# Wave Reviews **Vendor:** Wave **Category:** [Accounting Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/accounting) **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 320 ## About Wave Wave is a comprehensive, cloud-based accounting software tailored for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. It offers a suite of financial tools designed to simplify bookkeeping, invoicing, and payroll processes, enabling users to manage their finances efficiently without the need for extensive accounting knowledge. Key Features and Functionality: - Accounting: Track income and expenses, manage cash flow, and access detailed financial reports such as profit and loss statements and balance sheets. - Invoicing: Create and send professional, customizable invoices with ease. - Payments: Accept online payments through credit cards and bank transfers, facilitating faster transactions. - Payroll: Run payroll for employees and contractors, with automatic tax calculations and filings in supported regions. - Receipts: Scan and store receipts to track and organize expenses efficiently. - Mobile App: Manage invoices, expenses, and receipts on-the-go, ensuring financial oversight anytime, anywhere. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Wave addresses the common challenges faced by small business owners in managing their finances by offering an integrated platform that combines accounting, invoicing, and payroll functionalities. Its user-friendly interface and automation features reduce the time and effort required for financial management, allowing users to focus more on growing their businesses. Additionally, Wave's commitment to security ensures that sensitive financial data is protected, providing peace of mind to its users. ## Wave Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users find Wave's **ease of use** exceptional, especially for those with no finance background needing simple accounting tools. (11 reviews) - Users value the **free plan and automated invoicing features** of Wave, simplifying their billing and payment processes. (6 reviews) - Users find the **easy setup** of Wave incredibly helpful for connecting with clients and managing contacts efficiently. (3 reviews) - Users love the **easy integration features** of Wave, allowing seamless connectivity with multiple accounts and platforms. (3 reviews) - Users value the **easy invoicing** and automation features of Wave, making payment processing seamless and efficient. (3 reviews) - Users find Wave's invoicing system to be **very easy to use** , allowing quick and professional invoicing for small businesses. (3 reviews) - Automation Efficiency (2 reviews) - Users find Wave's **billing management** incredibly easy, facilitating client invoicing, payments, and reporting effortlessly. (2 reviews) - Users value the **cloud-based access** of Wave, enhancing convenience and reliability for managing their business information. (2 reviews) - Easy Access (2 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users feel frustrated by the **missing bookkeeping features** , limited customer service, and removal of the 1099 filing option. (5 reviews) - Users express frustration over **poor customer support** , highlighting difficulties in reaching assistance and slow communication responses. (5 reviews) - Users find the pricing for Wave **unreasonably high** , especially after recent changes and limited service access. (2 reviews) - Users express concerns about **limited integration options** with Wave, affecting their workflow and efficiency. (2 reviews) - Users often face **approval process issues** that hinder setting up business accounts and lead to unresponsive support. (1 reviews) - Users note the **business size limitations** of Wave, finding it unsuitable for larger companies' needs. (1 reviews) - Difficult Customization (1 reviews) - Email Issues (1 reviews) - Insufficient Information (1 reviews) - Integration Difficulties (1 reviews) ## Wave Reviews ### 1. Wave: Ideal for Accounting Experts, But Invoicing Needs Improvement **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Barb B. | President, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 05, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I use Wave as my accounting/bookkeeping program. As a nonprofit, I was excited to learn that Wave can be used for free for basic accounting. Its interface is easy to understand from an actual accounting perspective. As someone with a background in accounting, I don't have to guess what the program is doing when I input information. I can create transactions and journal entries where I control which codes are used. We operate on a cash basis, so I can use their transactions register and journal entry register to input 90% of what I need to record from my checking accounts. I also wasn't sure how it would handle year-end, but it understands that after the end of my year to close the books and start a new P&L. Some people might not like the fact that you can still edit the prior year after the fact, but since I'm the accountant, I'm not concerned with that. I'd say it would be an 8 or 9 if they have some accounting background. It's exactly what I needed. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Creating an invoice when you're not selling a product can be a bit confusing. I've had to create invoices for grants which I've had trouble coding to the right place. I usually end up having to make a journal entry correction. It's been a while since I've had to do it, but unless you create a new item for each grant, it automatically codes it to the same account used before and you don't realize it, but it doesn't show you that it's doing that until after you've completed the invoice and then I couldn't find a way to edit the coding after the fact. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Wave for accounting as it's free for basic features, making it ideal for my nonprofit. The interface is clear from an accounting perspective, allowing me to easily record transactions and journal entries. It handles cash basis records efficiently. ### 2. Simple Interface, Perfect for Small Business Invoicing **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rashida D. | Executive Administrative Assistant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 08, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I really like that Wave's user interface is simple and easy to use, making it straightforward to find things. The customer service has been easy to use and they are easy to get a hold of. I found the features to be purposeful, useful, and offering a wide variety. Setting it up was also really easy, especially if you have your business and bank information ready. It was important for me as a small business owner to avoid combing through a poorly designed interface, and Wave helps me get things done quickly and accurately. **What do you dislike about Wave?** The invoicing was a little wonky the last time I used it. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave is a great inexpensive way to handle accounting, inventory, and invoicing for my small business. Its simple, easy-to-use interface and purposeful features save me time and help me manage tasks quickly and accurately. ### 3. Wave: Powerfully Simplifies Small Business Accounting **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** ARPIT M. | Vice President, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I really appreciate Wave's 'Forever Free' philosophy where the core accounting and invoicing features are genuinely free, removing the stress of a growing monthly subscription bill for a small business. The interface is non-accountant friendly, unlike heavier software, allowing me to get the job done quickly without needing to learn complex processes. The dashboard provides a clear 'birds-eye view' of cash flow and the setup is super easy—getting the first invoice sent or a bank account connected can be done in under five minutes. Wave offers smart automation with features like automatic reminders for late clients and duplicate detection in bank syncing, which helps keep the books clean without much effort. The 'forward to receipts' email feature saves a lot of manual work by automatically scanning details and adding them to expenses. I love the professional aesthetic of Wave, where even though it's free, the invoices look high-end and can be customized with my logo and brand colors, giving my small business a polished appearance. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Lack of Inventory Management: Wave is mainly for service-based businesses. If you sell physical products, you can't track inventory within Wave. You need a separate spreadsheet or app, doubling the work. Limited 'Pro' Reporting & Customization: The basic reports work for tax time but feel too rigid. You can't customize or drill down reports like you can with advanced software. You might struggle to get detailed profitability by project or location. Customer Support Accessibility: The free plan's support is limited to self-help guides or a chatbot. To talk to a human, you need to pay for add-on services like Payroll or Payments. Mobile App 'Feature Gap': While Wave's mobile app is handy for sending invoices or snapping receipts, it lacks deeper accounting tasks. You need a desktop for serious work like bank reconciliation or complex reports. Multi-Currency & International Scaling: While Wave handles multiple currencies, it can be tricky for international users. Some tax requirements aren't supported smoothly, and currency conversion fees can be a bit high. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave automates bookkeeping, organizing transactions, and ensures tax readiness. Its free core features and user-friendly interface simplify finance management without extra costs. Smart automation reduces errors, and professional invoices boost client trust. ### 4. Great Fit for Small Business Accounting Needs **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Stacey B. | Digital Media Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 18, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** It's easy to use, and I love that it has had a free tier for as long as it has, when many competitors are overcharging crazy monthly subscription fees. What you get for features within the app, compared to its competitors, is awesome. It has all the needs for a small business. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I am based in Canada, and have a lot of US-based clients. The inability to collect online credit card payments from US clients is a big deal breaker. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave handles all the end to end invoicing, billing, expense, reconciliation and tax needs for small business. The fact that it can handle all of these things for free, and do them well is rare in this industry. I've never had any issues with the app either, literally none. Everything just works. ### 5. Simplifies Bookkeeping for Small Businesses **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brittany C. | CEO and Founder, Non-Profit Organization Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 02, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave makes bookkeeping and accounting easy for me as a business owner. It also allows me to include payment links in traditional PDF invoices, which makes it extra easy for clients in smaller businesses or nonprofits to pay me on time without having to initiate their own ACH transfer or write a check. **What do you dislike about Wave?** There was one feature I wanted to use in Wave that I know I could do in Xero, but I couldn't figure it out in Wave. Wave is good for general, standard functions. For more complicated processes or procedures, you might need a more advanced product. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave simplifies my accounting and bookkeeping, letting me handle it myself without outsourcing. I love sending PDF invoices with payment links. It's easy to use for solo practitioners, though advanced features might require more powerful tools. ### 6. Perfect for Small Business Accounting **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Connie S. | Owner/Operator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 24, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I appreciate Wave for its ease of use and that it's not complicated, which makes it perfect for small businesses. I love that I can connect multiple accounts, and the account is inexpensive. I find uploading receipts easy as I can just forward emails to a dedicated email linked to my account. It helps me see my cash flow and makes report preparation easy. I like that it can identify duplicate transactions and has a merge option, so I can easily reconcile. The initial setup was super easy, taking less than 5 minutes to connect all my bank accounts. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I would love to see a paystubs report for business owners so I can usually show income. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave helps me easily upload receipts by forwarding emails, tracks cash flow, and simplifies report preparation. It's straightforward and perfect for small businesses, plus connecting multiple accounts and reconciling transactions is easy. ### 7. Disappointed with Changes and Poor Support **Rating:** 1.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Justin V. | Principal, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 31, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I appreciate the free plan from Wave, which I've been using since I started with them almost ten years ago. I like the recurring invoicing feature and the automatic reminders for invoices, which takes a little off my mind knowing that's all being done for me. The platform's ability to handle multiple types of credit cards and ACH transactions is also something I like. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I don't like that they removed the feature to file 1099s for a small fee. Now, you have to subscribe to their payroll service for the whole year, which I don't need. This feels like a money-grabbing move, and it's a huge negative for me. Their customer service hours are also very limited compared to before, and communication about changes was poor. You can't reach a human easily, which is frustrating. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Wave for bookkeeping for my small business. I like the recurring invoicing and automatic reminders, which take a little off my mind. It supports multiple credit cards and ACH transactions too. ### 8. Wave Makes Free Invoicing Easy **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Robert K. | Dispatcher, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave is great because it let's us send invoices for free. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It would be nice if the expense monitoring was also free, but it's understandable that they make you pay for that feature. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** It helps us send invoices for free which is nice when business is slow. It's one unnecessary expense we don't have to pay for. ### 9. Easy, Brand-Custom Invoicing That Simplifies Payments and Reconciliation **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Megan E. | Owner, Lead Designer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 16, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I love how easy it is to draft and send invoices and that there are options to customize the invoice to your brand. Makes it easy to receive payments and reconcile accounts. **What do you dislike about Wave?** How long it takes to receive payouts after invoices have been paid, sometimes up to 10 days. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Bookkeeping for a small business. Wave makes it easy to keep on top of bookkeeping and get paid by clients. ### 10. Effortless Networking Made Simple with Wave **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Charles P. | Entrepreneur **Reviewed Date:** January 03, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I like how Wave helps me contact and be seen by potential clients easily. I appreciate the facility to share my profile with a card, which makes it much simpler than writing my email on another phone. The initial setup was very easy, and we are still on Wave because we like it. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I find it inconvenient that you have to click on a link to share your profile with the card. It would be better if the profile could just appear automatically on the cellphone without having to click a link. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Wave to make connections with potential clients. It helps me contact and be seen by people, and it's simpler to share my profile with a card instead of writing my email on another phone. ### 11. Budget-Friendly and Easy to Use, But Lacks Some Automation **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brandon S. | Radio Host, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 30, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** I like that Wave is easy to use, it's free, and you can still get a lot of use from the free stuff. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I hate that they got rid of the invoicing feature where I can just set it and forget it. You have to upgrade the account to have that feature. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Wave for invoicing my clients. It's easy to use, free, and the free version offers a lot of functionality. ### 12. Great Budget-Friendly Cloud Accounting for Small Businesses **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brij Sen S. | Assistant Team Lead, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 28, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave is very good software for small businesses with fewer than 1,000 transactions. It’s a great opportunity for smaller businesses to manage their financial data in the cloud. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Overall, it’s good for the budget. However, the UI could be better. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** It saves me time to manage my books in Wave rather than in Excel. ### 13. Great Price and Easy to Use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Will R. | Treasurer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 08, 2026 **What do you like best about Wave?** price, ease of use, good for basic needs **What do you dislike about Wave?** limited free features, probably best for simple/small businesses **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** basic accounting & reporting ### 14. Works great for accounting at no cost **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Computer Hardware | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 03, 2021 **What do you like best about Wave?** It is a free web-based accounting software, so no money required to use or renewals. Can do everything you need for a sole proprietorship. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It does not have some of the tax forms that the paid accounting software like QuickBooks has. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use this for tracking sales and costs. ### 15. Best For Small Business Owners **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Suman A. | Financial Advisor, Financial Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 28, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** It's a best option for small businesses, freelancers who want their accounting with or without monthly basis and it's easy to navigate. I have a good experience with it. People can use it with small guidance and keep track on their finances without paying to someone. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It's not for growing business anf it's lacking of advanced features. limited access for some states and addon pricing is little high for small businesses. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** It solves manual accounting, invoicing and eases tax prepration. most of the features are free to use. ### 16. Best small business accounting software 👌 🙌 **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Professional Training & Coaching | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 02, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** Not just the pricing, but I also love the ease of use, it was so easy to setup and use. I was able to connect multiple bank and other accounts right away. I can customize transactions and quotes/estimates very easily. Integrations with other platforms are numerous and quite easy to setup. I LOVE IT! **What do you dislike about Wave?** The customizable options in the brand kit are fewer and less flexible than I would like but overall that's about it! **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** All my accounting needs for my business, including estimates, keeping track of expenses invoicing, integrating with other financial software and accounting reporting. it seems to meet ALL my business needs! ### 17. No Customer Service? **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brenden B. | Reality Architect & Strategic Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 11, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** Seemingly easy to use web interface? Not much else. **What do you dislike about Wave?** You sign up for their pro plan and then you can't setup a legitimate business banking account for payouts as advertised. When connecting with their team, they don't respond to your emails even though you have a ticket and an email chain going with them. Very unprofessional. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** None, especially when being told from their risk team that your business is considered "high risk" for no reason and said that we'd have returns from customers, which was not the case. ### 18. Poor support with software problems **Rating:** 0.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Peter Zahi T. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 02, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** Easy to use interface with multiple options for payroll, bookkeeping, hr & accounting. **What do you dislike about Wave?** The support is very poor. They only offer an online chat bot support with limited hours. Whenever we had real issues with the software glitches, they would not address nor reply to us through their support. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Was using it for payroll ### 19. Easy, fast, and reliable **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** John K. | Arts & Media Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 27, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** Onboarding was simple and fast. Use is reliable and I have already been gathering contact info from others. It integrates will with my contacts and have no issues with accessing the information later. Because of Wave, I am using it more than my paper cards! I have also recommended Wave to a few friends who were looking for a low cost option for digital business cards. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It sometimes takes a while for the recipient to actually see the contact info on their device. Not sure if it is on their end or an issue with Wave servers. Also the Apple Wallet card needs a header as it can be difficult to find - it shows in the list as a white card. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Keeping my accounts in order ### 20. When you are solo, Wave helps you keep your head above water and focus on your business. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Mark B. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 29, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** The automatic downloading of transactions saves hours of time. Invoicing is easy, payments are simple to set up. Payroll is most valuable. You can get started quickly and easily. I use it almost daily. **What do you dislike about Wave?** If you have more than one business (or DBA) you have to switch businesses and sometimes your preferred default business does not appear first, requiring a switch business action before you can begin. It's a minor issue, so no big deal. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Lack of staff adds pressure to accounting and billing, Wave's automation reduces that pressure overnight. ### 21. Quick and easy way to make professional invoices **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kelly W. | Marketing specialist, Marketing and Advertising, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 31, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** It makes it quick and easy for small businesses with basic accounting needs to issue professional looking invoices. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It’s not great if you need to be able to issue invoices in multiple currencies. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** before using wave I was using a combination of word and Excel to create invoices for clients. Wave made it much easier to quickly create invoices that looked more professional. ### 22. A great way to market yourself ! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Edward G. | High School Referee, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 17, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** WAVE is a simple way to connect with potential clients. I simply show my QR code to them and they copy it and .......BAM ! They have my information and I have theirs. **What do you dislike about Wave?** At times the QR code does not populate the correct information but that has only happened once or twice. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Connecting me with potential clients. ### 23. Great features and design **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 11, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** Very easy to invoice clients and to get paid **What do you dislike about Wave?** No bookkeeping capabilities like other competitors **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used Wave for invoicing and payments for many years, which they were great for, but I eventually needed to integrate with my bookkeeping software and sync with bank accounts. ### 24. Great for my nonprofit organization **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 08, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** The free version is great for a start up nonprofit. It is easy to navigate for someone without a finance background. Customer support has always been helpful. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I don't have a finance background to having the help articles be a little more clear would be helpful. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I often need accounting reports for the grants I apply for. Wave is helpful in running these reports. ### 25. FREE CORE ACCOUNTING TOOLS **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 08, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** FREE CORE ACCOUNTING TOOLS EASY TOUSE CLOUD BASED ACCESS INVOICING MADE SIMPLE BANK TRASACTION SYNCING INTEGRATED PAYMENTS REPORTING OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS **What do you dislike about Wave?** NO INVENTORY MANAGEMENT NO TIME TRACKING LIMITED INTERGRATION CUSTOMER SUPPORTCAN BESLOW PAYROLL LIMITATION **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** EXPENSIVE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE BUT CAN SAVE 100 OF DOLLARS A YEAR ON SOFWARE COST SAVES TIME AND ERROR FREE KEEPS YOUR CLEAN ### 26. Not a good company **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bob. D. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 08, 2024 **What do you like best about Wave?** I would strongly advise against using Wave for invoicing and client management. After setting up my client in Wave and billing them for $300 with a second $1,400 proposal that was almost immediately accepted, Wave suddenly and without explanation closed my account and refunded my customer. This was not only a massive inconvenience, but it also caused significant embarrassment for me with my client. What’s worse, their support team was unresponsive and unhelpful. Despite reaching out for an explanation, I was met with a complete lack of accountability or a clear reason for their actions. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I have since switched to FreshBooks, where I’ve received much better service and support. Wave’s mishandling of my account caused major disruptions in my business, and I cannot recommend Wave to anyone. In fact, I would actively warn freelancers and small business owners to avoid them. They simply can’t be trusted to treat their users with respect, and their support department was completely unhelpful. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Oh, Wave is solving ALL of your problems—but not in the way you might think! They’re solving the mystery of how to completely humiliate a professional in front of their clients, for starters. Who knew you needed help getting your account shut down with zero explanation, just when you were trying to get paid? Wave’s expert support team is fantastically adept at vanishing when you need them most. Refund your customer? Sure, why not! That’ll definitely win them over! And don’t forget their stellar payment processing times—nothing says efficiency like waiting the full 7 business days for an ACH payment they promised would arrive sooner. They’re also doing you the favor of showing how little human interaction you need by offering AI-driven support bots! Because who needs real people when you’ve got a chatbot that’s just as helpful as talking to a wall? Wave is truly revolutionizing how business owners lose their clients and their minds, one frustrating interaction at a time. ### 27. How good is Wave. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lydia K. | D365 Finance Consultant, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 26, 2025 **What do you like best about Wave?** I like that it is user-friendly, and it has free core features. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It does not have capacity for a large company, it's for small companies. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave is solving a lot of problems like bookkeeping in my company, invoicing and payroll. I t really helps a lot. ### 28. I am shocked at how bad the support is **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Keith N. | Strategist , Marketing and Advertising, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2024 **What do you like best about Wave?** It has a clean interface and is easy to use for basic bookkeeping. **What do you dislike about Wave?** The billing side of the software has a bug. It didn't even notify me that payments were failing, and so it has cost the company several thousand dollars in lost revenue. I contacted support last month and have been following up, but their responses are incredibly slow and ineffective, and they have not even indicated that they know how to resolve the problem yet. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Bookkeeping and invoicing ### 29. Serviceable **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consulting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 12, 2024 **What do you like best about Wave?** Easy to use interface, provides needed features such as invoicing, payment processing, as well as many useful reports. **What do you dislike about Wave?** The amount of or lack thereof intergrations available. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Allows me to accept online/mobile payments from debit & credit cards as well as multiple p2p platforms (paypal, cash app, apple cash, venmo, etc). In addition it also satisfies my book keeping needs. ### 30. Wave Disabled my Account without any Warning or Explanation **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 01, 2019 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave was a core part of my business when it was a startup. We ran all of our invoicing through Wave. It worked as expected most time. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Wave disabled our account without any warning or explanation as to why. This is extremely problemmatic in any business, so I would never recommend Wave to another small business. **Recommendations to others considering Wave:** Just do it. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use wave for all of my invoicing and stage-1 accounting. It allows us to see snapshots of our business at any given moment without having to go to the accountant asking for a report. ### 31. Simple billing app for a fair price **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Elli C. | Book Coach and Developmental Editor, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 26, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** It is so easy to create bills and automatically send them, duplicate past bills, and set automatic reminders. There are other offerings I don't currently take advantage of, but for what I use it for it's brilliant. I moved to Wave from Paypal because Paypal raised their prices without my being aware of it. Wave has reasonable pricing while focussing on a great billing system. I also love how they simplify legal language on the side of the original text when they have a change of terms. I now use Wave for all of my billing. Customer support has also been very friendly and helpful. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Sometimes the stats on the dashboard are confusing and more explanations could be helpful. Also, I don't like how discounts are handled: they show up as a 100% price income + partial return or something silly like that. It's really confusing, unnecessary, and messes with my stats. So I don't use the discount feature anymore but simply charge the lower price in my billing without the discount showing as such. Also, I don't like that the invoice number shows in the reference line when sending, so I always delete that--but I'm happy it's deletable, so thank you Wave! **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave is allowing me to bill my clients with ease and confidence, at a price that is better than other programs out there. ### 32. Great functionality for free with a lot of upgrades for a reasonable price **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dax D. | Vice President Marketing, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 13, 2024 **What do you like best about Wave?** Their invoicing system is very easy to use and customer friendly. They also charge a reasonable amount for credit card processing for small companies. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Bank integration for bill payment tracking can get a little confusing. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Very user-friendly accounting interface that allows me to keep track of invoices and receive payments from clients. ### 33. A must have business Accounting service especially for Canada **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Egor U. | Bandmaster, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 29, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** My income taxes are basically done as we go on any taken day. If you got everything categorized your taxes are always done. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Unless you get an optional paid subscription services that many business don't even need you can not get any support not by email nor by Messenger or on the phone. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave is CRA-approved in Canada, it is built based on income tax regulations in Canada (if you choose your country as Canada). Takes the guesswork on what is or isn't tax deductible, GST, etc. ### 34. Good Accounting App for Freelancers and Small Businesses **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Rebecca F. | Managing Partner, Hospitality, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 16, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Very easy and practical to use, you dont have to have an accounting background to be able to use Wave. I found it really useful using it to invoice my clients and track payments, etc. **What do you dislike about Wave?** If you want to get into minor detaisl you may find it a little limiting. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Helps me keep trac of payments and bills, invoices in one system. Sends out reminders for peding payments. Helps me save a lot of time! ### 35. Small Business getting started **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Consulting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 05, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Very easy to umport bank statements and CSV,s for reconcilliation. Has decent dashboard showing cash flows and profit lossees in the last 12-24 months. I enjoy the expense breakdown section **What do you dislike about Wave?** THe cost of taz filings is steep i use a divverent software for my 1065 K1 and year end taxes. Turbo tax is a lot more affordable. If Wave cam down in price, i would use them for my K1 since all the numbers are in Wave **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Helps me keep my small business books on track and hellps visualize the numbers with their graphs and reports. Balance sheet made easy with one click. I also like the Net income displayed on the dash board. ### 36. Best Accounting online software for small businesses and self employed **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Raspal S. | Photographer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 19, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Free tools, Easily manage invoices, quotes, receipts and yearly accounting tools for tax and documenting. Very easy to use, and you can add multiple businesses to the same profile. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Nothing is there that you will not like about wave accounting. It's a very good tool for running your business operations smoothly and efficiently. Try it yourself. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Generating and sending Invoicing, quotations, Payments, Bills and receipts on the go with wave's mobile apps and web platforms. I don't have to be in the office or on my laptop everything is mobile. ### 37. With a bit of tuning, I've got it working as a dream invoicing and accounting tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Peter V. | Owner, Consultant, Data Scientist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 02, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** I'm small and I can do all my monthly billing pretty quickly and easily! And it's free! I only pay when I decide to accept online payments and I can turn off the online payments for big invoices where I really don't want to pay the %. They have my business forever as long as they don't change the pricing structure. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Nothing really. It did take a few months to figure out the most efficient way to do things and figure out the settings I wanted to set for my specific workflow. Make sure that after a few months you play with settings so as to get more efficient with the system. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Who would pay for QuickBooks online when you could have a good-enough accounting and invoicing system for free? It's a dream product... and you were going to be paying a certain % for online payments regardless so why not pay these people if they have a useful free system for tracking everything else. Admittedly, it's not Quickbooks so for complicated businesses you do need a real accounting software... but if your accountant or tax person approves of the level of sophistication this product provides, every last small business should be using this instead of QB. ### 38. wave is the easiest and best accounting software **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Andy N. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 14, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave is super easy to use, quite intuitive and does everything I need for my small business. On top of that, the free accounting feature is THE reason I picked it and is just superb. Creating invoices is easy/great and the transaction updating is great. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Honestly, I have not found much to dislike. As a small business owner, this does everything I need and much easier than what I used previously which was quickbooks. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** As a small business owner, I need to track and categorize transactions, generate invoices, record payments and generate end-of-year reports. This is better and easier to use than what I used for years: quickbooks. ### 39. Ease of Use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Na'Tima H. | Technical Consultant, Project Manager, Information Technology and Services, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 15, 2022 **What do you like best about Wave?** I can create invoices from my phone and send them to the client. Just a couple of clicks, and I am done. This is a new app and they are working to add more capabilities and asking for feedback along the way. **What do you dislike about Wave?** It is hard to set up payment for myself. The team should provide a list of things needed to set it up so I didn't pay for the capability and didn't have the requirements completed in the beginning. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** They are solving the problem of the estimate-to-invoice process that is wholly connected at a low cost. It gives me a clear view of where I stand financially so that the transparency is there when I am ready to hire a bookkeeper or accountant. ### 40. My Review for Wave **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kaganjo M. | Accounts Payable Support Specialist, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 20, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Wave automates complex accounting tasks from recurring billing, invoicing to AP and AR. **What do you dislike about Wave?** I use this tool on a daily basis and I hardly record errors when using it. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Wave allows me to pay vendors ahead of time while eradicating discrepancies via 2 and 3 way matching tools. ### 41. Great user interface with streamlined design **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Marketing and Advertising | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Great app and ease of use for small businesses. The fact it is free to use, with a great interface and being able to connect your bank account and credit card removes some manual process. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Customer support feels like it can take forever to resolve, along with some lackluster features that are missing on the free tier version (as expected). There have been also some app glitches causing a reset of the app needed. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is accessible, user-friendly, and can integrate some automation via connecting bank and credit cards, some of the best features from a small business perspective. ### 42. Simple and Elegant Platform. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Zack L. | Aquatic Field Ecologist, Research, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 22, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** The platform is open source and is easy to use and manage invoices. **What do you dislike about Wave?** None, at the moment, I have no dislikes to address. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** This platform has helped me tag data for practical bookkeeping and deal with my accounting and invoicing tasks in a seemingly effortless way. ### 43. Accounting Software **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Commercial Real Estate | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 05, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** The best method is to generate an invoice, which you may check in the drafts area before sending. We can set up recurring invoices, collect credit card payments, and keep track of unpaid invoices. Bank & Credit Card Reconciliation is one of the best option & its easy **What do you dislike about Wave?** I cannot download reports month by month; they can only be seen annually, and I can't combine multiple reports at once. To prepare the financial cash flow is difficult **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Accounting and Monthly Invoicing for Tenant. ### 44. good ease of use payroll software , never had to worry about payroll deposits **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Brian L. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 11, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Ease of use, helpful tech support, always notified me in a timely manner when tax forms were due and I never worried about my deposits. Software had a lot of features but learnable and allowed me to focus on my business. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Pricing went up higher than market value, in my opinion. I decided to test out other competitors offerings when they started charging 30% higher monthly fee than other companies. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** payroll deposits and payroll tax filing deposits. It is such a headache to deal with on your own or it is very expensive to use an accountant, so overall it solved a lot of problems. ### 45. Good for consultants **Rating:** 2.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Transportation/Trucking/Railroad | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 19, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** The payroll is good and the interface looks good **What do you dislike about Wave?** Lack of functionality, not enough reporting for dynamic small businesses **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** We are a CPA firm with clients on Wave. the payroll option works well for them and the invoicing as well as the easy ability to accept payments. The fact that is functional on a phone is helpful. ### 46. Great Accounting Software **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Shawniece E. | Owner, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 12, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** I like that it is easy to use WAVE. I can take a look at my business bank accounts in one place. It's nice to have the option to send invoices outside of my CRM. Y **What do you dislike about Wave?** There isn't anything that I dislike at the moment. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** I can do all of my accounting within one place if I choose to do so. I am considering using wave to file my taxes this year. ### 47. Worst Customer Service of any financial app **Rating:** 0.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Josh W. | CEO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 25, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Easiest app to duplicate an invoice and charge the customer's card I've used **What do you dislike about Wave?** Their customer service is horrible. If you can even get them, they have no problem lying right to your face. Read other review sites and you'll see! **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating invoices for marketing services ### 48. Top bookeeping and tracking for small businesses **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Reggie A. | VP, Customer Experience, Marketing and Advertising, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 14, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Very user-friendly, has great help guides, and a vibrant community that collaborates and helps others. **What do you dislike about Wave?** There isn't really anything I've found so far. Great for keeping receipt copies and generating reports. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Bookeeping for general business and tax preparation. Helps me save time and focus on the business itself. ### 49. Able and Easy Accounting **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Levent U. | R, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** smart reconciliation and bookkeeping. Work well with bank connections. **What do you dislike about Wave?** no project accounting. needs improvement in project and class side. **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** reliable and easy to access accounting software with invoicing ### 50. Simple accounting software! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Martin C. | CEO, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 07, 2023 **What do you like best about Wave?** Bank integration works seamlessly. Super easy to tag transactions and close accounting and conciliation of accounts. **What do you dislike about Wave?** Did not extract the full value of Wave yet. Thinking of using payroll, but there is no easy transition from Gusto **What problems is Wave solving and how is that benefiting you?** Tagging data for accountant to easily close books ## Wave Discussions - [How does Wave Software make money?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/how-does-wave-software-make-money) - 1 comment - [Is Wave Accounting really free?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-wave-accounting-really-free) - 2 comments - [Is wave a good accounting software?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/is-wave-a-good-accounting-software) - 2 comments - [What is Wave Software?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-wave-software) - 2 comments - [View Wave pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/wave/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-13+09%3A45%3A53+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=d7249383-634d-4427-a0b8-7f18c0fd0995&secure%5Btoken%5D=ccd167568fe167dbaf33dcf2824eeafb060cec1313f735cce85d51d5604e6338&format=llm_user) ## Wave Integrations - [Chase Payment Solutions](https://www.g2.com/products/chase-payment-solutions/reviews) - [Zapier](https://www.g2.com/products/zapier/reviews) ## Wave Features **General Ledger** - Journal Entries - Tags / Dimensions - Audit Trail **Bill Generation** - Templates - Digital Billing - Recurring Billing **Agentic AI - Accounting & Finance** - Autonomous Task Execution **Accounts Receivable** - Invoice Customization - AR Automation - Collections Automation **Bill Processing** - Consolidation - Batch Invoicing - Management **Accounts Payable** - AP Automation - Payment Processing - Purchase Orders **Integration** - Accounting - Payments - ERP **Agentic AI - Billing** - Autonomous Task Execution **Other Functionality** - Inventory Tracking / Ordering - Inventory Pricing and Costing - Inventory Reporting - Multi-Entity / Consolidation - Recognition Rules - Reconciliations - Payroll - Time and Expense **Reporting & Analytics** - Financial Statements - Custom Reporting - Budgeting / Forecasting - Dashboards **Platform** - Customization - Workflow Capability - User, Role, and Access Management - Internationalization - Performance and Reliability - Output Document Generation **Integration** - Data Import and Export Tools - Integration APIs - Breadth of Partner Applications **Cash Flow** - Track Cash Flow - Income and Expenses - File Exports **Budgeting & Forecasting** - Budgeting / Forecasting - Data Import - Versioning - Historical Data **Revenue** - Revenue Types - Revenue Allocation - Scheduling **Payroll** - Direct Deposit - Check/W-2 Printing - Tax Calculation - Reporting and Dashboards **AI** - Data Extraction - Invoice Processing - Expense Management - Fraud Detection - Tax Compliance - Support Chatbots - Bank Reconciliations - Report Generation - Customizable Alerts - Predictive Analytics **Mobile Applications - Accounting** - Cloud Integration - Notifications - UI - Offline - Expense Tracking - Invoice Management **Agentic AI - Accounting** - Autonomous Task Execution ## Top Wave Alternatives - [Xero](https://www.g2.com/products/xero/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (1,568 reviews) - [FreshBooks](https://www.g2.com/products/freshbooks/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (950 reviews) - [Zoho Books](https://www.g2.com/products/zoho-books/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (317 reviews)