QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued) vs. Wave Accounting

QuickBooks Self-Employed and Wave Accounting are both accounting software designed for very small businesses. QuickBooks Self-Employed focuses on expense tracking, mileage tracking, and tax management for individuals who run their own business, particularly single-person businesses. In contrast, Wave offers a wider range of features necessary for small businesses with multiple employees. 

Features

Both QuickBooks Self-Employed and Wave offer accounting features and pricing structures tailored for very small businesses, but there are some key features that set them apart. 

QuickBooks Self-Employed stands out for its extensive and robust tax management and preparation capabilities. Its native integrations with the rest of Intuit’s tax preparation services, such as TurboTax, as well as its support for quarterly tax filings, help simplify time-intensive tax processes. It also provides other mechanisms, such as mileage tracking, to help self-employed individuals maximize their tax savings. 

Wave offers a wider range of accounting capabilities that multi-employee businesses in particular will utilize. For instance, Wave offers payment processing features, including credit card processing and bank payments. Wave also provides payroll capabilities, with accompanying tax services in a selection of U.S. states. 

Limitations

While both Wave and QuickBooks Self-Employed offer strong features for very small businesses, they also have some relevant limitations. 

QuickBooks Self-Employed’s lack of features designed for multi-employee businesses can constrain businesses that attempt to expand. The lack of payment processing or payroll features requires purchasing additional add-on products in addition to QuickBooks, which adds extra costs for small businesses mid-growth. 

Wave has limitations on the quantity and range of banks and external financial accounts that users can connect to the accounting system. Before committing to Wave, buyers should make sure that Wave can connect to any financial accounts or services they use. Reviewers also struggle with using Wave’s reporting capabilities, which can become a pain point for businesses that develop a need for routine accounting reports. 

Pricing

Both QuickBooks Self-Employed and Wave Accounting allow some free access to their services. QuickBooks gives users a 30-day free trial for the Self-Employed product, while Wave’s core accounting features are free to use, with optional paid add-ons. 

QuickBooks Self-Employed has three tiers of pricing. The “Self-Employed” package, for $15/month, includes invoicing, expenses management, provides quarterly tax estimations, and helps you identify tax deductions through features like automatic mileage tracking. The Tax Bundle, for $25/month, includes TurboTax, lets you natively pay quarterly taxes online, and includes 1 state and 1 federal tax return filing. The Live Tax Bundle, for $35/month, includes all of the Self-Employed Tax Bundle and access to live CPAs year-round, and CPA review of your return. 

Wave’s core accounting features, including invoicing and receipt management, are free to use. Its payment processing is pay-per-use: credit card payments cost30¢+2.9-3.4% per transaction depending on the card, and ank payments are charged 1% with a $1 minimum. Payroll costs $6 per active employee or contractor, plus a $35 monthly base fee for states with tax service or a $20 monthly base fee for non-serviced states.