Wave Accounting

Wave is a free cloud accounting application offering double-entry bookkeeping, invoicing, receipt scanning, and financial reporting. The core accounting and invoicing features have no subscription cost — Wave monetizes through paid add-ons for payroll processing and payment acceptance.

Accounting firms encounter Wave primarily among freelancers, sole proprietors, and very small businesses that want to avoid software subscription costs. The platform supports unlimited income and expense tracking, bank connections, and basic financial reports (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow). Accountant access is available so firms can review and adjust client books directly.

Wave’s limitations include a lack of inventory management, no project-level tracking, limited integrations compared to QuickBooks or Xero, and fewer automation features. It is best suited for firms working with micro-businesses that have simple bookkeeping needs. Clients that grow beyond Wave’s capabilities are typically migrated to a more full-featured platform.