Alexey Mitko for Digital First writes: When doing an app review it is always difficult to give a general recommendation, as apps are usually developed and work great for a particular kind of client. With Wave Accounting this dilemma does not exist as the app is placed firmly in the “has a couple good ideas, not ready for daily operations” category.
Wave Accounting positions itself as a collection of accounting apps for small business. Some functionality is available on the mobile device with additional features accessible through the online portal. The mobile app can send invoices from your iPhone, along with adding new client records and products or services. The app also provides provides simple cash flow analytics and a notifications centre.
Overall, the app sports a clean and fluid look but needs a bit of testing as it did not allow me to add sales tax or choose a sales account straight after downloading it on an iPhone 5C. The app proceeded to crash when I first tried to add a product but worked without problems afterwards.
The web portal gives access to more apps and functionality and positions itself as an accounting platform with invoicing, bill tracking, Yodlee bank feeds, payroll management (US and Canada only), some reporting and a paid-for services section.
Some functions are done well. For example, CSV imports include very accessible step by step instructions, and receipts processing is a step above the digital storage seen in other accounting platforms.
However, a couple of features require a redesign and additional thought. To name a few:
1. No Credit Notes
While I could raise an invoice with a negative amount as a total, I wasn’t able to offset it against another invoice without using a clearing account. Credit notes are an essential feature in invoicing but are apparently missing from Wave.
2. No Custom Invoices
Invoices are not freely customisable, you need to adhere to one of the three templates provided. While not all businesses need invoices with a custom layout, the feature is common across cloud accounting platforms.
3. No Audit History
There is no audit history yet you are able to invite additional collaborators to your business account.
4. No bulk invoices or bills
There is no way to bulk upload invoices or bills. This can be problematic if your invoices are generated by another system or if you have a large number of invoices you need to key in.
5. Slow reconciliation
The bank reconciliation is not entirely intuitive. It relies on a tabular format and may take additional time if volume of transactions is significant.
In terms of pricing the basic version of Wave is free. The money is made on advertisements, higher than average credit card processing fees and product recommendations.
A special note to put credit card processing charges in perspective. The 2.9 percent charge that Wave asks for credit card processing compares with 2.7 percent for Stripe and 2.4 percent for PayPal. For a small business in Australia that turns over $300,000 per year a 0.2 percent difference would mean $600 per year and a 0.5 percent difference would add up to $1,500.
Wave’s functionality is sufficient for a freelancer with straightforward affairs, not a small business owner. Other cloud accounting applications offer functionality and refined user interfaces that are ahead by several years of development.
Alternative platforms are usually not free to use but would provide a scalable solution for your business and additional options when it comes to structuring your business processes.
It remains to be seen if Wave is able to catch up, but it probably has a brighter future concentrating its development efforts for businesses that do not require payroll.
___________________________Comments__________________________
Hi Alexey, I’m with Wave so thought I’d offer my comments and opinions on this article:
I think part of challenge here is the way in which you are using the term “small business”. At Wave, we serve customers in the 0-9 employee segment. Many of our customers have no employees, but at 40-50% have 1 or more. However, one thing to be clear of is that EVERY one of our customers, including those with no employees, still consider themselves to be a “small business”. Sure, there are different labels you can use (solopreneur, solo trader, etc.), but they’re still small businesses. And as a result, when your headline says “..falls short for small business”, we believe that to be unfair and inaccurate.
Wave now has about 2 million customers globally in our ecosystem, with 10s of thousands of very happy small business Wave users in Australia.
As far as pricing goes, you made a comment that at 5 employees, we’re basically on par with Xero. Here’s how I look at it:
- Wave’s price for 5 employees is $25 (payroll only available in the US and Canada)
- Xero’s price in the US for 5 employees is $30. But, there is no direct deposit included in that plan. There is also no multi-currency in that plan. Wave includes these things at no additional cost, because after all, we’d argue that charging extra for basic functionality like this could be considered nickel & diming your customers.
- You also need to factor in that with Xero, you need to pay for each company. With Wave, you can create as many companies as you like.
- The more comparable Xero package would be their “premium 10″ at $70/month: http://www.xero.com/us/pricing/
One other big thing that just changed last week, (and I noticed you guys already blogged about it) is that Stripe dropped their fees in Australia. The fee is now 1.75% + $0.30 for domestic Visa & MasterCard. Amex & International cards are 2.9% + $0.30. This is a big win for our customers, as we’re now significantly more competitive than Paypal. And it’s worth noting that Paypal has other hidden fees that you may not see on the surface (virtual terminal fees, fixed fees, etc.)
Another point of differentiation with Wave is how we actually handle payments. Firstly, we can process payments in the web app or directly from the mobile app. Secondly, you can get set up to take cards immediately. One tap/click and you’re good to go. No forms to fill out, no clunky approval processes. I’d encourage you to experience this process for yourself, then go compare with any other accounting/invoicing app on the market. You might be surprised
Cheers,
Scott Zandbergen
@szandbergen
Thanks for sharing such a wonderful information. You provide such a unique services to us.
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Great Content with lots of useful information. This can be helpful for people who wants to use small business billing app to track multiple business and client records, creating invoices, single payment for multiple invoices and many more uses.
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