There’s a fee involved with accepting online invoice payments, too. Wave Accounting is the best free accounting software solution for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small-business owners alike. Wave Accounting software is the foundation for the entire Wave suite. This cloud accounting software offers a range of completely free features that make company finances easier for small businesses and freelancers.
Wave Accounting gives you free unlimited invoices, users, expense and income tracking, credit and bank account connections, and more. It also offers multi-business management for no additional fee. Encompassing numerous features such as invoicing, receipt tracking and generating financial statements, Wave Accounting serves as a comprehensive solution for small business bookkeeping. The software goes beyond the basics, with its standout feature being the ability to seamlessly connect with your bank accounts.
When inviting users, you can give them roles to limit their ability to edit, create, or delete transactions or generate reports. To add more users, go to Settings and click Users under User Management. You can access personalized support through the Wave Advisor program where you can get coaching and year-round advice from a Wave expert. These support services are expensive for most small businesses, and we can’t fully recommend them to you unless you have a budget to spare. Unfortunately, you can’t create a recurring transaction directly from the bill, which is something you can do in other software like QuickBooks. You also can’t create recurring expenses and create and send purchase orders (POs).
The customer support team is very responsive and helpful, according to most Wave accounting reviews. They seem to be knowledgeable about the software and able to solve most issues quickly. Last but not least, Wave integrates with popular accounting software. If you’re already using QuickBooks or Xero, you’ll be happy to know that Wave has add-ons to integrate with both of these popular accounting software platforms. The software also allows you to set up recurring billing and payments for retainer clients.
The accounting reports, invoicing, and business bank accounts are offered for free; services like payroll and bookkeeping must be purchased. With a streamlined dashboard, easy-to-navigate interface, and add-on features like payroll and tax filing, Wave is a fantastic choice for any small business with standard accounting needs. Wave is one of the best accounting software options out there, especially for freelancers and small businesses.
The edge of Zoho Books over Wave is scalability because Zoho Books users under the free plan can upgrade in case they need more features. And for those who are interested in paying for premium Wave features, they definitely won’t be disappointed by what this accounting software has to offer. However, we do suggest checking out Wave accounting alternatives, as they may provide the same features but for a slightly more affordable price. In addition, other accounting software may be more suitable for larger businesses and those looking to grow.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team. The Add a Product or Service option (shown below) is where you would enter any products or services. If you're a freelancer wondering why an accounting software hasn't been created just for you, you can stop looking now. However, Akaunting lets you do more than just the boring accounting stuff.
All debit card purchases automatically get logged and categorized. Wave invoicing allows you to create and send professional invoices in just a few clicks. The software also allows you to set up recurring invoices and track payments. Wave’s expenses section breaks down sales categories into bills, receipts, products and services purchases, and a vendor CRM to keep track of your list of vendor contacts.
However, we did note that the customer support team is hard to get in touch with, and Wave’s chatbot can be frustrating to deal with. Wave’s invoicing feature is as straightforward as it gets, with three pre-built invoice templates to choose from. Businesses can customize invoices to their preference with company logos. Along with invoicing capabilities, Wave offers estimates, recurring invoices, customer statements, and your list of products and services.
You can customize your workflows for on-point financial management without breaking a sweat. Track everyone’s time spent on projects and automatically bill for their hours. Then, automate recurring invoices so your clients know when to expect transactions.
As long as you’re content with basic features and don’t see yourself expanding in the foreseeable future, you’ll find this completely free, easy-to-use software particularly appealing. Since you don’t have to pay anything to get started, it’s certainly worth trying out. Strong invoicing feature competes with that of paid products; app lets users send invoices on the go; offers significantly fewer reports than competitors; no inventory tracking. Wave's optional paid features include online payment processing, payroll software, and access to personalized bookkeeping services and coaching through Wave Advisors. If you're interested in using payroll software, you can start a free 30-day trial when you sign up for Wave.
On the top of the “invoices” page, you can find a box that shows you an overview, including how much money is overdue or how much is due within the next 30 days. As the name indicates, the “invoices” page shows all of your invoices and their statuses. You can also filter and display your invoices by status, date, number or customers, which helps you find invoices quicker.
It’s designed for people who are not familiar with managing their finances, so if you’re looking for something more advanced, consider taking a look at its paid competitors. You can also set up a bank feed to Wave by connecting your bank account or credit card. Wave retrieves your bank statements through your online bank account so your transactions are automatically updated.
If you can’t find a solution, you can contact Wave’s support team via email by clicking on the “email us” button at the bottom of the “help center” window. Paying users can also click on the “live chat” button on the navigation bar to get an instant answer from Wave’s support team. Note that live chat is also available for all users during their first 60 days. In addition to its help center, Wave also has a community forum where you can ask questions to fellow users.
In addition to the standard Wave accounting foundation, Wave also offers Wave Invoicing and Payments by Wave. Similar to “focus on customers,” the “focus on vendors” section lets you see the relationship between your Wave Accounting vendors and money. This section consists of “aged payables” and “purchase by vendor” reports. Wave has only 12 report templates, including basic reports, such as cash flow, aged receivables, and profit and loss.
The Wave Accounting platform seamlessly connects your bank accounts and credit cards in an easy-to-use dashboard, displaying your data with helpful charted analysis. Meanwhile, QuickBooks Online is our best small business accounting software because of its comprehensive accounting features like inventory tracking and wide network of ProAdvisors. Overall, Wave is considerably behind Zoho Books and QuickBooks Online because it’s free software. However, we still recommend Wave for users who don’t need advanced accounting features, but only simple income and expense tracking. Wave accounting free features include expense tracking and income and sales tax tracking.
But as I stated earlier, if you're paying folks, you should be probably be using another accounting application anyway. The Sales feature allows you to perform a variety of functions, including preparing an estimate for a customer. If the customer accepts the estimate, it can be easily converted to an invoice. Accounting can be complicated if your choice of software doesn't fit your growth and continuity plans.
Wave is a double-entry accounting website designed for freelancers, self-employed contractors, and small businesses. Our Wave accounting review finds the best things the app has going for it are its excellent features and the fact the basic software’s completely free. With Wave, you can manage employee payroll with features like tax form generation, time sheets, and more. While this section comes at an additional cost, it’s probably worth the investment to have all company functions recorded within one software tool.
She holds a Bachelor's degree from UCLA and has served on the Board of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She also regularly writes about travel, food, and books for various lifestyle publications. Wave uses 256-bit transport layer security (TLS) encryption for data security, and all accounting data are stored in servers monitored 24/7.
Other features and services, such as payroll and bookkeeping services, come at varying costs of $20 per month to $1500 per year, which are broken down in the table below. The software will help you perform basic accounting and bookkeeping functions for free, while the paid products and services are flexible and will allow you to choose what you’d like to pay for. Wave allows you to search transactions, design accounting reports and reconcile data across other Wave products. Plus, you can calculate sales tax automatically, customize payment terms and enjoy access to easy-to-understand cash flow insights. It also features a well-laid-out, clutter-free dashboard with individual tabs for sales, purchases, accounting, banking, payroll and reports. As mentioned earlier, Wave accounting features are free, but you'll pay a fee if you use Wave Payments or Wave Payroll.
2023-07-11
