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It’s been a long time coming, but it seems like the promise of cryptocurrencies is finally starting to be fulfilled. There are now many companies that have embraced this new world and are offering cryptocurrency-powered gamification for their users. One such company is Wave, which offers an easy way for people to spend crypto on games from around the globe with its native WAVES token. It talks about how in 2022 their main goal will be providing “cryptocurrency powered” entertainment systems at home and abroad.
As of the date of this article, Wave has a rating of 4.5 stars on Glassdoor and is rated as one of the best companies to work for in America.
Wave is a free cloud-based accounting software package that centralizes your bookkeeping, invoicing, and payment procedures. Wave allows you to send limitless invoices, manage your accounting, and execute financial activities like as payroll and payment processing for a minimal cost. Accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) administration and reporting are two of its most famous functions.
For What We Recommend Wave
Wave works effectively in monitoring sales tax, reporting, banking, and invoicing, according to our detailed case study, which is given later in this review. Based on these findings, we believe Wave is an excellent alternative for small service-based firms who struggle with collecting payments and keeping track of costs.
Wave Is Particularly Beneficial For
- Businesses in need of free accounting software include: The nicest part about Wave is that it offers free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning services to an infinite number of individuals and businesses. It generates money by processing payments and providing payroll services. On our list of the best free accounting software, Wave is our top selection for best overall program.
- Businesses seeking for an alternative to QuickBooks might consider the following: Wave is a good alternative for small companies and freelancers who don’t want to use QuickBooks or find it too costly. It offers complete accounting for free, with no limits on transactions or users. Check out our post on the top QuickBooks alternatives for more information on other accounting options.
- Although Wave lacks industry-specific functionality, it is versatile enough to be included in our top software for the following industries:
Wave Isn’t Right for You
- Wave has rudimentary inventory functions, but you can’t monitor your stock inside the program. Product-based businesses: Wave has basic inventory features, but you can’t track your stock within the software. Xero is a good option if you need to keep track of your inventory.
- Businesses that need detailed bank account reconciliation include the following: Wave’s bank reconciliations are automated, so there are no outstanding checks or deposits in transit. For bank account reconciliation, QuickBooks Online includes extensive tools.
- Construction firms: While Wave provides solid basic accounting tools, it lacks QuickBooks Premier Contractor Edition’s comprehensive work costing system. You can’t attach labor and equipment hours, income, materials, or other expenses to tasks in Wave. We’ve produced a list of the finest construction accounting software applications to assist you in finding the right solution for your company.
- If you’re a law company that manages trust accounts, Wave isn’t for you. It doesn’t enable three-way reconciliation, thus you won’t be able to reconcile the balances of your trust account bank statement, internal books, and client ledger. Check out our assessment of the finest law firm accounting software if you’re seeking for a suitable accounting solution for your legal company.
- Restaurants: Wave is missing a vital component that helps restaurants and retail enterprises automate their everyday operations: a built-in or integrated point-of-sale (POS) system. Read our post on the best restaurant accounting software if you’re looking for accounting software that includes a POS system.
Are you on the lookout for something unique? Check out our top selections in our guide to the best small company accounting software.
Wave Accounting Pros & Cons
Visit Wave Accounting Software for more information.
Results of the Wave Case Study
The only way to really assess software, according to Fit Small Business (FSB), is to use it. Based on a shared set of facts and functions, we’ve created a case study to assess accounting software across 11 major categories.
The graph below demonstrates how Wave compares to two of its rivals, Sunrise and QuickBooks Online Plus, in each area. In the Features section, we give a full explanation of the scores.
Wave Accounting Software Case Study Results
In terms of general features, sales tax, and reporting, Wave excelled. Except for customer service, where Sunrise has a major edge, Wave and Sunrise are both free software and score equally. QuickBooks Online Plus, which costs $80 a month, outperforms the free software, particularly in banking and inventory management. QuickBooks Online is well worth the money if you need to print checks or store goods for resale to clients.
Pricing for Wave Accounting Software
Accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning are all free to use with Wave. Wave, on the other hand, levies costs for credit card payments and payroll that are equivalent to those charged by paid software. Please see the price table below for further information.
*Payroll costs from Wave:
- Users in tax-service states such as Florida, New York, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, California, Indiana, Virginia, Washington, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Wisconsin pay $35 per month plus $6 per employee or independent contractor. These states’ residents may make tax payments and submit documentation with state authorities and the Internal Revenue Service.
- Users in the remaining 36 states pay $20 per month + $6 per employee or independent contractor. Wave may be used to compute payroll taxes in these self-service states, but users must submit the paperwork themselves.
Wave Characteristics
Wave does not compromise on essential functions for small firms, but it does have certain limits, which are understandable given that it is free software. We analyzed Wave in-depth across 11 areas for our internal case study and came up with the following ratings and findings. You can learn more about the features by watching our accounting expert evaluate Wave using the case study criteria in this video.
Wave has a high user-friendliness rating. It took us very little time to set up our new Wave account for FSB, and inputting business information, such as firm name, kind of business, address, and contact information, is quite simple. Wave creates your chart of accounts by default using popular accounts and categories, but you may add more accounts if necessary. To add an account, go to the Chart of Accounts page under the Accounting menu and choose the account or category you want to add from the tabs at the top of the page:
Adding a New Wave Account
While it’s simple to use, we ran up a few problems with its main functions. There is no way to create two independent courses or locations, which might be inconvenient if your organization has many locations or provides multiple product or service classes. We were able to create a new user successfully, however custom user permissions are quite restricted. We also discovered that you can’t utilize account numbers in your chart of accounts, import bank balances, or import your chart of accounts, among other things. Wave also lacks the option to shut a previous year to lock earlier transactions, which is another characteristic of excellent accounting software.
Video of Wave’s Features
Wave’s main strength is its ability to manage delinquent debts, which is crucial in the accounting process. The Purchases menu, which includes all of the elements you’ll need to record your purchases: Bills, Vendors, and Products and Services, is a simple place to handle your A/P transactions. We enjoy how simple it is to register a new bill and a cost without having to pay it. You may take a picture of your receipt and submit it to Wave using the Wave mobile app. See our other recommendations for the best receipt scanning applications.
To create a bill in Wave, click the Create a Bill button, which will bring up the Add Bill screen:
In Wave, add the Bill Screen.
Unfortunately, you cannot establish a recurring transaction straight from a bill, as you can in other tools such as QuickBooks. Wave does not allow you to set recurring costs or create and issue purchase orders.
It’s astonishing that Wave, as a free software tool, can also do the following:
- Keep track of payments made to 1099 contractors.
- Create bill-filling goods or services.
- Make a note of any partial payments made to a vendor.
Accounts Payable Video by Wave
Wave’s sales tax and invoicing management capabilities are outstanding. You may modify your invoice in a variety of ways, including selecting from a variety of layouts, adding your logo, changing the colors, and adding a unique message. Before sending your invoice to your customer, you may add a new customer and add items to your invoice:
Wave Invoice Example
In Wave’s A/R system, you may also accomplish the following tasks:
- Invoices that are sent out on a regular basis may be set up.
- To auto-fill invoices, create a product or service item.
- Without producing a report, you may see outstanding bills.
- Keep track of how much sales tax is collected and remitted in each jurisdiction.
- View in-depth tax reports
Wave has an excellent invoicing capacity, however it falls short on other functions. You can’t, for example, deposit several checks in one transaction, send a credit message to a client, or add tracked costs to an invoice.
Accounts Receivable Video by Wave
Cash Management and Banking
To synchronize your transactions, link your bank account to Wave and upload bank statements. You may import QuickBooks Online files instead of creating a live connection with your bank, which is incredibly easy. Look elsewhere if you need accounting software with a decent bank reconciliation capability. Wave has a very restricted bank reconciliation feature. Wave includes an automated reconciliation capability, however it doesn’t allow for any reconciling items like cheques issued but not yet processed by your bank. If you need to print a large number of checks, QuickBooks Online is a better option than Wave. Checks must be written by hand for Wave users.
Wave Cash Management and Banking Video
Wave is unsuitable for managing fixed assets, which is to be expected from a free software tool. Fit Small Business used a bank loan to buy a work trailer in our case study. The purchase amount will be recorded in the fixed asset and note payable accounts by Wave, but that’s all it does. There are no options for tracking or viewing your fixed assets list. You can’t depreciate fixed assets separately or design loan amortization plans. Consider QuickBooks Accountant Desktop, one of the few general accounting applications with a full fixed asset manager, if fixed assets are a key component of your firm.
Video of Wave Fixed Assets
Wave isn’t a good fit for contractors or other businesses that need project management tools. Estimates may be created and sent, but they cannot be assigned to specific projects. You can’t monitor real revenue and costs by project, either. Although the estimate function may be useful, we urge that you explore for other options if you require project accounting:
In Wave, make a forecast.
If you require an accounting solution with a full project management function, have a look at our selection of the top contractor accounting software.
Video of Wave Project Accounting
Sales taxes may be included to invoices, bills, estimates, and cost and income transactions in Wave. Wave automatically records the amount in the sales tax obligation account whenever you input a transaction containing a sales tax. While Wave allows you to monitor your sales tax, it does not allow you to submit returns or pay your tax debt. If you deal with independent contractors and need to prepare a 1099 form for tax purposes, this functionality comes in useful. Because the sales and income tax elements are reviewed in conjunction with the other categories, there is no need for a separate video. As previously said, Wave’s inventory management tool is fairly rudimentary, so if you have a product-based firm, you should look at QuickBooks Online or Xero as alternatives. A product or service may be added, but not the amount bought or sold. This means Wave won’t be able to figure out your cost of goods sold, which is crucial if you work with inventory. Wave is ideal for service-based enterprises, while product-based companies should look at other options.
Wave’s inventory management component was tested in a variety of different areas, namely Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable.
Wave has the top rating in this area due to its extensive reporting capabilities. We attempted to produce 16 different sorts of reports in Wave, and we were successful in generating the profit and loss statement, cash flow statement, A/P aging, A/R aging, general ledger, trial balance, customer transaction list, and expenditure by vendor. Wave’s reporting tool does not allow for personalizing your reports, in addition to lacking several needed reports.
Video of Wave Reporting
Wave’s customer service is abysmal. You can’t speak with a real person, and you can’t reach them by phone or email. You may use the Help Center or the chatbot to look out self-help materials such as setup guidelines and troubleshooting suggestions. Wave’s sole live help is provided by a Wave ProAdvisor, which is a premium service. For the next 30 days, you’ll get unlimited email assistance, live chat with customer service, and a full hour of live coaching. FreshBooks, which is recognized for its great customer service, is recommended if client service is crucial to your company.
Customer Service Video by Wave
Wave employs two different mobile applications with relatively limited functions instead of a single app. Sending invoices, collecting payments, and recording an expense receipt are all operations that the applications can do. You won’t be able to set up and establish projects, log time worked, classify bank transactions, or read reports, which might be an issue if you often do business on the road.
Video of the Wave Mobile App
Options for Assisted Bookkeeping
In the form of a paid Wave ProAdvisor, Wave provides accounting assistance. Wave ProAdvisors are in-house, certified experts that provide one-on-one bookkeeping, accounting, and tax coaching to Wave customers. All of your accounting responsibilities will be handled by your personal Wave Advisor, including transaction categorization, bank reconciliations, tax preparation, and more.
Integrations of Waves
Wave interfaces with a variety of third-party products to increase its usefulness and productivity. HubSpot, Google Sheets, Shopify, Stripe, Square, PayPal, Etsy, Pipedrive, Harvest, Mailchimp, Slack, SendPulse, and BlueCamroo are all Wave integrations. Wave also uses Zapier to connect to over 3,000 other apps.
Alternatives to Waves
Conclusion
We hope that this case study has provided you with useful information and analysis to assist you in determining if Wave is right for you. Despite its drawbacks, Wave still has a lot to offer small enterprises. It has crucial features that will assist you in paying bills, invoicing customers, and keeping track of your spending. It doesn’t have the finest customer support, but most of its features are simple to use, so setting it up and utilizing it should be straightforward.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best features of Wave?
A: The best features of Wave are that it is compatible with all devices, and the app allows for a variety of customization options.
Are waves trustworthy?
A: They are sometimes, but not always.
Is Wave Accounting shutting down?
A: Yes, Wave Accounting is shutting down starting May 31st. You will be able to download your data from the website beginning June 1st.
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