Wave offers a free plan that covers real bookkeeping, not just invoicing, which makes it a common starting point for freelancers and sole proprietors. This review covers what the free plan does and doesn’t include, what the paid Pro plan adds, and the fees for payroll and card payments. For how Wave compares with FreshBooks, Xero and QuickBooks on price, see the best accounting software comparison; the self-employed tax hub has the rest of the small business guides.
Starter vs Pro
| Starter | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price (CAD) | Free | $25 (or $250 a year) |
| Invoices, estimates, bills, bookkeeping records | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Import of bank transactions | Manual | Automatic, with auto-categorisation |
| Receipt scanning | Add-on, $11 a month | Add-on, $8 a month |
| Credit card payments | 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction | 2.9% with no fixed fee on the first 10 transactions a month |
The free plan is enough when the job is sending invoices and recording income and expenses by hand. Pro earns its cost when entering bank transactions yourself takes longer than the monthly fee is worth to you.
Invoicing and GST/HST
Wave tracks the GST/HST (or GST and PST) you charge on invoices and the tax you pay on business purchases, and its sales tax report gives the figures for your return. Filing is still done by you, through the CRA or an accountant. If you’re not sure whether you need to register, the side hustle tax guide covers the small supplier threshold.
Reports and accountant access
Wave produces the standard statements, including profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow, plus a sales tax report. For a sole proprietor, the profit and loss statement supplies the numbers for the business income schedule (T2125) on a personal tax return. You can invite an accountant or bookkeeper as a collaborator.
Payroll
Wave Payroll is an add-on available in every province and territory except Quebec. It costs $25 a month plus $6 for each employee and $6 for each contractor paid. It includes unlimited direct deposits, T4 and T4A slips, automatic payroll remittances to the CRA, and an employee portal for pay stubs and tax forms. A sole proprietor with no staff doesn’t need it.
Where Wave falls short
Wave’s feature pages don’t list inventory tracking, so a business selling physical products will usually want a platform that does. Access for several users, multi-currency invoicing and project profitability are also stronger elsewhere: FreshBooks for billable time and projects (see the FreshBooks review), and QuickBooks Online or Xero for inventory and larger teams (see QuickBooks vs FreshBooks).
Verdict
For a freelancer or small service business that mainly invoices, Wave’s free plan does the core bookkeeping at no monthly cost, and Pro is a modest step up for automatic bank feeds. Businesses with inventory, staff in Quebec, or several people working in the books are better served by a paid platform from the start.
Related reading
Sources
The figures and rules on this page come from these sources. How we check facts.