For $15 a month, it lets you send invoices, scan receipts, and separate business expenses from personal ones. Meanwhile, QuickBooks Online’s cheapest small-business accounting plan starts at $30 a month. The Plus plan costs $85 a month, while the Advanced plan starts at $200 and maxes out at 25 users. You’ll get plenty of accounting features and multiple users with each of these plans, but they come at a high cost. These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
Wave vs. QuickBooks: The Benefits of QuickBooks Online
There are also fields for billable hours to add specific customers and services. Both Wave and QuickBooks give you the option to open a free checking account integrated with your invoicing account. You can receive online payments directly into this account, so you can get paid faster and avoid issues related to connecting an external bank account.
Create Mailchimp subscribers from new Wave customers
Using billing software helps to eliminate some or all potential human errors by automating several processes that are normally done manually. Automated billing, invoicing and other processes also help improve project and client management. Your billing and invoicing processes are also more streamlined and bills are processed and sent out in a timely manner. If you’re a small business owner offering an in-person service or working with a bookkeeper or accountant, QuickBooks is a standard choice and may be worth the subscription fee. 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.
Most comprehensive features: QuickBooks Online
In short, QuickBooks Premier is best for businesses that need industry-specific features, while QuickBooks Pro is ideal for small businesses with general accounting needs. For more information, check out our guide on QuickBooks Pro vs. Premier. The platform’s design is intuitive, so it’s easy for anyone to set up and use. Both QuickBooks and Wave have an array of accounting tools to suit your freelance business needs. Depending if you have employees/contractors you pay out, plus how in-depth you’d like your reporting and bookkeeping, one service or the other will be the best choice.
Wave vs. QuickBooks: Accounting Software Comparison 2024
However, this doesn’t mean Wave should be ruled out, as the software’s feature package performed particularly well in our last round of testing. To see how the provider’s stand-out features compare side by side scroll down to the end of this section. Our research finds that QuickBooks is a stronger accounting tool than Wave, offering the best set of features we’ve reviewed, including standout budgeting and inventory management functions.
- You can still track financial statements, taxes, payroll, customers, and vendors, but the amount of report templates is much more limited.
- Its suite of tools offers accounting, invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, tax reporting, employee and contractor payroll and more.
- And while we gave it a dismal 0/5 score for advanced features, it offers all the capabilities you need to get started too, including 5/5 bookkeeping features and quality invoicing integrations.
- It’s also important to note that both have a mobile app, available on iOS and Android.
- Tracking expenses is especially important to freelancers, because when taxes roll around, many expenses can be deducted, saving hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars.
Both Wave and QuickBooks have the option to add payroll capabilities to your account for an additional fee. Transaction fees apply on both platforms, and all payment methods are optional. You can disable payments and let clients pay another way, such as through a paper check or PayPal. Simply walk through a few drop down menus to set up your clients, rates, and the template you want to use. The finished product looks great and is easy to track within the Wave software. Launched in 1992, QuickBooks has been fine-tuned for decades to provide small business owners with what is cost of goods sold cogs and how to calculate it everything they need.
Wave offers its own in-house payroll and payment processing, but it doesn’t integrate with third-party apps. This can be limiting for small businesses that use separate software for inventory management, customer relationship management or payroll. Additionally, it doesn’t integrate with card readers for in-person payments, which rules it out as an option for many retail stores and pop-up shops. Strong invoicing feature competes with that of paid products; app lets users send invoices on the go; offers significantly fewer reports than competitors; no inventory tracking. Powerful, cloud-based accounting software that perfectly integrates with Wave’s suite of money management tools to help you run your business better. Designed to be easy for freelancers and small business owners to use, while making accountants happy with robust reports and functionality.
QuickBooks is an excellent service if you’re looking for more robust service and a scalable option. Accounting is vital for freelancers and the self-employed, because without a solid bookkeeping plan, you won’t get paid. QuickBooks Online can offer you impressive, wide-ranging capabilities—plus, QuickBooks has one of the most robust, experienced networks of accountants and advisors available to assist you.