User Reviews Overview
About Wave
Online accounting software that provides features including invoicing, billing, payment tracking, payroll management, finance management, credit card processing, and receipt scanning. Wave Accounting is designed to help businesses...
Learn moreAll Wave Reviews Apply filters
Browse Wave Reviews
All Wave Reviews Apply filters
- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave - Accounting Software
I've used Wave for nearly five years now. It's simple to use, and the cost is pretty low compared to some of the other options out there. I have had a few technology hiccups from time to time that have created some extra work and had me exploring other options, but each time it was eventually resolved, and I am still with them.
Pros
Wave is pretty easy to use, and if you can't figure it out on your own, the help documents are pretty easy to follow and guide you to the right spot.
Cons
It's invoicing only so it's not as robust as some competitor products that also include documents for proposals and such.
Reasons for Switching to Wave
Wave had the easiest to use interface and the options that were on the "had to have" list at the lowest rate. I really liked HoneyBook and FreshBooks, but their cheapest plans were much more expensive than Wave.- Industry: Sporting Goods
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Not paying for more than I need!
Overall I’m extremely satisfied. I don’t feel like I’m forced to pay for things that I really don’t need. The basics are free and the add-ons are reasonably priced
Pros
It’s simple and straightforward. It’s got a clean sleek look and it’s very affordable.
Cons
I wish I could view my transactions within the app instead of just online.
Reasons for Choosing Wave
Cost is the main reason I was looking for an alternative, but other than a much more affordable price, the simplicity and sleekness of wave played a huge part in earning my business.Reasons for Switching to Wave
The simplicity and sleekness of wave played a huge part in earning my business over the others.- Industry: Accounting
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Worst Customer Service EVER
Horrid. Eventually you will have a question and need help. Even with the 16 dollar per month they were completely un helpful and dismissive. All you have is chat that they send you pre written script blurbs. While the chat people are PC your in a hell of where they can not do anything.
It was like calling 911 and instead of someone sending help they just sit there and say "Oh that sounds bad, I understand, Golly darn."
Pros
At first it was useful. Glitchy but free.
Cons
Customer Service
Help Desk
The non existent manager
No phone to call even with a paid membership
Top Wave Alternatives
- Industry: Mental Health Care
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Monthly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Great accounting & invoicing tools for small businesses
positive! I've been using them for 5 years and have needed to reach out for personal help a couple of times. They are attentive and thorough even if you have to wait a little bit. The chat function is pretty thorough & helpful too.
Pros
User friendly, pretty easy to figure out how to do things, simple interface, the free plan offers a lot of tools
Cons
The process for automatically categorizing payments and income doesn't work as smoothly as it could. Their AI tool is alright but makes mistakes. When you use their native Checkouts tool for collecting payments, they are categorized in a way that you cannot fully edit.
Reasons for Choosing Wave
It was too cumbersome and time consuming to manage my own spreadsheetReasons for Switching to Wave
Price and ease of onboarding quickly with integrations- Industry: E-Learning
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
One Stop Money Management Platform
My overall experience has been outstanding. The business has used Wave for nearly 6 years.
Pros
I like the ease of use and the ability to create both individual invoices and recurring invoices. I also like the ability to take a range of payments from card to direct deposit (ACH). Finally, the ease of managing transactions makes my life easier as a small business owner.
Cons
The recent price increase, while understandable, is never fun.
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks OnlineReasons for Switching to Wave
I liked the interface, the ease of use, and the great support.
- Industry: Nonprofit Organization Management
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Wave - Perfect for New Businesses
Wave has been wonderful, I use it to manage my accounting, and also invoice. I imagine that in the future I would use it for payroll as well. All of this is done with no monthly charge, and a very fair charge for ACH payments on my invoices.
Pros
It can do pretty much anything that QuickBooks can do, but it can be used for free! This was perfect for when I was setting up the back-end of my entrepreneurial business.
Cons
It required a bit of learning to use, I was used to QuickBooks, and some of the language, UI, and functions look or work differently. After this initial period it has become perfectly simple and useful.
- Industry: Arts & Crafts
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Wave gets two thumbs up
Pros
The software is beyond easy to use. I can design and customize my invoices which helps my business stand out from the rest. Invoices only take a few minutes to create, and clients can pay by clicking directly on the email link.
Cons
I cannot think of any negatives at this time.
- Industry: Professional Training & Coaching
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Monthly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
One of the best SMB accounting tools out there
I'm not an accountant by any means, but I know most failed businesses fail because of poor accounting practices; Wave made it easy for me to track due invoices as well as my costs to make sure I kept running in the black and made me look super professional.
Pros
As a SMB or sole-consultant Wave takes all the annoyances of invoicing and tracking payments in/out super simple.
Cons
I've honestly not run into an Cons while using Wave (formerly "Wave Accounting).
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks OnlineReasons for Switching to Wave
Wave gave me more tools to manage the business aspect and making sure all my branding is consistent and a fraction of the cost.- Industry: Retail
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
What I am Experiencing with Wave
Pros
Wave automates over 86% of manual repetitive accounting tasks such as invoicing and billing.
Cons
I slightly dislike that Wave lack capabilities for global enterprise organizations but it has a robust backend integration capability.
- Industry: Arts & Crafts
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
How I Pave Accounting Way with Wave
Pros
I use Wave as QB alternative on my end. I like that it automates repetitive accounting tasks such as AP, GL, financial management and payment matching.
Cons
However, Wave lack offline access and accounting capabilities for global enterprises.
- Industry: Management Consulting
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 6-12 months
-
Review Source
Wonderful accounting software for starting and growing a service business
I haven't gone through a tax season with my business yet, but I have been an independent consultant and I anticipate having everything tracked in Wave is going to help me out a lot come April. It's so easy to use and I can focus on my core business rather than spending a lot of time on admin.
Pros
Wave helps me do so much. I can issue invoices, track them (I.e. I can see when a client has viewed it!), and allow clients to make payments directly through the invoice. I can also customize my invoice, which is great. I could do all of this from day 1. I'm a solopreneur and launched my business this summer. I was able to issue professional invoices from day 1 and track my expenses using their receipts app. The other thing I love about Wave is that they are very interested in feedback from their customers. I've had a few interactions with them and it's always been really pleasant. It's also free which helps me out a lot. I do use the credit card payments, which has a fee like any other service would.
Cons
Their mobile app could use some work, and I've given them this feedback. The receipts app is great to take pictures really quickly, but I generally have to use the browser to do anything else.
Reasons for Choosing Wave
I needed something professional and long term.Switched From
Microsoft ExcelReasons for Switching to Wave
The core software was pricey and I could have easily used Word and Excel and if I wanted a 'free' option. I also didn't need all the bells and whistles, so paying so much for this service didn't make sense for me.
- Industry: Online Media
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave Accounting is great for a Startup Business
I was very happy with the invoicing, payments, and the Design and functionality. I was able to search past transactions very easily. I did not pay for premium support, but the support that I recieve is excellent.
Pros
It was free to use the accounting services
I was able to invoice customers using Stripe as a Payment Gateway which was great value
The Design and User Interface is very professional compared to others that I have seen
The Payment Gateway was also very professional when sent to customers, it added to the credibility of the business
Cons
My particular Bank would not allow me to sync my account with Wave, but that was a local issue not a general issue.
I was very very happy with the invoicing. but I always felt that the ledger views were not as robust.
Reasons for Choosing Wave
The functionality that I really needed was free and I was very happy with that.Reasons for Switching to Wave
It was really cost, efficiency, and user interface. It looked good from the customer side and that was important for me.- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
It’s free, but better than any paid accounting software.
We’ve been using wave since beta. We tried Quickbooks and a few other accounting platforms after a consultant suggested we review other platforms. Ultimately, we never left wave and will not in the foreseeable future.
Pros
Wave is free, but it’s powerful. Wave is suitable for any small to medium business. Wave handles all our accounting needs.
Cons
Wave has two major areas of improvement. 1. Their customer service is difficult, especially if you have an urgent matter. Their chargeback dispute process is not easy and confusing. Again, customer support regarding chargebacks is difficult considering you have a few days to submit a dispute package.
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks OnlineReasons for Choosing Wave
At first it was because Wave is free. But then we discovered how powerful Wave is, it’s perfect for our business.Switched From
QuickBooks DesktopReasons for Switching to Wave
It was free.- Industry: Accounting
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave Accounting
My overall experience with Wave was excellent and I had no issues with this software. If it was not for a change in business practice, I would still be using Wave now.
Pros
The best thing about this software is that it is free and offer just as much if not more features than some of its paid competitors. You can also access it online from any PC.
Cons
They don't have a robust support line but considering you are not paying for the software, you can't blame them. Plus there really isn't any reason for you to need support as everything is user-friendly and there is adequate help features in the software.
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks DesktopReasons for Choosing Wave
Wave was free and offer the same functions and services.Switched From
QuickBooks EnterpriseReasons for Switching to Wave
Price- Industry: Civil Engineering
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Wave Accounting
I was able to quickly send professional estimates and invoices on go and I didn't have to keep a lot of envelopes with receipts any more, I could just scan receipts and attach them to a bank transaction. Before I even get an accountant, I would easily see the performance of the business from the cash flow graphs and profit and loss graphs.
Pros
Setting reminders to be sent to clients for payment is the most important feature from wave in my opinion. Also being able to create recurring invoices you you don't have to do the same thing every week or every month. My other favorite is customer statements. Pulling out customer statements and sending to your clients gives you points in terms of professionalism. I also appreciate that when Wave stopped operating in South Africa they recommended Zoho and gave us a year of free use of Zoho. Even though I did not like changing, this was a very thoughtful move by wave.
Cons
For some reason wave starting giving limited access to its South African customers and partnered with Zoho for customers to migrate. Even though the apps are similar, they're not the same and it took a little bit of time to now learn Zoho a new app.
Alternatives Considered
QuickBooks Online AccountantReasons for Switching to Wave
Wave Accounting came highly recommended by friends. In addition when I first opened wave, the dashboard look simple and it was easy for me to follow.- Industry: Music
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Wave Was/Is My Go To From QB Online
My overall experience has been great! I have to do some thinking/remembering at tax time to separate the double entries of income. I show an invoice paid by check WAVE shows that income on my account. I go to the bank and deposit, there is that check again. For the total amount of money saved, around $450-500, I will put up with it.
Pros
It is FREE in the cloud, works on ALL platforms Windows 7,10, Android, iphones. Accepts all credit cards including Amex for 2.9% I am saving $420+ yearly by not having QB, I don't have to print invoices. Since WAVE is in the cloud I email my invoices and receipts.
Cons
I wish it had more storage of customer service that has been performed in the past but I suspect that would require some expense. It only had 3 invoice templates and there wasn't much customization on those. You can't compound taxes on your invoices, let me rephrase, you can compound 1 tax but no more. Since my only taxes are State and County I found it best to compound none for fear of forgetting which one I had compounded
Alternatives Considered
NolaProReasons for Choosing Wave
Quickbooks Online wasn't as good as the desktop version but as long as Windows 10 is still under construction I won't chance having another desktop version made unusable due to another Windows 10 "update". I don't need to be concerned about it anymore now that I have WAVE!Switched From
QuickBooks OnlineReasons for Switching to Wave
Wave had a more complete suite of the tools I needed that were familiar to me from my experience with Quickbooks- Industry: Consumer Services
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave Accounting is the absolute best
Our experince with this program has been great and we would not use another program. Our administrative staff has been able to use the program with minimal training. We love the program and will continue to use it.
Pros
Wave is a simply to use accounting program that allows us to create invoice, receive payemnts, view and print reports and keep up with money that is owed to us. We are able to use this program for all of our accounting and bookkeeping needs. It is so easy to use and the product support is superior to other accounting programs.
Cons
There is nothing not to like about this program
- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Budget Friendly Accounting
Over the 7 years that I have been using Wave, I have watched it evolve into what it is today and am blown away by the features available at absolutely no cost. When I started out, the Free price tag saved me, but over time I expected to upgrade and pay for the service, but it never came. I get all the bells and whistles like everyone else, for nothing. So a big thank you to the Wave team for helping Small businesses across the world. (Love from South Africa)
Pros
Other than the fact that the software is free to use, I mostly love that it was built for Small Businesses. I Have personally made use of the software since 2013 and recommend it to every business owner that I come across. Most people think that you MUST pay for accounting software to get a good product but this is simply not the case with Wave!
Cons
It is difficult to fault this. I guess if anything, I wish it integrated with more platforms such as WooCommerce, and Zoho CRM. With the intergration I would be able to streamline my business process a little better.
- Industry: Design
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
OBSESSED
From the beginning, it has been fantastic. I manage all of my business accounting through it. I don't even remember how I found it so many years ago, but I cannot say enough good things about it!
Pros
This makes my accounting SO EASY! Not only am able to easily keep track of my expenses and costs associated with my business, but I'm able to create, issue, and track invoices. AND, to top it off, the invoices are so nice looking (which, as a designer, is a big deal to me).
I can not only issue invoices, but track whether they have been opened, viewed, and/or paid. And when it comes to figuring out my taxes, the system makes it so simple to get whatever information I need.
Finally, while I don't use it yet, I will be enabling online payments this upcoming year so my customers can pay their invoices online. Based on my experience thus far, I have NO doubt it will be great!
Cons
This is a difficult one as I really don't have a dislike....
If I really think about it, I guess I wish I could have different addresses (for me) on difference invoices based on the customer. I have two locations so it would be nice to be able to just issue invoices with different business addresses based on the customer.
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave has amazing functionality for a free product, but it's not as good as it should be
I have been using Accounting by Wave for nearly three years. It was a replacement for my Simply Accounting program. I am forever wondering how Wave can afford to make such a polished product available at no cost. Initially, there were ads, but now that they have a revenue stream from additional services, the ads have been removed. I have opted not to use their in-built payment processing feature, but I imagine it would be similar to Paypal in terms of the fees. Day-to-day operation of the program is smooth. They use a Zapier interface to my bank to update balances and download transactions. This interface is quite slow, although the speed has improved somewhat over the years. As bank transactions are imported, they are categorized into various income/expense categories. I find the categorization to be fairly unhelpful. Even after the user changes the categorization of transactions, Wave does not remember these settings. The next time data is downloaded, it will use the same, incorrect categories as the previous time. Wave is currently rolling out a new version of their software, which promises improvements to the AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities. I hope this means they will remember user-defined categorizations, but until my account is updated, I cannot speculate. There is one VERY ANNOYING bug in the program that I have described in the CONS section, since I've run out of space here.
Pros
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.
Cons
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.
- Industry: Retail
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
A data-import nightmare - Stay away unless you love lost transactions
Support has been poor quality. As a paying customer of both their payroll service (which is solid) and their accounting coaching, I'm tremendously disappointed with the platform.
Pros
The software at it's core is very easy to use. The reliability is however a complete failure.
Cons
Throughout the past 3 years, Wave has been a game of 'make sure my bank works.' First, I closed incompatible credit card accounts in order to open accounts that were listed as compatible. A year later, Wave lost the connection with all of capital one due to an issue with switching data providers (from Plaid).
Next, Chase bank cards also disappeared. When finally reconnecting, weeks worth of transactions were intermittently missing. For a software company who's core goal is to reduce manual data entry, this platform is a nightmare. Stay away.
- Industry: Photography
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Monthly for 1+ year
-
Review Source
Very powerful free features with the option to purchase high-quality premium services!
I am very impressed with Wave Accounting. Their free products aren't skimpy or limiting, but are actually very full and would likely not be free from another service provider! Wave's premium offerings are extensive as well. Overall, I've found that Wave Accounting is perfect for a wide target audience including small businesses, sole proprietors, independent contractors and freelancers, or people looking to take their invoicing, accounting, payment collecting, etc. to anything beyond their basic capacity and limitations. Highly recommend to a broad audience needing such services.
Pros
Wave Apps software features not only very beautiful interfaces for their products' dashboard, but the platform is at once very feature-heavy and thoughtfully well designed. The aesthetically-pleasing graphics for content such as cash flow, profit and loss, and expense breakdowns on the primary dashboard are sharp and clean in addition to being so helpfully data-driven, and all that is just on the landing page. As you navigate through categories of sales, purchases, accounting, banking, you experience how well-constructions the pages are for options within each section including sales, purchases, accounting, etc. I love just how many of the feature-heavy options are completely *FREE.* Wave Apps offers select premium services, such as Wave Advisors and bookkeeping, even business insurance with "NEXT," while offering things such as accounting, invoicing , etc. free of charge. It's an excellent product for anyone looking for a beautiful interface, but also wanting lots of features without needing to immediately spend money for quality products.
Cons
So many elements within Wave are intuitively navigable and to use with simple data entry. One area that was a little more challenging for me to set up with the chart of accounts section in the accounting area of the interface. It's so nice that it's deeply customizable, but the challenge was that it took me a little extra time to understand and knowledgeably input the data of my assets, liabilities/credits, income, expenses, equity. This is something that would be challenging for anyone not familiar with basic accounting on any software, so I probably would've benefitted from a few "help" pop-ups/set-up assistance here than perhaps some other areas. Where my limitations with setup start is however where Wave's premium products with bookkeeping and accounting are so valuable to the user. There are many great pop-up notices throughout the platform that inform you about new features of ways to most effectively use Wave Apps features, which is great, and of course, they're complete with beautiful graphics.
- Industry: Design
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
-
Review Source
A good start for small businesses to easily manage their billing and invoicing
It made my startup process easy and saved my business a lot of expenses. I also learnt a lot as a novice with basic financial knowledge.
Pros
First of all, it is completely FREE part from other optional extra services that have recently been added at a cost. Very easy-to-use in creating invoices and billing customers. I was able to integrate with my startup business processes and it improved our professionalism. I loved the app because I could easily manage my business finances from my mobile phone, follow up on due payments, track payments, monitor cashflow, and also customize all correspondence with my brand colors and logo.
Cons
I was sad when most features were limited to US residents and I also couldn't access the mobile app in the app store for my region. Users outside the USA might have some limitations especially with connecting banks or credit cards and no access to the mobile app
Reasons for Switching to Wave
It was free and easy-to-use- Industry: Marketing & Advertising
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Monthly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Worst nightmare during the worst time
About 6 months into the business, we heard of wave. We are based on the west coast, and saw that they were on the east coast in Canada, but we had clients in different time zones, so that was no issue. Starting out, we wanted to make a good impression, so we had 5 clients run through wave, our biggest one being my cousin's boyfriend, although that was never disclosed because it didn't have to be. Further along, readers will understand why I mentioned it. We had transactions that averages between $500-$2000, but he was the main client that we used with wave. Overall, he paid us $12,000 for all of his small businesses as he is an entrepreneur. They saw that he had made many payments within a span of 3 months, and froze our account altogether, saying that they could not release the funds until 6 months had passed, and even gave us the specific day the funds were to be released. We didn't know what to do, so we waited the entire 6 months. When we reached out to them, they told us to collect payment in another way, but they had already collected payment for us, and we can't double charge anyone. It makes no sense. [sensitive content hidden] (her boyfriend) was furious, and tried to call the company several times himself, but THERE IS NO ACTUAL PHONE LINE for them! So all that could be done were emails that were ignored. He had business up in Canada and somehow got ahold of someone, asking to refund his money so he could pay us directly, but again received no response. 6 months passed and we never received our money. My cousin would log on daily and we had our business account linked to it, so all was in order, but all it was was a copy of everything wells Fargo had. We tried for 2 years to get our money back, even after the company was dissolved, with no luck. They decided to close our account (we weren't using it for anything anyway) and gave us the reason that our company didn't have enough of a presence for them. After 3 years and the actual person that paid trying to contact them and no chargeback of any sort occuring, it's quite obvious that there is no fraudulent or suspicious activity whatsoever. My cousin spoke to a different person every day via live chat who never knew what was going on and would forget about our case. One day she finally got to the right person, who saw the mistake on their end, and we finally received our money over 3 years later.
Pros
The only positive thing that I can say about them, is that after THREE years and having to lose the company that my cousins and I started together, we did finally get our money, or rather most of it.
Cons
I will just tell you our story with it. My 2 cousins and I decided to go into business together before COVID happened. We all have degrees in different categories and wanted to join forces. One had a degree in computer engineering, one in graphic design, and I had a business degree although at the time I had a huge following on social media and was working as an influencer. We wanted to help small businesses get their names out, and started a business advertising for them. I used my presence on social media to advertise by word of mouth, while my cousins would design web sites, and create custom logos and business cards for our clients. We began with just friends to test, so we didn't have a set price for anyone. It was also a side gig so we let people set their prices. Thankfully wave was not the only company that we used. I will describe our experience in the next question.
- Industry: Information Technology & Services
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Weekly for 2+ years
-
Review Source
Wave Accounting: The Optimal and Should be First Choice for Small Business Owners
I have been using Wave for a long time now. For more than 4 years and I have nothing bad to say about Wave Accounting it is absolutely amazing, and is way better than quickbooks in my opinion.
Pros
Wave's ability to automatically categorize and track receipts. Another feature I must mention is the invoicing capabilities. These features are more than essential to the small business owner and are easy to generate on the go quickly with the mobile application.
Cons
One aspect of Wave that could be improved is the mobile applications' ability to manage payout accounts. Also, the receipts feature remaining free would be a huge value add for logistics company owners.
