Wave Accounting: Pros, Cons, And 11 Alternatives

A web-based accounting platform called Wave Accounting, which is a part of Wave’s line of financial products, was created to assist small businesses in managing their revenue, costs, payments, and invoices.

Meaning of Wave Accounting?

It is online accounting software that offers functions including billing, invoicing, tracking payments, managing finances and payroll, accepting credit cards, and scanning receipts. Businesses can streamline their bookkeeping procedures with Wave Accounting.

Businesses may handle all credit cards and bank account information in real-time with Wave’s solutions for bank reconciliation.

Reports can be generated by businesses that include a variety of information, including sales tax, a balance sheet, cash flow, profit/loss, and more.

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How Does Wave Accounting Work?

Starting up:

Online registration for Wave is quick and simple. You will immediately get access to your free account after giving a few basic information about your company, like name, kind, the currency used, and address.

Linking accounts together:

Your primary dashboard will display your cash flow, profit and loss, invoices, bills, and other financial data after you log in. You can link your bank and credit card accounts from the dashboard (or the Banking tab on the left) to automatically download and classify your transactions.

You will select the “Reconciliation” tab from the Accounting menu when you want to reconcile your books. On the Reconciliation or Transactions pages, you can manually edit, add, or remove any transactions.

The next steps include creating client profiles, adding sales tax (if applicable), and customizing your invoice templates.

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The Pros and Cons of Wave Accounting

Pros	Cons
Wave accounting are Free	There are no further plans to improve functionality (e.g., time tracking, inventory management).
User-friendly	There is no phone help, and only paid services can access live chat support (Wave Payments and Payroll).
Unlimited tracking of earnings and costs	–
Unlimited invoicing with editable templates and payment terms; specific mobile app for invoicing	–
Unlimited users with different user permissions.	–
Double-entry bookkeeping	–

5 Users of Wave Accounting?

The people that use wave accounting are:

Small business owners
Independent contractors
Accountants
Bookkeepers, and
Tax preparers all use Wave Accounting

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Deciding Factors of Wave Accounting

Deciding Factors	Explanation
Price	Wave Accounting price is free
Number of Users	The number of users is unlimited
Limit of sharing with accountants	The ease of sharing with accountants is hood. The owner of the business can invite his/her accountant to Wave via email. You can also assign their user role. Wave suggests “editor” permissions for bookkeepers and accountants and this gives you full access to purchases.
A maximum number of accountants	The number of accountants on the wave platform is unlimited
Scalability and accounting plan options	Wave does not render more and sufficient advanced accounting plan options outside of its free software.
Easy to use options	Wave Accounting is very easy to use even without prior knowledge of accounting. The good intuitive design made it so easy to use and scroll through.
Customer Service	Wave Help Center is always available to help you get started. They also offer many resources to help answer common questions you may need answers to.

Wave Accounting Basic Features

Wave accounting has the following features and can be seen below:

Unlimited tracking of earnings and costs.
Adaptable sales taxes
double-entry bookkeeping
unlimited links to banks and credit cards.
Financial statements and accounting reports can be exported.
Monitoring of invoice statuses and cash levels via a dashboard.
Transaction administration and upload of digital receipts.

And all are free.

What is the Price of Wave Accounting?

Wave Accounting is free. For other Wave goods or products, there are upgraded paid plans with additional features.

Wave Products, Cost, and Features

Wave products and platforms	Cost	Features
Wave Accounting	Free	Comes with unlimited income and expense tracking.Sales taxes are Customizable.Has a double-entry accounting featureUnlimited access to bank and credit card connections.You can export your accounting reports and financial statements with ease.The dashboard monitors your cash balances and invoice statusesYou can upload your receipt to the platform
Wave Invoicing	Free	Wave Invoicing has unlimited invoicing.Comes with automatic payment reminders.You can turn your estimates into invoices once approved.Effective customer communications.The paid wave payments accept online credit card and bank payments.Gives your the option to sync invoices and accounting automatically.Easy to create and send invoicesYou can monitor payment statuses and receive notifications.
Wave Payments	2.9% and 60 cents per transaction for Visa and MasterCard 60 cents per transaction for American Express payments and 3.4%.1% per transaction and $1 fee for bank payments.	Gives your the full option to receive credit card payments over the phone, online, or in person.Allows you to set up recurring billing with automatic payments.Automatic Sync payment with your Wave account.Within two business days, you will receive your credit card payment.
Wave Payroll	The full service is $35 per month and $6 per employee.Self-service is $20 per month and $6 per employee.You are required to file the paperwork of what you owe and submit paymentLimited to a few states like New York, Texas, Arizona, and so on.	Calculate what you owe in state and federal payroll taxesAutomatically transfers state and federal tax payments for you.Comes with full employee self-service like updating bank and contact form and so on You can generate W-2 and 1099 forms of the wave payroll.Helps monitor employee leave time and accruals due.Automatic sync with every other Wave product.Receive special treatment to customer support.
Wave Advisors	$149 per month for bookkeeping and payroll support $899 per year for tax servicesA one-time fee of $229 for accounting and payroll coaching.	Comes with personalized support from Wave professionals.Both bookkeeping or accounting coaching can help you outsource or do it yourself.Gives you access to work with a professional to file your taxes.Get support and guidance to set up your Wave account and teach you the basics.

Benefits of Wave Accounting

Very easy to use
It is free of charge
Customizable invoices and automatic sync of your invoice and accounting.
Wave allows you to edit, add, and manage customer profiles on the dashboard.
It allows you to send payment reminders, follow-up emails, and receipts of payment.
They offer a dedicated invoicing mobile app to send invoices and track your payments.
Offers thorough guidance on how to set up your account and video tutorials for accounting basics set up.

Drawbacks of Wave Accounting

Not scalable for businesses wishing to grow but of the limited free basic features
Has limited customer support for the free basic features as the one-on-one support is available on the wave accounting paid coaching

Wave Accounting Login

You can sign up with your Google account on wave accounting via https://my.waveapps.com or sign in directly if you already have an account. If you forget the password, you can log in with your email and do “forget password” and follow the prompt.

Wave Accounting Reviews

The followings are reviews on wave accounting on Google Play Store and iOS store:

Has 4.4-star ratings on Google Play Store
With a total of 98,592 reviews, and 98% of the reviews are good reviews
Easy to use application
Very scalable
Comes with a good clean design and color
Has an intuitive user interface which makes it easy to use
The app has a 9.9Mb space capacity
Has over 10m+ downloads online.

Is there an App for Wave Accounting?

Yes, you can access invoices while on the move with the Wave Invoicing app (available for iOS and Android).

How Safe Is Wave Accounting?

Wave Accounting is a safe application that uses 256-bit encryption to enhance security on the platform. Their service and method of operations are audited and verified by multiple third parties in the field.

They also encrypted data on wave accounting in transit.

Wave accounting software free download for PC

Your Wave accounting software free download for PC is available from Softonic which is totally free from viruses.

It comes with an average of 720 downloads monthly and its link is https://wave-accounting.en.softonic.com/

Top 11 alternatives or substitutes to Wave Accounting

You are in the right place. Find the top Wave Accounting rivals and alternatives below:

Denali Business
PlanGuru
Unit4 ERP
ExoenseWire
Versa Cloud ERP
Itemize
Accurants
Ecount
Ariett AP invoice Automation
InvoiceBerry
Momenteo

1. Denali Business

This is an accounting program by Cougar Mountain Software, that allows users to customize 10 built-in modules. It can be used for small to midsize organizations and can be installed locally or in the cloud.

2. PlanGuru

For small enterprises and organizations, PlanGuru is an on-premises business planning and budgeting tool.

The solution aids accountants in creating financial projections, creating budget analyses, and addressing small business financial limits.

3. UNIT4 ERP

A comprehensive, entirely integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution is provided by UNIT4 for charitable organizations and NGOs.

UNIT4 was created to facilitate frequent, ongoing change, enabling companies to adapt to new requirements or internal reorganizations simply and fast, without compromising the stability or reliability of their core systems, and at a cheap cost.

4. ExpenseWire

With the help of ExpenseWire, organizations of all sizes in numerous industry verticals can manage and streamline their expense-processing procedures on a single, centralized platform.

5. Versa Cloud ERP

Versa Cloud ERP is a small manufacturer and distributor-specific cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

The system provides capabilities for combining data on finances, inventory, sales, expenditures, and other topics.

6. Itemize

A cloud-based accounting tool with a focus on cost management. Mobile device use is intended for this product.

With their smartphones or tablets, users can take images of invoices and receipts, which are subsequently archived and can be used to create cost reports.

7. Accurants

Small enterprises and independent contractors can use Accurants, a cloud-based accounting program. Modules for project management, invoicing, and spending monitoring are among the key features.

8. Ecount

Small and midsize businesses can benefit from the cloud-based integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, known as ECOUNT. Inventory, production, logistics, sales, accounting, and payroll can all be managed with its aid.

9. Ariett AP Invoice Automation

Ariett’s cloud-based accounts payable system is called AP Invoice. It supports reporting, payment automation, and invoice management for small, middle, and big businesses.

10. InvoiceBerry

This cloud-based accounting solution is made for small businesses across several industries.

The production of invoices, keeping track of expenses and payments, managing clients, and creating reports are important functions.

11. Momenteo

Momenteo is a cloud-based accounting program created for independent contractors in many sectors.

The production of invoices and estimates, time and expense monitoring, client management, and financial reporting are important elements.

Wave Accounting Vs QuickBooks

Wave Accounting	QuickBooks
Wave is Free	QuickBooks is not free and is expensive
Wave Accounting basics are free and easy to use	QuickBooks basics are not free. It’s a paid product.
It is scalable	It is scalable and offers four different plans, and each plan includes additional features
Suitable for small businesses	Suitable for large organizations willing to grow
No access to time tracking and inventory management	Higher-tier QuickBooks plans offer time tracking and inventory management
No access to employee management	Access to employee management
It is easy to use even without basic accounting knowledge	It is fairly user friendly and easier to use if you have basic accounting knowledge
Wave accounting is for everyone one and not industry standard	It is an industry-standard for small-business accounting software everywhere.
Has three paid plans to choose from	Has four standard paid plans
Known for invoicing, bookkeeping, credit card payment, payroll, and advisors or tax returns	Has all these features plus a good reporting, record-keeping, and inventory management.
Wave paid plan options cost is minimal	QuickBooks basics cost $25 per month and the top-tier advanced plan is $180 per month.
Wave accounting has the full service and self-service options	This has the QuickBooks online paid option for accountants and businesses and QuickBooks self-employed option for freelancers and self-employed contractors, which cost $15 per month

They are both accounting software is good but just that wave accounting is Free and basics are suitable for small businesses. While QuickBooks is suitable for large organizations willing to grow and expand.

Who owns Wave Accounting

Wave accounting is owned by the Blue Fountains International ULC. They were founded in 2019 and the parent company is H&R Block. Their subsidiary is Wave Financial.

Why is Wave Accounting Free

Wave Accounting is free because the company uses the revenue generated from its payroll paid options and coaching, credit card processing, and bookkeeping services to run and keep the software absolutely free.

It has no hidden charges or fees.

Is Wave Accounting still available?

Yes, Wave Accounting is still available and has no plans to restrict or close existing accounts for customers anywhere in the world.

The other good side is that your existing accounts will remain active and have access to the current versions.

Conclusion

Businesses may handle all credit cards and bank account information in real-time with Wave’s solutions for bank reconciliation, which will increase the efficiency and precision of bookkeeping.