Wave and QuickBooks Online are two of the most popular small business accounting software programs on the market today. The biggest difference between Wave and QuickBooks is that Wave is free and QuickBooks Online isn’t. In Wave Accounting vs QuickBooks, it’s easy to see Wave accounting software’s value if you’re looking for a free program without the limitations found in other software. However, if you need more advanced features like inventory management and project accounting, then you’ll prefer QuickBooks Online to Wave.

When to Use QuickBooks

QuickBooks Online, our choice for overall best small business accounting software, provides a more comprehensive accounting solution than Wave. It offers additional and enhanced features like advanced reporting, inventory management, and mileage tracking. While Wave is built for very small businesses, QuickBooks has no upper limit and adapts as you scale easily and need more advanced features. It’s difficult to find something that QuickBooks Online cannot execute—it beats Wave in almost all areas of accounting. If you’re willing to pay for powerful, all-inclusive accounting software, then QuickBooks Online is for you.

• Better for product-based businesses: One of QuickBooks Online’s biggest strengths is inventory accounting, which is ideal for businesses that heavily rely on selling products.
• Better for project accounting: QuickBooks Online has job costing features that let you set up a project and track income and expenses associated with it.
• Better for collecting sales tax in multiple jurisdictions: QuickBooks Online calculates the proper sales tax automatically to collect based on each customer’s address.
• Better for cash management: QuickBooks allows you to print checks directly from the program and reconcile your checking account with checks outstanding. Wave doesn’t allow printing checks or reconciling an account with outstanding checks or deposits.
• Pricing: QuickBooks Contractor Edition is designed for freelancers and independent contractors and costs $15 a month.

When to Use Wave

If you’re on a tight budget but don’t want to sacrifice quality, Wave is one of our best free accounting software, especially if you need multiple users. In our case study, we found that Wave’s biggest strengths are income and sales tax management, reporting, and general bookkeeping features, including the ability to set up your company easily, add additional users, and modify the chart of accounts. If you need a simple program for basic accounting duties, such as invoicing and income and expense tracking, Wave is a good choice.

• Better for businesses looking for free bookkeeping software: Wave is excellent for a free accounting program, offering many of the features present in premium accounting software like QuickBooks Online. There’s no limitation to the number of users and transactions, which is surprising in a free software program.
• Better for freelancers: Freelance professionals can use Wave to send and track invoices to their clients, accept payments, and organize their income and expenses for tax filing.
• Better for very basic service-based businesses: Small service-based businesses that don’t need to track time or inventory can use Wave for basic income and expense tracking.
• Pricing: Wave will calculate what you’ll owe in state and federal payroll taxes, but you are required to file the paperwork and submit payment.

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