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Wave Financial is our choice for the best free accounting software, thanks to its solid set of features and simple-to-use interface. The software offers several timesaving tools, including automatic bank feeds, recurring invoices and a mobile app.
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Wave Financial stands out as phenomenal free accounting software. The free plan includes quality features, making it an ideal solution for freelancers or very small businesses.
Editor’s Score: 8.0/10
In our search for the best free small business accounting software, we looked for an easy-to-use application that has a solid suite of features, provides quality customer support and, of course, is free to use, with no mandatory costs for the user.
We wanted it to be a web-based solution that has timesaving features like automatic bank feeds, recurring invoicing, and a mobile app that busy small business owners can use to accomplish accounting tasks on the go. We also looked for a solution that gives users the option to accept invoice payments online, even though we recognized that there would be a cost for this last feature.
After much research and analysis of accounting software, we recommend Wave Financial as the best free accounting software for small businesses in 2021.
[Related Read: Best Overall Accounting Software For Small Business]
Yes, Wave Financial accounting software really is free. It includes a good mix of features and is well suited for service-based businesses that are just starting out or plan to remain small. Specifically, it’s a good fit for the self-employed – solopreneurs, freelancers and consultants – and very small businesses (10 or fewer employees) that have limited or no inventory.
In the past, you had to pay extra to receive prioritized customer service, but that program has been eliminated, and Wave now provides all customer service through email for free. As with other accounting software, ancillary services such as credit card processing and payroll cost extra if you add them.
Here are more details on Wave pricing:
The small business owners we spoke with said the main thing they look for in accounting software is features that save them time. Wave provides several automated features that fulfill this requirement.
[Related Read: Receipt Tracking Solutions for Small Businesses]
While Wave might not have as many features as some of the other accounting software solutions on the market, it offers a good set of features for a free product. This service doesn’t offer drastically different features from many of the top paid services.
As mentioned above, you can invite an unlimited number of collaborators, such as accountants and business partners, to the program, which is a nice perk that not every accounting system offers. You still need to be selective about whom you invite, though, because there are only three user roles. Viewers can see sales, purchases and reports but can’t create or edit anything. Editors have full access to purchases, accounting and reports, and limited access to sales. They can’t see bank information, credit card payments or account settings. Payroll administrators can only access the payroll section of your account.
Here are some of the other features Wave offers:
Wave is easy to use, which is a huge benefit of the software. You can create an account in seconds by entering your email address and setting a password (or you can register using your Google, Yahoo or ADP credentials).
After signing up, you can customize your account by filling out your company name and business type, which Wave uses to create a dashboard that suits your needs. You’ll also enter your contact information, such as your business address and phone number so that this information automatically appears on invoices and other documents.
When you log in, you’re greeted with a simple dashboard that uses a sidebar menu divided into categories – Sales, Purchases, Accounting, Banking, Payroll and Reports – so you can quickly find core functions. With Wave’s user-friendly interface, we quickly found our way around the program and easily created invoices, ran financial reports, and performed other basic accounting tasks.
The dashboard displays at-a-glance views of your cash flow, profit and loss, bank and credit card accounts, payables, receivables, and recent activity.
Unlike with other platforms, a free trial isn’t necessary for Wave, since the service is free. You can try the service out without spending any money. That’s a big plus.
Wave is excellent free accounting software for small businesses – especially new, service-based businesses with very tight budgets – and has a good selection of features. But it’s missing a few that some businesses may consider necessities, such as the following abilities:
While the lack of advanced features and customer service channels is a drawback, it is important to remember this is a free service. For a free service, you can’t get much better than Wave.
Customer support is key to understanding and navigating an accounting tool. It’s important that representatives are easy to reach and offer helpful information. Unfortunately, during our search, getting in contact with a Wave agent over the phone was not possible. It has very limited forms of communication, which include an online form you can fill out for a help report. Although the company did respond to us through email, the program felt inaccessible. Email correspondence for an interested small business owner, which we pretend to be in our research process, takes longer and is a sure way for consumers to lose interest.
It was difficult to gauge whether the Wave customer support program is helpful, because communication is not immediate or as streamlined as it is for other accounting programs.
For more options, check out the rest of Business News Daily’s picks for the Which Accounting Software Is Right for Your Nonprofit?.