Wave Review (Formerly Wave Accounting)

Pros

• Free plan available
• Easy to use
• Attractive invoice templates
• Help from expert accountants is available

Cons

• Limited mobile apps
• Unsuited for large businesses
• Poor customer support
• Some features only available on paid plan

What Is Wave?

Wave is cloud-based software that boasts a solid set of accounting features suitable for most small businesses. These features were especially appealing because they were all completely free with no artificial limits.

However, Wave changed its pricing model, and now some standard features (such as automatic importing of bank transactions) are only available if you purchase a monthly or annual plan. Additionally, your cost may rise with add-ons like payroll, payment processing, or professional bookkeeping services.

Although Wave has added a paid plan, it still lacks many of the features you’d find with the software’s competitors, including project management, advanced time tracking, advanced inventory, and solid mobile apps. Still, Wave’s free plan offers a good set of features and could be suitable for sole proprietors or smaller businesses with basic accounting needs.

Wave Pricing

Wave is known for its free accounting software. However, a paid plan is also available.

While Wave’s free accounting software doesn’t limit you to a certain number of invoices, customers, or transactions, certain features and automations are now only available by subscribing to Wave Pro.

Wave’s Starter plan still offers the basic features businesses with simple accounting needs can use to manage their finances. Pricing is transparent, there are a decent number of add-ons, and even the paid plan is pretty affordable.

Wave Starter Plan

This plan includes:

• Unlimited invoicing
• Unlimited estimates
• Customizable invoices
• Automated late payment reminders (with online payments)
• Contact management
• Expense tracking
• Accounts payable
• Basic inventory
• Reports
• Mobile app

Wave Pro Plan

The Pro plan includes everything from Starter, plus:

• Discounted rates for online payments
• Automatic import of bank transactions
• Automatic merging and categorization of bank transactions
• Automated late payment reminders
• Digital receipt captures
• Live chat and email support
• Additional users and permissions

Extra Wave Costs & Fees

There are several additional Wave products that you can purchase for your business, including payroll and payment processing.

If you subscribe to the Starter plan, you can add digital receipt captures for a monthly fee. This service is included at no charge on Pro accounts.

Wave has partnered with H&R Block to offer tax services. You can file yourself with assistance or have your taxes filed for you.

Finally, if you need extra help with your bookkeeping, accounting, or taxes, Wave Advisors is a service you can add to your account. This option is great for business owners who are new to accounting or want to outsource bookkeeping and/or tax filing.

Is Wave Easy To Use?

Wave’s UI is well-organized and easy to use. The only downside is that there’s no back button, but navigating the software is still pretty simple.

Wave’s software takes very little time to set up and get used to — and it doesn’t require a background in accounting (especially considering that you can get extra help with your accounting and bookkeeping from Wave Advisors).

The company also offers good customer support options, including an accounting guide, to help you learn to balance the books and use the software.

When it comes to integrations, Wave is pretty limited, although it does support a much-needed Zapier integration, which connects Wave with 1,000+ add-ons. The integrations Wave directly connects with are PayPal, Etsy, and Shoeboxed. You can also use the Checkouts feature to create buttons on websites, such as Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress. API is available for developers.

Overall, users — even those brand-new to accounting — shouldn’t encounter any challenges when setting up or using Wave software.

Wave Features

For a free software program, Wave boasts an impressive, robust feature set that rivals even some paid accounting software programs.

With Wave, you have access to expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and reporting to help you manage your finances. Wave also has some of the most appealing invoices on the market. There are also time-saving automations, such as recurring invoices, automatic billing, and receipt scanning.

However, some features are noticeably missing, such as project management and budgeting, that are found with competing software options such as QuickBooks Online. Additionally, some features are also only available on the paid Wave Pro plan.

Here are some of the features you can find in Wave:

Wave Customer Service

Wave offers a decent number of support resources to customers, but the response times can be slow. Furthermore, customers using the free Starter plan will have limited support options.

Phone support is not available. Live chat and email support is only available to Wave Payments users, Wave Payroll subscribers, Wave Pro subscribers, Wave Advisors users, or Starter plan users that subscribe to receipt scans.

Users of the free plan are limited to using Wave’s Help Center or Mave, the support chatbot. Fortunately, the Help Center provides plenty of guides and information to help with most issues, and the software is intuitive enough that this support option will be sufficient for most users.

Wave Reviews

For the most part, Wave receives high praise from its users. The software gets 4.4/5 stars on Software Advice, 4.3/5 stars on G2, and 7.4/10 stars on TrustRadius. Also, Wave is BBB accredited and boasts an A+ on the BBB website.

While most reviews are positive, there are a handful of complaints from some less-than-satisfied users.

Negative Wave Reviews & Complaints

• Slow servers and downtime
• Various bugs in Wave’s mobile apps
• Limited reporting
• No mileage tracking, budgeting, inventory tracking, and project management features

Positive Wave Reviews

• Free software with no limitations
• User-friendly software that’s easy to learn and navigate
• Numerous time-saving automations
• Ease of creating professional-looking invoices
• The ability to track personal and business finances

Is Wave Secure?

Wave utilizes several security measures to keep your data safe. Here’s what Wave is doing to protect your data:

• 256-bit data encryption
• Read-only versions of banking information
• Amazon Web Services for storing data
• Regular data backups
• 24/7 monitoring of servers

How Does Wave Compare To Other Accounting Software?

Wave holds its own against two of its biggest competitors, QuickBooks Online and Xero. Wave’s free pricing structure gives the software its appeal, but users that have larger businesses and require more advanced accounting features may find QBO or Xero to be the better fit.

Check out our comparisons among these top three accounting software options to find the right fit for your business.

Wave VS QuickBooks Online

Like Wave, QuickBooks Online is easy-to-use, cloud-based accounting software. But that’s about where the similarities end. QuickBooks Online boasts a robust set of features, including advanced options like project management and inventory features you won’t find with Wave. QuickBooks Online also has hundreds of integrations, connecting your accounting solution with other small business software and apps.

On the other hand, QBO only supports up to 25 users on its most expensive plan. Additionally, while QuickBooks Online recently launched a free plan, it has far more limitations than Wave’s Starter plan.

Wave VS Xero

If you operate a larger business and need advanced features, give Xero a look before signing up for Wave. Xero has more advanced features, hundreds of integrations, and also supports unlimited users. However, Xero doesn’t have a free plan. With limitations on Xero’s lowest-tier plans, users will have to upgrade to a more expensive option to take advantage of everything the software has to offer.

Xero also doesn’t support multiple businesses, so pricing can add up quickly for some users. And it’s worth noting that while Xero has more features, the software also has a steeper learning curve than Wave.

The Final Verdict: Is Wave Worth It?

Wave is designed specifically for small business owners to use, no matter what kind of bookkeeping background they come from. The software supports multiple companies and offers personal accounting as well. Through the years, Wave has improved its software and has addressed many customer complaints, including adding 1099 payroll support, duplicate transaction management, and cash-basis accounting. The checkout feature is one-of-a-kind and a great addition for business owners who need to charge multiple customers quickly.

However, there are a few features the software is still lacking. There’s no project management and limited time tracking, which rules the software out for a lot of businesses. Some automations are also only available on Wave’s paid plan.

Still, the software is a good solution for small business owners looking for simple, easy-to-use accounting software that won’t break the bank. Wave’s customer support resources and new Wave Advisor services make it easy for people with limited accounting experience to learn the software.

Overall, Wave is great for business owners looking for a cheap — or in most cases, free — accounting software option.