Xero vs Wave

Just like with inventory, Xero and QuickBooks are your best options for sales tax configuration and reporting. While Xero doesn’t charge an invoicing fee, their features are the most basic. If you need to send many invoices or make a lot of customizations, you may find it challenging to what is a business audit, and how can you prepare use. Inventory management is quite a ride, and Xero helps you make the process easier. You can keep track of stock, as well as learn which are your bestselling and most profitable products and services. It also streamlines the quoting, invoicing and ordering process for your stock.

  • They can experience dramatic fluctuations in transactions, clients, and revenue streams.
  • Connects seamlessly with Wave’s free invoicing and accounting software, so you’ll always have the information you need in one place.
  • Choosing between Wave and Xero ultimately depends on your business requirements, budget, and personal preferences.
  • You can use the accounting tool to handle income and expenses, generate financial statements, and connect with your bank cards and accounts.
  • Prioritize real-user-identified key features according to your needs to find your best fit.

Like Wave, Xero is a fantastic choice for small businesses and freelancers. It’s especially beneficial if your business has additional needs, such as billing clients in multiple currencies or integrating inventory and point of sale transactions. One of Wave’s main limitations is its accessibility for customers outside of North America. This is where Wave’s automatic bank feeds, payroll and add-on services such as accounting advice are available. In June 2020, Wave launched Wave Money as “the future of small business banking”.

Integrations

Below is the comparison of the starting price and payment method of Accounting by Wave and Xero. Both platforms offer bank reconciliation features; however, Xero’s reconciliation process is generally considered more robust. It suggests matches automatically and learns from previous behavior to streamline the process. Both Wave and Xero pride themselves on user-friendly interfaces. In addition, all three platforms have iOS and Android mobile apps. One thing to keep in mind with Wave is that they charge a credit card processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.

  • One thing to keep in mind with Wave is that they charge a credit card processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction.
  • They have a growing professional infrastructure of companies and tools that integrate with their platform.
  • You’ll also put descriptions for your suppliers and customers to provide a bit more context.
  • The platform is designed for service businesses and has minimal inventory management features.
  • Although some users wish this solution had time tracking, job scheduling and recurring bills, the bulk of users find Wave Accounting a robust bookkeeping tool.

Xero satisfies almost all of the A/P features we’re looking for in accounting software. It can record recurring bills, but users have to record the payment of the bill manually. Typically, other accounting software programs record recurring expenses directly to the enrolled bank or credit card.

Xero has more advanced financial reports and statements functionality than Wave. Xero’s smart categorization functionality remembers the past transaction categories you used and automatically categorizes new transactions for you. The software comes with several tools that help automate the reconciliation process. Yes, Xero has robust project accounting tools that include project estimations, project cost assignment, and cost variance analysis. When comparing Wave Accounting vs Xero for customer support, we give Wave the win here because it has live chat support, chatbot, and knowledgebase. With Xero, you can only access support by chatbot and email or through self-help information.

It is designed with the solo professional in mind, making sure that you receive due payments from clients quickly and accurately. Making the right choice for your needs, however, entails getting to know which solution presents the most suitable package of functionalities. You need to start off by outlining your criteria for the financial software that you want to have. Make sure to list any specificities about your business that require a special feature.

Xero Accounting

At the same time, Xero is referring to its solution as accounting software for small businesses. Wave Money, the business banking feature offered by Wave, is a bank account with built-in bookkeeping. There are no monthly fees or minimum balances, and it’s FDIC insured. Though this is currently in a limited release and offered only to single-owner businesses in the United States, Wave intends to make it more widely available soon.

Who Should Purchase Xero?

All FreshBooks plans, except for the highest-tier custom plan, come with one user. FreshBooks gives you six user roles to choose from, plus client access and project manager customization options. Xero is one of the best tools on the market and, compared with other accounting solutions, offers high-level power for a very reasonable price.

Wave

However, you’ll be required to pay processing fees for making online payments. It offers several features that Wave lacks in its mobile app, such as entering bill payments and categorizing bank feeds. Wave Accounting and Xero both offer cloud-based accounting services like bank reconciliation, income tracking, invoicing and more.

The Early plan also limits the number of invoices you can send and bills you can create. Xero’s user interface (UI) is modern, intuitive, visually appealing, and well-structured. However, the software has a steeper learning curve than other accounting software. It may take some time to get familiar with all its features, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes much easier to use. Ease of use gets the highest weight in this case study because we want to give more credit to easy accounting software.

Users can sync their favorite small-business payroll software with Wave via Zapier, but doing so isn’t as simple or streamlined as relying on a built-in integration pathway. In short, while Wave does quite a lot for business owners (especially considering its free cost), it can’t compare to Xero for sheer features. Trying to decide whether Wave Accounting or Xero will be the best fit for your business? Our Wave vs. Xero review covers each product’s strengths and weaknesses, delves into their top features and explains their pricing structures. You can just create your free Wave account, set up your business in minutes and see for yourself. Their ratings summary provides a snapshot of the best and most well-received features.

We wouldn’t recommend it – go straight to the ‘Growing’ package if you want to get the best out of Xero. And it doesn’t have a project management capability so that if you need to track milestones, you’re going to have to integrate a PM software instead. It automatically sends invoices out as an email, including a link for payment. It even tells you when the invoice has been viewed, so you know whether it arrived in the correct mailbox.