Automate the most tedious parts of bookkeeping and get more time for what you love. “It’s not just a cool piece of software, it is giving peace of mind to people.” You deserve to know your taxes aren’t something you have to sweat over the entire calendar year.” It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made when it comes to making sure my accounting is on point.
You can disable payments and let clients pay another way, such as through a paper check or PayPal. Only ideal for very small service-based businesses, freelancers or contractors; allows an unlimited number of users. Users of the free plan are limited to using Wave’s Help Center or Mave, the support chatbot.
Run your business your way
With QuickBooks, your online payments how to write a profit and loss statement will be deposited into your connected bank account within the next business day, or you can pay a 1% fee for instant deposit (free with a QuickBooks Checking account). You’ll pay a 2.9% plus $0.25 per transaction fee for invoiced credit card payments; and 1% (up to $10) for ACH payments. QuickBooks includes an option to add on accounting, which adds bill management, inventory and job costing capabilities in addition to expense tracking.
Simple accounting software for self-employed pros
The platform offers enough features and add-ons to grow with your business, but it may be more complex than you need if you’re a one-person shop. If Wave has all of the features your small business needs and you don’t foresee any future expansion, there’s little reason to pay for a different product. FreshBooks also limits the number of billable clients you can have in its Lite and Plus plans, whereas Wave enables unlimited invoicing for an unlimited number of clients for free. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services.
- Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website.
- FreshBooks and Wave Accounting are each solid small-business accounting software options for freelancers, independent contractors and microbusinesses.
- NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks.
When to choose FreshBooks
Finally, if you need extra help with your bookkeeping, accounting, or taxes, Wave Advisors is a service you can add to your account. This option is great for business owners who are new to accounting or want to outsource bookkeeping and/or tax filing. FreshBooks has an excellent mobile app that allows you snap photos of receipts, send invoices and track mileage.
Extra Wave Costs & Fees
Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. With a Pro Plan subscription, you can connect your bank account with Wave and automatically import your transactions. We provide different levels of support, depending on the plan and/or the add-on features you choose.
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy. Wave Accounting can be a great option if you run a very small service-based business or don’t need more advanced features that alternatives might offer. For small businesses any larger than that, however, Wave is limited.