Entrepreneurship & Small Business

Is Wave accounting any good?

  • Last Updated:
  • May 30th, 2018 10:00 pm
Jr. Member
Mar 8, 2014
134 posts
10 upvotes
Mississauga, ON

Is Wave accounting any good?

We are sick of QuickBooks and want to go for WEB based accounting. Freshbooks, Xero and some others ask about 30 - 45 dollars monthly which I find too much. We need 2-3 persons be able to access it. when working on quotes, search old orders and so on. There is also Sage and Simply Accounting and some others. As soon as there are 2 users numbers go double. There is even GNUcash for Linux. I would switch to Linux in heartbeat, I am sick of Windows 10 spaying on everybody. However GNUcash does not support multi users.

Can anybody vouch for Wave accounting? They are free and have most of the features asked for. People's experiences are really mixed bag. We sell parts, we don't track inventory necessarily but need correct accounting with taxes and all that stuff.
5 replies
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
We considered it, but our accountant was not enthusiastic. She's accustomed to Quickbooks, and wasn't comfortable that Wave is not a traditional double-entry bookkeeping system.

Personally I don't think that's a problem for those without a historical preference. The double-entry system was designed pre-automation to make sure that data entry errors or missed items are easily caught. I don't think that's as necessary in modern automated accounting systems. While every system has some drawbacks, it's almost certainly possible for you to adapt if everyone is on board and helps make it happen.

Have you made a checklist of your accounting functions to compare to Quickbooks, Wave, and other systems? We did, including all the stuff still done by spreadsheets or manual procedures or other systems/services outside of Quickbooks. We separated it into "operational" processes that have to work in a timely and reliable way to support the company's operations (e.g., sending out invoices, paying bills, payroll etc.), and "bookkeeping" processes that ensure that accurate numbers flow into our monthly, quarterly and annual reports for the purpose of government and shareholder reporting.
Deal Addict
Aug 12, 2004
4511 posts
2168 upvotes
Calgary
I am using it and quite liking it, but I am a sole proprietor and cannot vouch for all of its functions such as payroll. I do my invoicing from there and can also take electronic payment as well for the invoice for a fee. I scan all my receipts digitally through it, Wave can read the PDF and turn it into a fully digital and searchable receipt and reconcile for tax purposes at the end of the year. I can invoice customers on the go with their app. It keeps track of taxes pretty well, you just have to set your taxes.

Play around with it with some data and see if it meets your needs. It certainly won't meet everyone's needs, but it works perfectly for me and can't beat the price.
Jr. Member
Mar 8, 2014
134 posts
10 upvotes
Mississauga, ON
Exp315, I am guessing you stayed with QB, right? We started using Wave with test data today, 2 persons and running into unknowns how to do this or do that. We do have plenty of time until fiscal year end to learn better.
Firebot can vouch for it, but admittedly his usage is relatively simple.

Anybody else want to pitch in?
Deal Addict
Jul 3, 2017
3859 posts
2814 upvotes
JackReacher wrote: Exp315, I am guessing you stayed with QB, right?
Right.

We also use some other packages for specialized purposes, such as Payment Evolution for payroll and Freshbooks for credit card invoicing (works with Stripe).
Newbie
Jul 10, 2012
14 posts
1 upvote
Toronto
Have you considered Zoho books? It is double entry, invoice generating and it also pulls your bank details as well. Additionally, you can integrate it with Zoho CRM for a better customer relationship management.

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