9.6
SpotScore
Wave Review: Is It The Right Accounting Software For Your Team?
Best for SMB teams
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SOC 2
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Spotsaas Analysis for Wave
Wave is an accounting software solution primarily used by freelancers and small businesses, including sales managers and business development representatives in companies with 1-500 employees. With a rating of 3.6/5 from 0 user reviews, it suggests a niche-loved tool that may not have widespread validation yet, but its SpotScore of 9.6/10 indicates strong potential.
Wave's free accounting tools make it an attractive option for small businesses and freelancers on tight budgets. Its intuitive interface simplifies tasks like invoicing and expense tracking, even for users without an accounting background. However, potential users should be aware of the poor customer service, which includes slow response times and limited support, particularly for non-paying users.
Quick facts about Wave
What is Wave?
With Wave, small businesses have access to professional accounting services without any cost. It offers Invoicing, Accounting, and Receipt scanning for free, while its affordable packages provide additional features such as Payments and Payroll. This online software is a cost-effective solution that can help small businesses save money on their accounting tasks. It's the perfect choice for any company looking for an online accounting solution, allowing them to efficiently manage their accounts and resources. Wave is the most affordable accounting software that offers quality services to its clients and is a great option for small scale businesses.
Best For
Best suited for small teams and solo users
Security & Compliance
SOC 2GDPRMulti-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Data residency:🇺🇸
Platform
Web + mobile app (iOS & Android)
Wave Software Demo
Wave was reviewed internally using user feedback, in-house testing, and market research to assess its performance, reliability, and user experience. Learn how we review products and our evaluation process.
Who should consider Wave
- Use cases
- Freelancers, Small businesses with 50 to 500 employees, Consulting firms
- Team types
- Sales Managers, Account Executives
- Company size
- 1-50 employees, 51-500 employees
- Workflow style
- Simple and streamlined
- Setup complexity
- Low
Why teams choose Wave
Free core accounting tools including invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt scanning
User-friendly and intuitive interface suitable for non-accountants
Automation of key accounting tasks like bank reconciliations and recurring invoices
Is Wave right for you?
Best free accounting software for small businesses and freelancers.
Choose Wave if
- You need core accounting features like invoicing and receipt scanning at no cost.
- You want an easy-to-use interface without accounting expertise required.
- You prefer automated bank reconciliations and recurring invoice management.
Consider alternatives if
- Your business operates internationally outside the U.S. and Canada.
- You require fast, reliable customer support and payment processing.
What buyers should know before shortlisting Wave
Wave Accounting works best for freelancers and sole proprietors handling straightforward invoicing and expense tracking. The free tier includes core accounting features, bank transaction imports, and basic reporting—sufficient for businesses with annual revenue under $100K and minimal tax complexity.
Before shortlisting, verify that Wave's chart of accounts structure matches your industry (it defaults to service-business setup) and test whether its bank sync covers your specific financial institutions, as coverage gaps have been reported with regional and credit union accounts. Wave's support model creates friction at scale.
Free-tier users have access only to email support with documented response times of 5–10 business days; paid plans unlock chat and phone support. The payment processing feature (Wave Payments) charges 2.
2% + $0. 50 per transaction and has generated complaints about delayed payouts (3–5 day settlement) and occasional sync errors between invoices and deposits.
In your demo, explicitly test bank reconciliation workflows and ask the sales team for a written SLA on payout timing if you process more than 20 transactions monthly. Wave does not offer multi-user role-based access control on free plans—all invited team members see all financial data.
If you need to restrict accountant or bookkeeper access to specific clients or expense categories, you'll need the paid plan ($15/month). Confirm during setup whether Wave integrates with your existing tools (Shopify, Stripe, payroll software); while integrations exist, they require manual configuration and don't always sync historical data.
Wave pros and cons
- Wave pros
Free core accounting tools including invoicing, expense tracking, and receipt scanning
User-friendly and intuitive interface suitable for non-accountants
Automation of key accounting tasks like bank reconciliations and recurring invoices
- Wave cons
Poor customer service with slow response times and limited support for free users
Payment processing issues such as withheld funds, frozen accounts, and delayed payouts
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Wave reviews and ratings
Buyer sentiment
Users appreciate Wave's free, easy-to-use accounting tools but express frustration over customer support and payment processing issues.
What buyers like
- Ease of use
- Automation of accounting tasks
- Cost-effectiveness
Common complaints
- Customer service quality
- Payment processing reliability
Are you using Wave?
What users are saying
RK
Randy k
04/29/24
worst payment service provider and accounting software
been waveapp accounting software client for 10 + years, recently on april 19 i logged in and saw message to test payments service provided by them and ...
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C
Cheryl
03/19/24
SCAM ARISTS-STAY AWAY
I entered my private information on their site including social security number to generate pay stub. I cannot access my account now. This is a SCAM . ...
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A
ajr
03/18/24
It's free so it gets one stars
It's free so it gets one stars, but it lacks in even the most basic accounting functions. Reconciling accounts doesn't work correctly, ...
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JH
Jason Henry
02/22/24
Wave is a Canadian company. Bad Business pratices
Wave is a Canadian company with no real legal recourse within the United States, Please do not do business with this company if you are a small or ...
Read more
MB
Mark B
02/22/24
"Easy to use and automates most processes"
What do you like best about Wave? I love the way that Wave imports transactions from my business bank accounts and remembers what I categorize them ...
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SC
Seth Currie
02/20/24
You think you are going to do…
You think you are going to do accounting with waveapps? Think again. It doesn't work properly, and then there is no recourse when you need help ...
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What are the features of Wave?
The overall accounts payable (AP) balance of a corporation at a given moment in time will appear in the current liabilities column of its ba…
The term "accounts receivable" refers to a company's unpaid bills or the money owed to it by customers. Accounts that a company is entitled…
A bank reconciliation statement reconciles an entity's bank account with its financial records. The statement lists all deposits, withdrawal…
An invoice and a bill are documents that convey the same information about the amount owing for the sale of goods or services. Still, a comp…
A Certified Public Accountant Firm (CPA firm) is a business licensed in the state where it operates and is owned, at least in part, by a CPA…
The practice of collecting and managing cash flows is known as cash management. Individuals and businesses both benefit from good cash manag…
Check writing used to be done by hand in the old days. Today, there is a digital solution for everything, and check printing software is tha…
When a firm refers to money owed to them by a customer, it is referred to as collections. When a consumer fails to pay a company within the…
The electronic deposit of funds into a bank account instead of a physical paper check is referred to as a direct deposit. It necessitates th…
Keeping track of your expenses is a crucial component of building a budget for your small business. The financial health of your budget is i…
The practice of tracking and managing an organization's physical assets and equipment is known as fixed asset management. Vehicles, computer…
A general ledger is a financial data record-keeping system that includes debit and credit account records confirmed by a trial balance. It h…
Your firm will be able to hold funds in multiple currencies if you have a multi-currency bank account. When conducting a business across bor…
The process of paying salaries is referred to as payroll. It begins with preparing a payroll list and concludes with the recording of expens…
Project accounting is a sort of managerial accounting that focuses on managing and delivering projects. It entails tracking, reporting, and…
Purchasing is a method by which an individual or organization acquires goods or services to achieve its objectives. Despite the efforts of n…
Revenue recognition is a generally accepted accounting standard (GAAP) that identifies and accounts for the exact criteria under which reven…
Spend management is the tried-and-true method of monitoring all supplier connections and company purchasing to identify and maximize every d…
A tax is a governmental mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on a taxpayer to fund certain public expenses. The taxation system is cri…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses Form W-2 (formally, the "Wage and Tax Statement") to report salaries given to employees and taxes wi…
Wave security and data handling
Key compliance certifications and security features for IT and security teams evaluating Wave.
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Security features
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Alternatives to Wave
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Why buyers keep looking beyond Wave
Lacks detailed reporting and native integrations for accounting workflows — teams needing custom GL mapping or multi-entity consolidation typically switch to QuickBooks Online or Xero
Teams over 20 people find Wave's single-user collaboration model limiting; they move to platforms with role-based permissions and audit trails
Nonprofits and professional services firms need industry-specific tax reporting (Form 990-N, time tracking by project) that Wave doesn't provide
Businesses wanting phone or live chat support choose alternatives like FreshBooks or Zoho Books instead of Wave's email-only model
Price-sensitive startups under $50K revenue sometimes pick Wave, but as they scale past $100K annual revenue, they migrate to platforms with usage-based or per-user pricing that match their growth
Wave Customers
Cody Duncan Photography
Courtright
Orhtris
Wave Support Options
Frequently Asked Questions About Wave
Common questions buyers ask before choosing Wave.
Wave is a Accounting Software. Wave offers Tax Management, Spend Management, Revenue Recognition, Purchasing, Project Accounting and many more functionalities.
Wave is a strong fit if: You need core accounting features like invoicing and receipt scanning at no cost.; You want an easy-to-use interface without accounting expertise required.. Consider alternatives if: Your business operates internationally outside the U.S. and Canada.; You require fast, reliable customer support and payment processing..
Buyers commonly note the following limitations of Wave: Poor customer service with slow response times and limited support for free users; Payment processing issues such as withheld funds, frozen accounts, and delayed payouts; Problems with bank syncing and duplicate transactions causing operational delays.
Some top alternatives to Wave includes Xero, Zoho Books, Quickbooks, Freshbooks and WavePayroll.
Wave offers Freemium pricing model
The starting price is not disclosed by Wave. You can visit Wave pricing page to get the latest pricing.
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About the reviewer
Rajat Gupta is the founder of Spotsaas. Over the past two years, he has reviewed 2,000+ tools across CRM, HR, AI, and finance — applying hands-on product research and a background in commerce and the CFA program to evaluate software through a business and ROI lens. His goal: help teams make software decisions they won't regret.
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Disclaimer: This research has been collated from a variety of authoritative sources. We welcome your feedback at [email protected].
