Wave Accounting Platform Reviews

“Seamless and easy accounting

Pros

Wave Accounting makes it easy to handle accounting responsibilities like accounts payable, accounts receivable and recurring billing.

Cons

Right now, I don't find any part of the software to be confusing or difficult to use.

“Super easy and reliable

Pros

I find it extremely user-friendly, churns out detailed reports and streamlines billing for my clients.

Cons

Honestly I have no complaints, I am fully satisfied with the program.

“Super easy invoicing anywhere

Pros

Accessible from anywhere and I find it really handy. I can send invoices quickly and tend to get paid faster.

Cons

The only thing I'd change is that the Estimate function doesn't help me figure labour costs which makes pricing jobs harder for my projects.

“Great free option for startups

Pros

What I appreciate most about Wave is that it's free to get started. When I launched my new business on a shoestring budget and couldn't justify hiring a bookkeeper or paying for pricey accounting software, this felt like the right place to begin. I used Wave to prepare Profit & Loss reports and Balance Sheets and the layout was user-friendly so I picked it up quickly. My accountant suggested I use it for bookkeeping and honestly I am really glad I chose to start with Wave.

Cons

Unfortunately I was limited to uploading roughly six months worth of past bank transactions which was frustrating because I had considerably more historical data I needed to bring into the system.

“Easy start and clean interface

Pros

I found it really easy to get started, with a quick setup and a clean, user-friendly interface. That said once our workload expanded because we hired a full-time employee, the platform couldn't cope with our needs and we ultimately couldn't continue using it.

Cons

Payroll offered no flexibility and even if the vendor acknowledges the issue there's no way to address it. For example, when one of our staff had exhausted her paid time off, we had to let her take several unpaid days because there was no alternative.

“it is a free tool

Pros

What I like the most is that I can begin using this solution for free!

Cons

What I dislike most is the lack of scalability, as soon as my transactions exceed about $3k, I start running into issues because of AML requirements which causes real friction. I really hope they address this quickly so it doesn't keep undermining the user experience. Freezing my funds for a week, with that kind of lockup, is something I simply cannot afford.

“Love how simple and polished

Pros

What I like most is that Wave auto-generates sequential invoice numbers which takes away the hassle of tracking them myself. Beyond that, Wave keeps a clear record of paid and unpaid invoices so it's simple for me to see who owes me and who I owe. I also really appreciate the easy setup for accepting card payments which made getting paid much easier. Having used Wave since 2018, I have come to rely on the fact that a receipt is created every time a payment comes in and I can choose whether to send or print the invoice. The invoices and receipts always look polished and I can pull up a visual summary of all my transactions whenever I need it.

Cons

Fortunately, I haven't encountered any problems while using it up to this point.

“Free invoicing that just works

Pros

I was so impressed by how easy it was to put together custom, professional-looking invoices without paying anything. I could fully apply my branding, save templates for reuse and spin up new invoices in a matter of seconds. The app also let me accept credit card payments from clients which meant invoices were typically settled within 24 hours instead of taking more than a week when I only relied on bank transfers. Wave's integration with Stripe worked seamlessly and funds consistently hit my bank account quickly. On top of that, Wave doesn't charge a subscription fee. It uses a pay-as-you-go model that carries slightly higher processing fees than some other invoicing tools but those per-transaction costs are far lower than paying a monthly or annual plan making it ideal for freelancers who are just getting started and watching every dollar.

Cons

Because the service is now restricted to customers in the US and Canada, I unfortunately had no choice but to migrate to another invoicing platform and I switched over to FreshBooks.

“highly recommended!

Pros

it's an excellent way to dispatch quick invoices without any fees. I find it very simple to use and it was something that came highly recommended to me.

Cons

I don't really have anything negative to point out. It's just that I tend to go with another similar program because it offers more features.

“Great for busy small businesses

Pros

For a small business like mine, this program works wonderfully, I can keep all my accounting tasks centralized and it makes bookkeeping much easier especially when I am stretched thin running the day-to-day operations of my company.

Cons

My only gripe is that the support team isn't as fast as I'd like when handling problems and answering questions.

“affordable yet modern

Pros

Honestly compared to other services I have tried, I find this one significantly cheaper and noticeably more modern.

Cons

That said I wish the interface were a bit more user-friendly for my needs.

“Love using wave accounting

Pros

For over 10 years I have consistently relied on Wave Accounting as the primary tool that logs all my income/expenses for tax purposes and billing my clients.

Cons

I honestly haven't encountered any problems with the system.

“Frustrating payroll and no support

Pros

I liked how easy the initial setup was, getting started was simple and the interface felt user-friendly at first. Unfortunately, once we added a full-time employee and tried to expand functionality, it became practically unusable for our needs.

Cons

When it comes to payroll, we had zero flexibility and even when the company acknowledged the limitation they offered no practical fix. For instance, we had an employee who had exhausted her paid vacation but we agreed to allow several unpaid vacation days. There was literally no way to record that in Wave, it only supports paid vacation or nothing. I spent time chatting and emailing different reps but none were helpful and we wasted a lot of time only to be told it couldn't be done. Another major downside is the lack of support. the chatbot is pretty useless, live agents are often unavailable and when they are online there's usually a twenty-plus minute wait. I also expected the product to evolve but it doesn't seem to be improving at the pace I'd hoped. Today I got a notice that my card declined so I followed the email instructions from Wave to resolve it and the directions didn't match anything on their site. There isn't even a clear 'change payment' option and a Q/A at the bottom of the page shows someone asked the same question with no response. I regret choosing this software and we are already in the process of switching over to Gusto. I wish we'd known this before signing up.

“generate clear statements

Pros

One big reason I use Wave is that it's free which really appeals to me. The accounting tools generate clear profit-and-loss statements and balance sheets and I can connect my bank and credit-card accounts so transactions flow into the app automatically, leaving me to only sort and categorize them.

Cons

That said the reconciliation workflow feels less user-friendly than QuickBooks Online and I noticed Wave won't attempt to predict or suggest matches for unreconciled items. Also, wrapping my head around Wave's debit and credit mechanics was more complicated for me than it was in QBO.

“Easy invoicing that saves me time

Pros

Honestly invoicing with Wave makes my life so much easier because it automatically sends invoices to my clients every month which means I no longer have to keep track of billing dates or stress about forgetting to bill someone. I also love the automated payment reminders, I always feel awkward chasing customers for money but Wave takes care of that follow-up for me and saves me a lot of awkward conversations.

Cons

At first it felt a little complicated for me as a new user but after spending some time with it I gradually got used to the layout and workflows. What I still wish for though, is a richer set of analytics and visual charts I can flip through because I want to be able to see my full financial picture at a glance.

“Super easy setup and invoicing

Pros

Setting everything up was ridiculously easy, I completed the entire integration in under an hour which saved me a lot of time. I also appreciate that payments are processed within two business days and there's no charge for sending unlimited invoices.

Cons

I tried to send a handful of invoices but the system informed me that the verification process was on hold. I still haven't received a clear explanation for the hold and that lack of communication has been frustrating.

“Great fit for our business

Pros

For my small business, Wave Accounting turned out to be exactly what we were looking for. The software feels excellent to use and its layout is easy to pick up. I am finding it very user-friendly!

Cons

If pushed to pick one downside, I'd say I wasn't satisfied with the quality of customer support provided overall.

“Simple invoicing that saves time

Pros

Every month I rely on Wave Accounting to complete my invoices. It's really easy to navigate and packed with useful tools for example, I can send automated reminders to clients who haven't paid yet which helps me chase unpaid bills.

Cons

I have tried looking for an option to switch the date format from the American mm/dd/yyyy style to the UK dd/mm/yyyy layout but cannot find one. That occasionally leaves clients confused when they see the dates.

“helped our startup a lot

Pros

I was pleasantly surprised by what I could accomplish using the free service, it genuinely helped me get our startup's bookkeeping in order without spending anything.

Cons

What bothered me was that the reports used an enormous font which made the pages look cluttered and not very clean or professional.

“Love how it grew with me

Pros

I have been using Wave since 2009 and honestly it feels like my business grew alongside the app. It showed me what I was doing right and where I was making financial mistakes in my business. It makes filing monthly sales taxes so much easier. I keep a routine of staying organized, double-checking every transaction and making sure everything reconciles with my bank accounts. All those habits, together with putting transactions into the correct categories, turn tax season into something I barely worry about, I finish taxes in two days and don't have to panic because everything is already organized, mostly I just enter expenses and record sales.

Cons

What I dislike the most about Wave is that a few years back they dropped support for free accounts. There's absolutely no human support at all anymore and I really disagree with that decision big time. On top of that, bank connections sometimes get severed and you may be unable to reconnect for many, many months, without support you're left stranded and frustrated. As a solo small-business owner I don't need the extra paid features Wave offers so I cannot justify upgrading just to get live help which means I am permanently stuck without any human support. It doesn't sit well with me given how long I have relied on their platform and the trust I have built using this software.