust small business accounting reports are easy prepare an income statement statement of owner’s equity and balance sheet to use and show month-to-month or year-to-year comparisons so you can easily identify cash flow trends. Any connections between you, your bank accounts, and Wave are protected by 256-bit SSL encryption. We built our payroll tool for small business owners, so it’s easy to use AND teaches you as you go. Give your customers the option of paying with one click using a credit card, bank transfer, or Apple Pay.
In addition, Wave’s mobile app lets you send invoices and track payments on the go. The app offers a receipt scanning feature as well, but you have to pay a subscription fee to access it. There’s a fee involved with accepting online invoice payments, too.
No, Wave Accounting does not include built-in inventory tracking or management. For a limited time, new Wave Pro users office of internal audit can accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover payments at a discount. Businesses in the 36 other U.S. states can only sign up for Wave’s self-service payroll plan. We’ve already hit on a few accounting features that set Wave apart, but there are a few more perks to cover. That said, QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks are our Editors’ Choice winners.