All businesses deal with numbers—payments, bills, invoices, taxes — name it. Accounting is a non-negotiable process regardless of how big your business is and what industry you’re in. However, the challenge is more pronounced for small businesses and startups that are operating on a limited workforce and budget.

Manual and traditional accounting can be slow and tedious, which is why many businesses use accounting software. However, even accounting software may exhibit flaws, particularly older systems. If you want to dig deeper into accounting solutions, you can compare accounting systems here.

Earlier accounting software have been known to suffer from issues, such as the lack of a means to prevent data duplication. Some programs do not provide easy-to-understand and fully reliable reports. Meanwhile, some do not support collaboration across different departments and integrations with other business tools. Furthermore, most of the highly efficient accounting software available on the market today typically come with high costs.

While bigger businesses can surely afford to hire accountants on retainer or pay for pricey accounting software, it’s a different story for smaller firms.

Wave is an all-in-one accounting software that will not put a dent on your budget. It offers a full suite of accounting tools that can help small business owners with teams of less than 10 employees, take care of their finance-related requirements. 

However, although Wave offers practically everything you might require from an accounting software, you may still want to explore other options. You’re in luck as in this post, we’re showing you the top Wave alternatives.

What Is Wave?

Wave is an accounting software suite that offers a comprehensive financial management platform. Powered by an authentic double-entry accounting system, Wave comes free of charge. You can utilize its accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning platform at absolutely no cost.

Wave’s powerful accounting system lets you connect bank accounts, balance books, sync expenses, and prepare everything you need for tax day. Its simple and reliable platform allows you to manage and track cashflow. Wave’s user-friendly dashboard makes it easier for small business owners and managers to organize income, payments, invoices, and expenses. 

Furthermore, the platform is secured by 256-bit encryption. Wave users can also rest assured that bank data connections are kept as read-only. For value-added service, Wave offers paid payroll and payment processing services. When you compare accounting software in the market, Wave is definitely a standout.

The Disadvantages of Wave As an Accounting Software

As one can expect from a free software, Wave may not have all the features that every business requires. For one, there is a reason why it is marketed specifically for small businesses. It may not be able to handle large-scale transactions and data as effectively as premium platforms. Some users also report issues in bank account linking. Reporting also leaves a lot to be desired—although the developers are continuously improving it, it’ has yet to allow month-to-month comparisons.

10 Wave Alternatives

True enough, Wave offers considerable benefits. However, it isn’t a perfect software. By looking at Wave alternatives, you may be able to find a better choice or, at the very least, one that exactly matches your organization’s needs. So, without further ado, here are 10 alternatives to Wave.

1. FreshBooks

An award-winning cloud-based solution, FreshBooks is easily one of the best finance and accounting software today. The program is popular among businesses that need to integrate and streamline time tracking and invoicing. FreshBooks also serves as an all-in-one accounting and bookkeeping solution. It provides all the tools you need to help you stay on top of your financial transactions and to make sure that you’re always ready for tax day.

Furthermore, freelancers can also utilize FreshBooks to optimize their sales and collection process. The platform also provides growing businesses, professionals, and freelancers with the means to customize their financial documents according to their own branding.

FreshBooks can also integrate with a number of business tools and software, such as G Suite, Shopify, and PayPal. It also comes with iOS and Android apps that let users track time, log expenses, receive notifications and communicate with clients using their mobile devices.

You can try out FreshBooks through the 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $15/month.

2. Xero

Billed as the beautiful accounting software, Xero is among the more popular financial collaboration solutions available on the market. With a user-friendly interface, Xero is recommended to small businesses and freelancers who wish to automate and streamline their accounting and collaboration efforts. You don’t necessarily need to have a background in accounting to use Xero. It can help simplify even the most complex aspect of accounting, so you can choose not to hire an experienced bookkeeper just to use the program.

Xero provides users with automated and real-time cashflow reports that can be accessed on any device. You can also send invoices and create expense claims even while on-the-go through the mobile apps. Xero also integrates with over 800 third-party apps, which helps make invoicing, expenses recording, inventory management, and time tracking more efficient and accurate. 

You can try using Xero through the paid trial. Paid plans start at as little as $9/month.

3. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is another popular accounting software that offers a host of features meant to make accounting and cash flow management easier for businesses of any size. With cloud accounting, QuickBooks allows you to stay on top of your business’ finances anytime, anywhere. You can access reports and data using a computer or any mobile device. 

The program also makes it easier for users to record expenses, as well as take photos of receipts and save them through the QuickBooks Online mobile app. QuickBooks also has a comprehensive invoicing tool that lets users create customized professional invoices, as well as estimates and sales receipts. The platform also gives you instant insight into your finances with customizable accounting reports and dashboards. Furthermore, if you have an accountant, you can provide them with access to your QuickBooks account so you can collaborate more effectively.

QuickBooks comes with a free trial. Its cheapest plan, which is intended for freelancers, costs $5/month. Plans for businesses, on the other hand, start at $7/month.

4. Avaza

A cloud-based project management software, Avaza serves as an all-in-one business tool. Aside from project management and time tracking, it also facilitates quoting and invoicing. 

Avaza can help streamline your expenses tracking. It supports receipts digitizing and stores them in the cloud. This way, you can access copies of your receipts anytime, anywhere. You can also log expenses on-the-go through the Avaza mobile apps.

The program also allows users to categorize expenses, as well as assign billable and non-billable project costs. You can also set up recurring expenses for easier and automated tracking. Avaza is also designed to help users streamline expense approval workflow. It also ensures accurate client billing and provides comprehensive real-time reports.

With Avaza’s host of business and financial tools, it helps make accounting easier for small and medium businesses, as well as freelancers. You can try it out through the free trial. Paid plans start at $9.95/month.

5. Receipt Bank

Receipt Bank is an accounting and finance software designed to convert information captured from your scanned and uploaded receipts, bills, and invoices into organized and measurable data. This top-rated productivity tool is best recommended for bookkeepers and accountants. Receipt Bank helps said professionals simplify their jobs by eliminating paperwork and manual data entry. It facilitates the easy collection, processing, and posting of invoices and receipts. As the processes that used to take so much of your time (such as manual entry of information) will now be automated, you can have more time for other equally important matters. 

With its user-friendly tools, Receipt Bank helps financial professionals spend less time on manual tasks so they can focus on providing more value to their clients. Receipt Bank utilizes world-class data extraction tools that ensure the accurate collection of information from scanned and uploaded receipts and invoices. Furthermore, it ensures that every information you upload on the platform is stored in highly secure cloud storage. Receipt Bank also integrates with several business tools, including Xero and QuickBooks.

Receipt Bank offers a free trial period. Paid plans cost as low as $10/month.

6. ZipBooks

Like Wave, ZipBooks is a free accounting software designed to help small businesses, contractors, professionals, and freelancers streamline their accounting and bookkeeping processes. ZipBooks also helps simplify invoicing and billing so users can collect payments more easily. As a web-based platform, ZipBooks allows users to connect bank accounts and credit cards to make for faster payment transactions.

ZipBooks can automatically pull your financial transactions and balance them daily. This makes for faster and easier reconciliation and bookkeeping. ZipBooks appeals to users who have little to no background and experience in accounting, thanks to its user-friendly tools and interface.

The free ZipBooks starter plan offers basic features that a small business or freelancer would need from an accounting software. But should you need more functionalities, you can check out the paid plans that start at $15/month.

7. NetSuite

NetSuite is an all-in-one business tool that includes various types of online solutions, including a feature-packed accounting software. NetSuite’s financial management platform helps businesses of any kind streamline their daily financial transactions. Powered by the cloud, NetSuite ensures that users get real-time visibility into every aspect of their financial performance. 

This accounting platform comes with billing and revenue recognition management capabilities that rival some of the leaders in our list of billing software. It also supports financial reporting and analytics, which provide users with a real-time and unified view of the financial aspect of their business. 

Additionally, the solution seamlessly integrates with the rest of Oracle NetSuite tools, including NetSuite CRM and NetSuite ERP. This tool comes in a quote-based pricing scheme.

8. Zoho Books

Zoho Books is an online collaboration and accounting software that can help you manage your finances and workflows while you maintain collaboration across different departments. The platform facilitates end-to-end accounting. It provides the tools you need to effectively negotiate deals and submit estimates, as well as create and send invoices. Zoho Books can also process bills and online payments. You can also use it to manage inventory, expenses, and purchase orders. With all of your financial documents in one place, bookkeeping and accounting become easier.

As part of the Zoho suite of online business tools, Zoho Books can be integrated with other apps under the Zoho brand. It also integrates with third-party solutions, such as G Suite, Office 365, PayPal, Square, and Stripe.

Zoho Books comes with a free trial, and paid plans start at $9/month.

9. SlickPie

SlickPie is another solution that stands close to Wave as its free version is already packed with all of the features you may require from an accounting software. It has the proprietary MagicBot tool, which facilitates automated receipt data entry. With MagicBot, you can easily streamline and track your expenses as it digitally pulls information from receipts and automatically converts it into data that you can access online. 

This easy-to-use platform also features live bank feeds, online invoice submission, sales tax tracking, and bank transaction reconciliation. SlickPie can also integrate with several payment processing solutions, such as PayPal and Stripe. 

SlickPie’s freemium plan comes complete with all the features. It allows you to manage 10 companies in one account. The paid Pro plan, on the other hand, lets you add up to 50 companies. It costs $39.95/month.

10. Sage 50Cloud Accounting

Simple and easy to use, Sage 50Cloud Accounting is an online accounting solution that is best paired with Microsoft Office 365. It provides all the tools you need for more efficient financial management. Sage 50Cloud simplifies cash flow monitoring and handling, as well as inventory tracking. It also features automated bank feeds. As a cloud-based software, it ensures that your data is securely stored in a cloud backup.

Sage 50Cloud also offers one-click reports on profits, sales, expenses, and taxes. With everything simplified and automated, Sage 50Cloud keeps you from spending a lot of time on manual accounting, letting you focus more on business development and other crucial aspects of your organization. 

You can try Sage 50Cloud through its free trial program. Once you’re done with the trial, you may consider upgrading to one of the paid plans that start at $50.58 per user per month.

Which of These Wave Alternatives Is Right for You?

It’s no surprise that Wave appeals to many small business owners. As a free accounting software, it offers a host of functional features that you’d often have to pay for. However, if you’re among those who find the solution insufficient in one way or another, you’ll probably find one of the Wave alternatives listed above as a likely option.

If you want to try other free accounting software, check out what ZipBooks and SlickPie can bring to the table. Meanwhile, if you manage a bigger company, NetSuite and Sage 50Cloud Accounting could be in your league. Are you having a hard time deciding? It might help to read up on the reviews of each accounting software.