Wave Accounting Reviews

I love how easy WAVE is to implement and maintain. Reports are quick and easy to generate and provide everything I need.

I wish the homepage was my dashboard instead of their sales screen.

Creating custom invoices, tracking expenses and income, transferring funds, and keeping your records organized is so easy.

I had problems connecting my business banking account to the platform for almost two weeks, but it somehow resolved itself and I was able to do so. Otherwise, no complaints!

It was wonderfully easy to use, the invoices looked professional and payment processing features were handy.

TLDR: Major syncing, reconciling and support issues

Two of my accounts synced twice (so I had four accounts in Wave where there should have been two) and they were unable to fix this. Their suggested fixes did not work. They have chat and email support but no phone support and even though they logged in as an admin they were unable to fix this problem.
A recent update to their system caused my entire past four years of records to be unreconciled, and the only fix was to go back to the beginning of time and compare each transaction ever made.
They offered me a bookkeeper to do this for me for $269/month for a minimum of 12 months, despite my being very diligent about keeping my account up to date for the past four years.

I have switched to another system now.

On the positive side, this software's functionality is almost up to par with other options that cost a lot of money. Wave is free and for that price what they offer is unbeatable. It is a fully featured accouting software, as it is a web app, it means multiple people can use it simultaniously and it also works great for a virtual team. I like that it is made with non-accountants in mind. For example, when entering transactions there are "Accounts" - but these are only Accounts as a nun-accountant will understand: Cash, Bank, Owners Investment etc. - everything else is called "Categories". This makes it easier for someone not too versed in finances to understand - but behind the scenes Categories are Accounts, just like they always were (e.g. Office Supply Expense Account) - small and simple changes like this make it very easy to use even for a financial analphabet. Two mobile apps compliment the accounting software, one for writing invoices on the go, the other for scanning and (auto)recording expense receipts.

On the downside, and this can be a big one, you are not able to properly close a period. This means anyone with permission to enter transactions can go and change entries from last year, or add some. This can make things really messy and I hope they add a function where an administrator can close a period such as a month, so that no more changes can be made. Further, you can add other users, but the type of users are quite limited. I wish this could be controlled on a more granular level, e.g. there is the option to add a 'viewer' who cannot edit anything. The next level is somoene who can enter all types of transactions (you can turn of access to bank entries and writing invoices) but it would be nice if there was one where I can let someone add receipts with the mobile app but not do anything else.

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!

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.

The software is FREE for everything other than PAYROLL and PAYMENT PROCESSING. If you don't use those components, there is absolutely no charge. For the most part, it is user-friendly and straightforward, and the quality of its printed invoices, customer statements and reports is top-notch. I really appreciate the ability to create recurring invoices (subscription billing) and view monthly income/expense bar charts for a 1- or 2-year period.

This is bookkeeping software that stresses simple data entry. However, it doesn't have features such as audit trails for transaction entries. With this program, it is possible to generate transactions, generate reports, and then reverse the transactions without any way of knowing that changes were made. Wave attempts to categorize your income and expenditures, but doesn't currently have the ability to remember your categorizations. But the thing I like least about this software is a BUG that causes the program to download bank transactions and incorrectly categorize them as duplicates of previously downloaded transactions if the transaction amounts match. This bug makes it difficult to find transactions when you are attempting to reconcile your transactions.

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.

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.

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!

The cost is compelling -- free! -- but beyond that I find the software is advanced enough to do what I need without being utterly overwhelming like other options. I'm not accountant and there's only so much geeking out I want to do. I can send invoices, get paid, track all my expenses and payments, handle business AND personal finances from the same account, and it all works really well with my bank and integrates decently with Stripe via Zapier.

I'd love Wave Payments to allow for payments in more than one currency. I can invoice in USD and CAD (my main), but I can only accept online payments via Wave in CAD. No biggie.

Wave Accounting is a really great idea. Simple bookeeping for people that don't have "accountant-minds." It gets into a space where programs like Xero and Zoho Books are a little too complicated for non-accountants and creators.

It's got a fantastic UI.

Easy to use.

Fairly easy to setup.

Way more intuitive than competitors like Zoho Books and Xero Accounting.

Support is really slow. I get that it's a free service, and therefore you have paid support working for free customers. But support takes days to get back to you. So once you're setup, it's fine. But if you have a question or two doing setup, like I did, it takes an extraordinarily long time.

Granted, most people using this might not have to deal with multi-currency and Paypal in particular, but it's something to keep in mind.

Also, the bank connections sometimes fail. Although this is a problem with all of these services who use Plaid to get bank data.

I mostly use the software for invoicing. The invoices are easy to set up and deliver. They are clear and professional looking. I'm able to customize it with my company colors and logo. Payment is easy on my clients end. I love the ability to set up reoccurring statements and print out customer statements to keep track of client accounts. I also enjoy the future for storing client payment options so that I can go in and automatically charge a payment after Services have been rendered.

It does not do a great job of categorizing income accurately. It counts some income as two separate payments received versus one. This gets especially tricky when you use outside sources such as payment through PayPal instead of credit card or bank. The app could be more streamlined and offer more features to be able to do accounting remotely.

I've been using Wave since 2013 and I have never felt a need to move. The service continually gets better. I'm able to track business finances daily and it really helps to invoice and receive payments in the same place.

Tax responsibility - I wish it could auto-calculate my quarterly estimated taxes based on invoice payments.

I have only used the invoicing part of this software. I love it for the most part. I =t is missing a feature or two

I found that I could not let my clients submit partial payments, or it wasn't clear on how to do it. Multiple payments was not flexible enough for my needs. I would have liked to be able to schedule the payments by specific date rather than genericall as ay, week, month, etc

I enjoy being able to access my information no matter where I am. The ability to create and send invoices from anywhere is important for my business. I also enjoy that I can help manage multiple businesses from one login.

There's a small issue with tax computation whereby the rounding takes place at the line item level and is causing in certain instances a small overcharge (Penny to pennies) on the tax. They are aware of this issue. Hopefully, it will be resolved.

Wave has allowed me to send invoices, collect payments, and keep track of income/expenses all in one place. I am a one-person business and when I was first starting my business, I didn't have the need or money to hire a book keeper or accountant. My overhead was low and I only had a few clients each month. The free plan that Wave has helped me manage all of the important accounting stuff by myself without sucking a ton of time out of the week. I've used Wave for years as I've scaled up.

There was definitely a learning curve to get it set up and understand how it worked. The invoicing and payment setup I needed weren't complicated, but the capabilities of Wave overwhelmed me at first. It can do so much, and the hardest part was to understand the specific features I needed. I wish there were options during setup to view Wave in either a simple setup (i.e. basic accounting, invoicing, payments) or a comprehensive setup (using their accountants, payroll, receipt capture, bookkeepers, etc.)

Accounting by Wave totally saved a big client project for me. I have to confess that I normally use another program that shall not be named to do client invoicing. HOWEVER... I had an established client contact me with a big job who recently had a falling out with that site. YIKES! I was scrambling to find a good alternative and Wave saved the day.

I'm sure I'm not using the program to the fullest. At this time, I don't see any negative aspects to note.

Ease of use and value. Desired features in a simple, efficient layout. Ease of use. It’s also an incredible value.

I wish it had a built-in time tracking feature so I could go from time tracked to invoice in one click.

The ability to create multiple currency businesses under the same account. How easy it is to send an invoice and get paid. INtegration with Stripe

The integration with stripe could be worked a bit. Need to create a "new business" under the same account so i can send invoices in different currencies.

Out of all the accounting software available, wave application software has proven to be one of the easiest to use as it makes account keeping interesting.

With this software, one can know how much money comes in as income daily,weekly, monthly and annually and likewise know how much was spent (Expenses Incurred).

Wave accounting software is also used for taking entries of both income and expenses of one's business, either personal or organization. It can be used by small, medium, retail and wholesale enterprises.

This software also allows one to upload all
scanned receipts generated from different transactions.

It has limited access when using the free version, and when it is paid for, you get much more benefits and access as you choose to pay for.

The software is incapacitated without adequate internet access.

Beautiful interface, so easy to use, great onboarding, great customer support, free plan that offer A LOT to a small business

I would like to be able to generate pay slip in Quebec, and I would like it to have more integration with other software, otherwise, this accounting software is so great I cant say anything else

I love Waveapps recurring billing features. Its easy to set up and easy to manage. Clients can save their credit card or pay by bank draft. I don't have to manage multiple payment setups, I just send an invoice from Waveapps and they pay how they want to. If the customer is in the store I can just process their card by typing in the details. Receipts to my clients and from my spending are just as simple. As well, I get a view on my company and personal finances anytime I need it. There is an app for receipts and for invoicing/payments.

I would love to be able to produce better reports to provide my accountant with for tax purposes. I would love an app that allowed me to log in to my full account from my phone.

Free software
Affordable rates for payments
Easy to use reporting
Instant payout options

Reporting options are basic, which is expected for a free service.

Receipt scanner.
Invoices look nice.
Email is sent from Wave account (Not quite sure that is a plus or a negative).
Connects to your Bank Account and lets your categorize the transaction.
Dashboard has great-looking layout with graphs.
Paid invoices are marked as a receipt instead of an invoice which makes more sense to me.
Will alert you of non-payment on a regular basis.
Sales Tax Report is basic, but layout is very appealing.
Has Premium Payroll option starting at $19/month with direct deposit included.
On a more positive note, I recently received an email from the CEO saying to look out for improvements to Wave in the near future. Apparently, there will be new tools and features and it will be faster. I look forward to that.

The App on iPhone and iPad is slow.
I don't remember using support, so I can really speak to how quick or effective they are. It's FREE so I'm guessing it's not superior.
It's not Quickbooks, but it works. However, it you have Quickbooks (Stand Alone version) on your computer and you bank with an up-to-date institution that allows you can integrate for a fee and not have to pay an additional ongoing subscription to Quickbooks online.

Wave accounting is super easy to set up and use. It makes us look more professional in our quoting and invoicing and helps us keep track of our receivables. We can have more than on person accessing it at one time which for us is really helpful. Best of all it's free to use at the level we're using it for. We're a very small company, so this helps us greatly.

There is nothing that I can think of at the moment that I dislike about the Wave accounting software.

Wave has done a great job improving upon the interfaces were constantly faced with in the other popular accounting packages on the desktop. It takes advantage of web technologies well to provide a responsive fluid interface for all the everyday accounting you need to do.

It's lacking in a number of features, but all in all it has the basics covered off really well. I can't really thing of anything these days I'm missing.