Wave vs QuickBooks Online: Comparing Cost and Features
The QB ecosystem can make it easy to combine activities and data between tools. There are also many online resources and tutorials available for QuickBooks accounting tools and products. Use Payments by Wave to reach a wider audience and accept credit card payments. You can also explore more options that may be a better fit, starting with our list of the best accounting software for small businesses. Considering that both platforms offer truly well-rounded mobile applications, we’ll take into account that Wave is the free solution, while QuickBooks online is the paid solution exclusively. Meanwhile, over at QuickBooks, there are also many great full-service payroll tools.
Wave vs QuickBooks online versions
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships. A unique feature of QuickBooks is that signing up for QBO also gives you access to a free QuickBooks Checking account. QuickBooks Checking has no monthly fees, no account minimums, and no overdraft fees. QuickBooks charges a monthly subscription fee for its four plans, which range from $35-$235/month.
Wave vs QuickBooks: Which is Right for Your Business?
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However, when compared, it’s clear that both platforms have their strong sides. Let’s dive in deep and look in depth at both products to decide which platform takes the cake when it comes to features and functionalities. QuickBooks does not offer email support, but they do have 24/7 live chat support available for all users. The chatbot offers quick answers to questions or will guide you to the right resources from the QuickBooks existing library.
- As a more modern platform, Wave has a simpler and easier-to-navigate user interface (UI) while QuickBooks offers an array of features and tools that require a significant learning curve to navigate.
- Plan pricing can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses on a budget.
- Powerful, cloud-based accounting software that perfectly integrates with Wave’s suite of money management tools to help you run your business better.
- On the other hand, Wave’s lack of integrations and advanced features such as project management can be a dealbreaker, particularly for larger businesses.
While both platforms have digestible dashboards, I found it a bit harder to locate features on QuickBooks than on Wave. I had to rely heavily on QuickBooks’ search function to find many of its features, and there were even times I had to Google where to find the feature. Now, a good chunk of that is probably user error, but I shouldn’t have to go digging to find my invoices. You also have features for scheduling work and time off, projects, approvals, and reports—all necessary features for a medium to large workforce. With Wave, you’d have to integrate a third-party app in order to track time. All in all, the invoice capabilities of both platforms are pretty similar, but I found Wave to be just a little easier to navigate.
It meets a more diverse set of business needs, and has become standard among accountants, so your team won’t have a learning curve getting started. If you’re a freelancer or other solo service provider, Wave is a better option. It’s free to use, and the clear user interface makes it easy for anyone to adopt and navigate, so you can spend more time offering your services and less on managing your business. Both Wave and QuickBooks have the option to add payroll capabilities to your account for an additional fee. Wave deposits money into pcaob rulemaking your connected bank account within two business days of payment. You’ll pay 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction for Visa, Mastercard and Discover; 3.4% plus $0.60 per transaction for American Express; and 1% per transaction for ACH transfer from your client’s bank account.
Best freelance features: Wave Accounting
Choosing between them mostly comes down to whether you need a solution that can scale with your business. And as long as you don’t have any plans of rapidly expanding, you can’t beat that. When you create your first invoice in Wave, you’re guided to create a template first. The platform has a few template options to choose from, and even has the option to add branding like your logo and an accent color, which I thought was a nice touch. QuickBooks Online is the more comprehensive of the two solutions as it offers more features. For example, it allows users to manage their business inventory, and carry out job costing, whereas Wave doesn’t.
Expense Tracking
This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all software companies or all available software companies offers. Accountants can also set up automated payroll journal entries for more manual control. Wave also allows for an employee portal to access pay stubs, create and send documents like T4s, and get other banking information. Wave is known for its clean and simple look that makes it easy to navigate.
Your billing and invoicing processes are also more streamlined and bills are processed and sent out in a timely manner. It’s difficult to draw a conclusion on which accounting solution is better. This is because both tools accommodate different types of businesses and business needs. There may be a difference in pricing models, but how to write the articles of incorporation for a nonprofit this doesn’t mean each software offers the same features. This easy-to-use and feature-rich software is ideal if you have no bookkeeping experience and want top-notch customer support.