We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. With plans starting at $15 a month, FreshBooks is well-suited for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small-business owners alike. We spend hours researching and evaluating each accounting software system we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings. Users of the free plan are limited to using Wave’s Help Center or Mave, the support chatbot. Fortunately, the Help Center provides plenty of guides and information to help with most issues, and the software is intuitive enough that this support option will be sufficient for most users. An additional fee applies for filing your taxes through this integration, which includes an automatic import of Wave data into H&R Block.

Until then, the software is still a good solution for small business owners looking for simple, easy-to-use accounting software that won’t break the bank. Wave’s customer support resources and new Wave Advisor services make it easy for people with limited accounting experience to learn the software. It’s also great for Etsy shop owners and other eCommerce businesses using Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress. The free (Starter) and paid (Pro) plans offer basic features, such as invoicing, income and expense tracking, and payment processing. You can effectively analyze the financial health of your business, find ways to generate more profit, and move forward with your business plan. Since Wave only has one accounting plan, though, it’s not perfect for business owners who want to add accounting features as they grow.

Benefits of Wave Accounting

FreshBooks has an excellent mobile app that allows you snap photos of receipts, send invoices and track mileage. When you reconcile your books, you’ll navigate to the “Reconciliation” tab within the Accounting menu. If you need to manually edit, add or remove any transactions, you can do so on the Reconciliation or Transactions pages. Next, you can add sales tax (if necessary), create customer profiles and customize your invoice templates. Wave was designed specifically for small business owners like you – no CPA required.

Wave Accounting Review 2024: Pros, Cons, Alternatives

This user review score helps us give more credit to software products that deliver a consistent service to their customers. The A/P section focuses on vendor management, bill management, bill payments, and other payable-related transactions. A/P features include creating vendors and bills, recording purchase orders and converting them to bills, creating service items, and recording full or partial bill payments.

Banking and Cash Management

Like Wave, QuickBooks Online is easy-to-use, cloud-based accounting software. QuickBooks Online boasts a robust set of features, including advanced options like project management and inventory features you won’t find with Wave. QuickBooks Online also has hundreds of integrations, connecting your accounting solution with other small business software and apps. The best things about Wave are that it is easy to set up and that it has a free plan with all the features that many businesses need. A downside is that it lacks advanced accounting features, like project management and inventory accounting.

1. With our intuitive dashboard, you’ll be a money management pro in no time.
2. Wave uses 256-bit transport layer security (TLS) encryption for data security, and all accounting data are stored in servers monitored 24/7.
3. Automate overdue reminders and credit card payments to reduce friction and focus on the work.
4. Quickly build project estimates and professional invoices that reflect your business.

Accounting software that works as hard as you do

“Wave invoicing makes your life a whole lot easier and takes that worry off you. I’ve tried Quickbooks—it’s a bit more complicated and technical, and takes more time to set up.” Monitor your cash flow, stay organized, and stop sweating tax season. We also took our expert’s view into accounting when calculating our star ratings. Let us know how well the content on this page solved your problem today. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses.

And its email-only customer support means users are largely on their own if they encounter an immediate problem. Wave Accounting is the best free accounting software solution for freelancers, solopreneurs, and small-business owners alike. This takes into account customer management, revenue recognition, invoice management, and collections. Wave’s invoicing is free and unlimited, with customizable templates and a user-friendly interface, general journal putting it on par with some of the best invoicing software solutions for small businesses. Pro plan capabilities include recurring invoicing and the option to let repeat clients opt into automatic credit card billing. 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.

To add an account, go to the Chart of Accounts page under the Accounting menu, and choose from the tabs at the top of the page for the account or category you wish to add. Although accounting and invoicing are separated into two different product sections on the Wave website (shown similarly below), they don’t require separate accounts. These solutions are integrated within your dashboard and you’ll access them both through your single Wave login. Set up recurring invoices for your finance clients and safely store credit card info so you have one less thing to keep track of. See sent, viewed, paid and overdue invoices in one place so you know which clients are on the right track or need a nudge. Wave offers accrual-basis accounting only, not cash-basis accounting.