Wave Reviews

Pros

I have been using Wave since around 2015 and my books were a mess when I first began because I was doing them (not my strength) and once I heard about Wave's bookkeeping services, I couldn't believe how affordable they were. It's super easy to set up and use, run reports and know about your financials. I tried switching to QB for about 1 month and hated it, so I switched back. Lesson learned and I'm sticking around!

Cons

One thing I had to get used to was because I had my bank account connected and until the month is reconciled, when a invoice is paid I mark it paid and then the 'payment' comes in again from banking. It was easy to catch and now my Wave bookkeeper keeps all that reconciled. Thank you!

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks and QuickBooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Wave

I chose Wave because of a family recommendation and how easy it was for me to set up an account and get things moving. The others may have changed, but I still recommend Wave to anyone who is looking for an easy & affordable way to get their business going.

Pros

The first greatest thing about Wave is that is FREE!!! If you are just starting out, or a small business where overhead and expense need to be kept to a minimum, I recommend this app. It has all basic functions you need like, quotes, invoicing, statements, entering bills, receipts, reconciling bank statements, etc. All of these services including reporting are included in the free software! It has payroll functions for an additional charge, which we have opted out of for the time being. You can even link your bank account to it and it will import all the your debits and credits for reconciling.

Also, this software is super user friendly and you do not need to be a tech expert to understand it. It will set you up with preloaded items it thinks you need for your business and then you can change them or delete them. You can also add new ones super easy while doing this or after the fact. I really love that its cloud base and can be accessed anywhere. This makes it key for me when traveling for work.

Cons

Honestly Wave is pretty awesome that it was hard to find cons with it. The only drawback for me is the reporting. I wish I was able to customize them and select certain data to analyze. The reports are basic and standard, they just don't quite cover what I am looking for in my reporting.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Enterprise

Reasons for Switching to Wave

I choose Wave due to pricing, that its also stored on the cloud so it can be accessed anywhere at anytime. Also the setup was super easy and done in a day.

Pros

What I like most about Wave is the user-friendly platform and the convenience of their app. It is also very easy to send out invoices and get paid.

Cons

Honesty, I don't have anything that I least liked. Wave delivered and gave me what we needed for our business.

Pros

I have used Wave for just one month when I was working as a freelancer. The accounting features cover essential needs like invoicing and expense tracking. The real-time financial snapshots and automated processes save our time a lot.

Cons

Lack of advanced features is the drawback I see.

Pros

Having a free version for small business owners is truly amazing. The fact that it works so well and is very easy to setup & use is a blessing

Cons

I realize every business needs to make money - the latest update which now makes you download the invoice to send as opposed to being able to send from within Wave is nothing more than a small extra step.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Wave

The fact that I could use a Full-Featured product for free was a huge deciding factor as a small business owner

Pros

Free and so much less complicated than other expensive programs

Cons

Haven’t had anything yet. Great experience and easy. I’m not an accountant so I love it

Pros

Wave made it easy to process payroll for employees and easily able to track expenses for our business

Cons

I do not have any cons with the system right now

Pros

Easy to move around there website. They keep track of invoices due dates and send reminders when payments are due.

Cons

There is Nothing, that i don't like about Wave.

Pros

I find the user interface well thought out and intuitive. Has the features i need

Cons

Automatic categorization of receipts feature dissapeared

Pros

It was free, and as a startup with limited resources this was nice to have.

Cons

Felt clunky to use. It wasn’t intuitive either.

Pros

Wave has absolutely changed my business for the better. It used to take me about 2 hours a month to do my invoicing, which I hated doing, and so I avoided it. Now, I handle monthly invoicing in about 15 minutes. Plus, as new clients come in or one-off projects are completed, I can send the invoices quickly—like 5 minutes. So ease of use is absolutely the first thing I love about Wave.

Second, as a small business owner, I am in charge of acquiring new clients, executing the work, invoicing for the work, and then acting as collections when clients are late in paying. With Wave, I check a simple box that sends reminders to the client when things are past due. What a relief! It's coming from "my accounting department" rather than me. Hallelujah!

Third, the payment process is so easy for my clients! They can pay any way they want—check, credit card, bank, whatever. It's so easy for them, and I have had zero complaints.

It's also fantastic to know when clients have (or haven't) viewed the invoice. And getting the emails from Wave announcing that I've been paid are the best emails of the day.

The fact that all of this amazingness is free? That's just the icing on the cake. Thank you, Wave!

Cons

My only issue with Wave is probably a rare use-case. I manage invoicing for a client of mine. (Side note: Wave made it SO EASY for me to be an admin of her account but not the manager, and I can log into my account to access hers. It is AWESOME!) She sells programs, and her clients generally pay in one invoice. Occasionally, her clients need to pay in installments. It was not easy to set up a recurring invoice for only three months to send to the client, especially without a credit card on file. I had to create three different invoices, and label them as Installment #1, #2, etc. However, I recognize that this is probably a one-off user scenario that not many people would need. And I can't complain when the tool is free, and I found a workaround.

Alternatives Considered

Invoicely

Reasons for Switching to Wave

Honestly, it seemed ridiculous to pay a monthly fee and such high service charges with ProCharge. I'm not big enough nor do I send enough invoices to justify the cost. For Invoicely, the free plan accepts PayPal payments only, so this would be difficult for many of my clients that are businesses and don't use a PayPal account. And there's no branding available. Wave just offers a perfect solution for small businesses that's free while still being robust. I love it!

Pros

It's everything I need in one place. As a small business, Wave is the best solution for me. I can invoice my clients for free, and easily keep my finances up-to-date making tax season worry free.

Cons

Wave no longer integrates with CapitalOne Spark Business accounts, so I have to manually upload two bank statements every month into Wave; One for my checking and one for my savings account, both of which are Spark.

Alternatives Considered

PayPal, QuickBooks Enterprise and Zoho Expense

Reasons for Choosing Wave

Quickbooks is too expensive and more difficult to use. Wave is a miracle.

Switched From

QuickBooks Enterprise

Pros

Its free for small businesses that just need a good business accounting software! You can take ACH and CC payments if you want and turn them off on invoices you don't want it on. The rates are reasonable enough for using these services. The reports are easy enough for doing taxes. It's awesome and cheap for those that are one man shows or freelancers.

Cons

The thing that is the most annoying is when you want to do a recurring billing. It doesn't use something like Maintenance contract #1 then go to #2 or something like that it makes recurring billing invoice names that were the most recent of any invoices. Maybe I am not using it correctly, but each time I have to go and change invoice names then manually send it to the client.

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Wave

I originally chose Wave as it was free. Now I just love it and it works well for me so no reason to even look somewhere else.

Pros

The best thing about WAVE is its ease of use. It was so easy to learn to use this. Additionally the invoices are really customizable. There is a huge amount you can do with just the free version but if you upgrade to the paid version you can access a lot more of the accounting features and payment features.

I like that for security reasons the software logs you out at the end of the day. The invoices look very professional and are downloadable and can be sent with a pdf attachment. When a partial payment is made you can send a receipt reflective of how much was paid, how, when and with how much balance left. The software will also alert me when a payment is overdue. You can also add tax and discounts to the invoices.

Cons

The only gripe I have is that when I made changes to the invoice parameters, I was unable to delete the old parameters because they had been used in previous invoices. It would be nice to be able to "inactivate" or send to "archive" these parameters.

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks

Reasons for Choosing Wave

This software is totally customizable, will send emails to clients automatically and has an accounting component. It is MUCH better and more professional than anything I could do with pages.

Switched From

Pages

Reasons for Switching to Wave

cost

Pros

This software is 100% FREE to use! No gimmicks, no catches. I was skeptical when one of my clients told me he used this. I did NOT want to lean yet another accounting software, but once I logged in and found out how easy and streamlined this software was to use, I was 100% sold on it! The ONLY fees they charge are IF you decide to use their payroll (I highly advise AGAINST using their payroll, it needs an overhaul), or IF you use them for payment processing of invoices you send to clients. The fees for using their payment processing are similar to those of Square and Stripe and a small price to pay for the amazing software. I would encourage you to use their payment processing so this service can remain on the free billing platform with no monthly charges!

Cons

1) Reporting abilities are lackluster! No way to print "no receipts attached" reports for clients. 2) Sometimes has glitches. We will work in this software, then log in later and all of the work we did has disappeared. Major panic attacks more than once! Still having problems with one account in particular. If I log in on an incognito window, the work is there again (sometimes). 3) Payroll systems SUCKS. I do not recommend! Square payroll is our go-to! 4) Chart of accounts is OUTDATED and does NOT match Schedule C nor S-Corporation tax return expense line items. We should be able to customize a chart of accounts the way we want it and be able to copy/paste it into other client accounts 5) Accountant login is great except the list is not always alphatized correctly. We should be able to alphabetize and/or sort by PRIORITY account 6) Need an easier/quicker way to upload receipts

Alternatives Considered

FreshBooks

Reasons for Choosing Wave

The EASE of use, the FREE software vs. the monthly expese of Quickbooks, How QUICK it is to reconcile monthly.

Reasons for Switching to Wave

Free software; easy to use; quick to learn; ease to reconcile; accountant login

Pros

The phone app is so amazing to use, so easy and so complete..It's very easily customizable with your logo and information, and the invoices look sharp, clean & professional, with multiple options to send the invoices- PDF, links, etc.This app has become absolutely indispensable to my business.

Cons

The ONLY thing (but a major thing) that I've seen that's frustrated not only myself, but many many others that are part of a small business owner's forum, is the following-and I hope someone does something about it ASAP-In the phone app, we used to be able to use the Swype keyboard, speech to text & predictive text, making it a breeze to fill out or alter item descriptions and such.After one of these recent updates a few months ago, this capability was removed from those fields, obligating us to type one character at a time.This really killed the ease of use of this app, and while I still give it a glowing review, the truth is that if this doesn't get resolved in the near future, by next year I'll have to move on to an app that allows me to use my keyboard & speech to text to fill out these item descriptions.The only reason myself and many others have not switched is bc we've complained about it and we are all really hoping that the development team takes the 5 minutes it would take to switch this back to the way it was, and because of the fact that we all have developed a thorough item list that would be hard to start from scratch, but we are holding out hope bc it's our favorite!Please, Wave Dev team, please revert this function to it's original capabilities!

Alternatives Considered

QuickBooks Online

Reasons for Switching to Wave

I actually have QuickBooks and can use it for everything that I use wave for, but wave is just so ridiculously easy to use right off my phone, unfortunately like I mentioned above, if the capability of using swipe keyboard, speech to text, and predictive text in the item description fields is not restored in the next few updates, I might have to use my Quickbooks for more than just the accounting!

Pros

Love this product because of the cost! Free! So many great tools that it offers to include invoicing. You can create all of your own products and services and include your terms & Conditions. Clients can pay directly from the invoice. You can get paid the same day if you attach your business card to your account. It has a payroll feature as well for an additional charge. I love the fact that the reporting is so simple and easy to read. I would highly recommend purchasing this set up package. It comes with consultations and assistance to work through all the process of setting up your account and different categories specific to your business. It was definitely worth the extra money spent. I also like the fact that there are apps available to send invoices if you are away from the office. Also, you can upload receipts directly from wherever you are by simply taking a picture and categorizing it on the spot. No more having to deal with Receipts in the shoebox LOL.

Cons

On the Invoicing I wish there was an option to add tipping. Our clients like to add a tips for our service and while Square offers this feature, Wave does not. There was a weird vetting process that nobody told me about and at first I thought it was a scam and I didn’t reply. But then I confirmed with the consultant I had been working with and they verified that this was in fact something that I had to go through. It seemed kind of sketchy at first, but it had validity with regards to the financial process.

Pros

For a small business, or probably even a larger one, it's a really great software with all of the accounting and billing basics needed, and it's basically free. The online payment system works really well for getting payments from clients. They can either pay with a credit card or ACH, which is great. You can turn off credit card payments too if you don't want to have a fee taken from your payments, which I also find as a nice feature. The invoices look very professional, can be white-labeled, so it just has your branded information on it. The invoices are also really easy to make. We had been trying to use Excel as an accounting system when we first started our small business, and found Wave soon after. It was a huge upgrade, and not very expensive. The reports are great, and it's easy to track expenses and monies brought in. It solved all of our accounting needs as a small website building business.

Cons

The one thing we really think can be improved are the recurring invoices. It doesn't make the invoice numbers in order based on that client's invoices, so they're oddly out of order. It's not a huge deal, but would be much better if it kept the invoice numbers specific to each set of clients.

Pros

It is so easy to use, and customized specifically for small business owners. I absolutely LOVE the invoice feature - it's the primary feature that I use - and it just works so well. My completed payments rate is 100% and I believe is at least in part due to how easy the process is to view/pay invoices.

Cons

Sometimes I wish the payment speed was faster after a client makes a payment, but then they introduced instant deposits and I'm happy to pay the small fee to get my money faster!

Alternatives Considered

Square Payments and Stripe

Reasons for Choosing Wave

Better fees, faster money and Wave is customized specifically for small business owners just like me.

Switched From

Square Payments

Reasons for Switching to Wave

The UX is so much better, less complicated and I can't say enough how much I like that Wave is designed specifically for small business owners and what matters to them.

Pros

Wave is free to use which makes it excellent for my small business. It has an app to facilitate easy upload of receipts for my expenses. Being cloud-based enables me to access my accounting from my clinic or my home office (or on the go) with ease in real-time. It syncs with my RBC account to import my transactions and is very user-friendly.
Customer service is friendly and responsive.

Cons

My complaints about this software are very minor. There is an option to "save and send" invoices by email with a single mouse click, but to print the invoices takes three clicks.
My other complaint is that there is no simple Customer Statement to print. The Customer Statement that is available shows every transaction posted, so for most of my clients there will be three entries for each visit to my clinic; one invoice date, one copay payment, and one insurance payment applied. I would prefer to be able to generate this statement showing a list which includes ONLY the invoice date and total amount charged.
They are very minor complaints. I am quite pleased with this product.

Pros

Wave Accounting is a great choice for small businesses looking for free, easy-to-use, and comprehensive accounting software. Here are some of its benefits:Free: Wave Accounting is free software, which is a big plus for small businesses looking to save money.Easy to use: the software is easy to use and does not require special accounting skills. The platform is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy to manage your finances.Comprehensive: Wave Accounting offers a full suite of features for managing accounting, including invoicing, payroll, expense and income tracking, and detailed financial reporting.Accessible anywhere: Wave Accounting is a cloud-based solution, which means you can access it anywhere with an internet connection.Integration with third parties: The software is integrated with many third-party tools such as PayPal, Shoeboxed, Etsy and many more, which makes it easier to manage your business.All in all, Wave Accounting is a great choice for small businesses looking for free, easy-to-use, and comprehensive accounting software.

Cons

Although Wave Accounting is a good choice for small businesses, there are some points that can be problematic for some businesses. Here are some of its drawbacks:Limited customer support: Wave Accounting offers email-only customer support, which can be a problem for businesses that need immediate assistance.Limitations in payroll management: Payroll management in Wave Accounting is limited to certain regions, which may not be suitable for companies that have employees in different regions or countries.Limited customization: Invoices and quotes in Wave Accounting are not very customizable, which can be a problem for companies that want to customize their documents to make them look more professional.No automatic bank reconciliation: Wave Accounting does not allow automatic bank reconciliation, which can be a cumbersome task for companies that have many transactions to manage.Advertising in the software: Wave Accounting displays advertisements in the software, which can be a distraction for some users.In sum, although Wave Accounting is free and easy to use accounting software, it has some limitations that may not be suitable for all businesses, including limited customer support, limited payroll management, limited document customization , the absence of automatic bank reconciliation and the presence of advertisements in the software.

Pros

Wave is free, and packed with features one would typically pay for in other premium products. Wave is the perfect accounting solution for small businesses. For starters, it offers all the essential features ANY business needs... plus more. Manage estimates, invoices, and statements with ease. It even supports recurring invoicing, manage payments, and build a massive library of products and services to choose from for your estimates and invoices. Wave even manages receipts, bills and vendors to track expenses. Like more control than just simple single entries? Wave supports traditional double-entry accounting as well, for increase control of your business accounting needs. Need to accept credit card payments? Wave has a built-in merchant account feature that let's you collect payments online through your invoices. Make email invoices, or attach them as PDF files. And when you get paid, Wave notifies you. Funds are transferred to your connected business account in a couple of days. Reporting? Wave has you covered. All essential reports are available at your fingertips: financial statements, taxes, customers, vendors, and other general reports. And if your business has employees, Wave can handle your payroll. But this feature is a premium... everything else is part of your free account.

Pros

Wave offers a lot of the basic accounting functions needed for small business users, and the best part is that it's FREE TO USE! Woo hoo! I used QuickBooks in my previous career, and liked the detail it provided, but once I started my own small e-commerce business, I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on software, or get locked into a recurring monthly subscription. I was thrilled to find Wave and amazed that it was FREE!

Cons

I wish there was a keyword search function in the Transactions section. Sometimes I need to look for a specific transaction but don't remember the exact date it occurred, so have to scroll through several pages to find what I'm seeking. A workaround is to export an Income Statement, then search or sort in Excel, but obviously that takes several extra steps and time. But since it's not costing me anything, this is a minor inconvenience.

Pros

As many other reviews have stated, there is no subscription cost for Wave, which is great. There have been a number of features added to Wave since I started to use it, such as recurring invoicing/credit card processing and direct bank payments. Wave's support is helpful, money is transferred quickly, and my invoices look great.
I am providing a more detailed review than I did the first time, but I have "sung the praises" of Wave a few times. (Including on Twitter, and they promptly thanked me for it - they listen, which is great). Wave is Canadian, and they are based in Toronto, but that is only one reason I chose to work with their service. I have a couple of complaints about their service, but nothing serious enough which would cause me to switch services. The flexibility of PDF/web-based invoices is great, retains client details, and it just gets the job done for me as a freelancer.

Cons

On a few occasions, my invoices got picked up by my clients' spam filters, so I tend to use the PDF invoice option. Not a big issue, I've followed up on it. Also if I take payment through PayPal, I can get paid in US funds, but I have to invoice in Canadian funds only through Wave because my bank is in Canada (even if I have a US funds account). Oh well, again, no big deal.

Apparently, there is auto-reconcile of transactions through AI functionality in Wave's future, which will address another pet peeve I have, but again no big deal.