Wave Accounting vs. ZipBooks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Wave Accounting
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Wave Accounting is a free, cloud-based accounting platform exclusively for small businesses. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and permits unlimited user access, invoicing, and expense management. Wave Accounting integrates with Wave's invoicing, receipt scanning, payment processing and payroll apps.
$0
ZipBooks
Score 7.0 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
ZipBooks is an accounting software solution for small business owners and accountants. Users can track expenses, manage their team, send recurring invoices and manage projects.
$0
Pricing
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Editions & Modules
Starter
$0
Pro
$16
per month
Pro - billed annually
$170
per year
ZipBooks Starter
$0
ZipBooks Smarter
$15
ZipBooks Sophisticated
$35
ZipBooks Accountant
Custom
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Features
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
6.2
Ratings
22% below category average
ZipBooks
-
Ratings
Pay calculation7.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files1.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
8.5
Ratings
11% above category average
ZipBooks
9.1
Ratings
18% above category average
API for custom integration9.90 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Plug-ins7.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
6.4
Ratings
26% below category average
ZipBooks
9.5
Ratings
13% above category average
Single sign-on capability6.40 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Role-based user permissions6.40 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
6.3
Ratings
22% below category average
ZipBooks
10.0
Ratings
24% above category average
Dashboards6.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Standard reports8.00 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Custom reports5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
7.0
Ratings
11% below category average
ZipBooks
8.8
Ratings
12% above category average
Accounts payable7.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts receivable7.10 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Cash management8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation8.50 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Expense management7.50 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Time tracking9.80 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Fixed asset management9.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support10.00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Multi-division support7.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic tax filing5.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting4.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Localizations5.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations8.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting4.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Configurable Accounting5.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework1.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Standardized Processes7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
8.1
Ratings
10% above category average
ZipBooks
-
Ratings
Inventory tracking5.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Automatic reordering9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Location management8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Manufacturing module9.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
Wave Accounting
7.6
Ratings
2% below category average
ZipBooks
9.2
Ratings
17% above category average
Pricing9.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Order entry10.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Credit card processing2.30 Ratings10.00 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Order Orchestration5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility8.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Order exception Resolution7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
User Ratings
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
(0 ratings)
9.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
2.9
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
2.1
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
4.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
3.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Wave AccountingZipBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
Wave is free to use, and they have some premium features you can pay for. For someone just starting out as a small business, freelancer or independent contractor, this is a Godsend. You can look professional, have something easy to manage, and yet also have excellent records come the end of the year. You won't spend a bunch of time having to learn the program, it's very intuitive and you get a host of great features that will make getting paid easy.
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Small businesses are well suited for this software, as their pricing is very affordable. they have a FREE FOREVER Starter plan, for those that are bootstrapped with little cash. I'm on the $15/mo Smarter Plan, and it's perfect for my little boutique agency's needs.
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Pros
  • The dashboard provides instant views of month-by month income & expenses for the past 12-24 months, a breakdown of current year expense by category, and net income for the past year and year-to-date.
  • Invoicing has easy templated set up has lots of per invoice options such as single/recurring payment options, due dates.
  • Year end reports are easy to generate in either pdf or csv format.
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  • The user experience is easily the best I have seen with any invoicing software.
  • They create clean, professional invoice templates.
  • They make setting up and managing projects easy.
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Cons
  • One area of improvement for Wave would be combining the various mobile applications into one app.
  • Another room for improvement would be on the dashboard level. It would be great if they could use more bar graphs and get away from pie charts for things like expenses.
  • Some of the other areas from improvement have been addressed by recent updates so I am excited to see what else Wave brings out.
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  • I was an early adopter, and with this company and software being relatively new, I got to see a few minor bugs and quirks over the last year. The good thing is, most of the bugs are squashed, and the future is bright for this startup!
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Likelihood to Renew
Easy to use for clients with no accounting background and the price is right.
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No answers on this topic
Usability
Wave [Accounting] is very simple and easy to use. Minimal training was required for all our users as the interface is very user-friendly, especially for small businesses looking to use something to track their financial data, Invoice and make payments. I loved using Wave [Accounting]. It lookes professional and [has] all the features we were looking for.
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No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
WAVE is always available when we need it ! Peter
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No answers on this topic
Performance
Wave does tend to slow down when filtering your transactions screen especially by date. This is more of an issue when trying to trouble shoot certain transactions or clean-up a set of books.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
I've only had to reach out to support once and they were quick to respond and offered valuable insight to resolve my issue quickly. The team is knowledgeable and if the person you're dealing with doesn't have an answer for you, they get back to you quickly with an answer. It was clear that the support team is genuinely concerned about users making the most of the software.
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
easy to use and east to train on ! Our WAVE clients enjoy the ease of use
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Wave's price point was in line with what my company needed to manage basic accounting (payable and receivable accounts). It made it easy for me to issue monthly invoices to clients and track when invoices were paid. The software makes these tasks easy to manage and inputting data for accurate accounting and invoicing is a breeze. It really offers a lot of flexibility, so you can use the software the way you need it.
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I've primarily compared ZipBooks vs. Quickbooks because I've used Quickbooks at larger companies before. ZipBooks was the right fit for a smaller organization because it still had all the core features of Quickbooks but at a dramatically lower price that fits the budget.
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Scalability
Once they out grow what is ability to move up to a more robust system?
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No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
  • Wave has enabled our accounts payable to maintain a 99% closure rate by leveraging auto reminders through the email system.
  • Our quote to invoice process is a single click, saving time and effort. Even minor changes during that transition occur simply and easily.
  • Aside from payments, Wave has been free for our usage. Our bottom line is better because we're not investing in software but instead embracing an entire ecosystem.
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  • I don't have a ROI for the use of Zipbooks though it has helped greatly with organizing for taxes. Our economy here has been so volatile for three years with deep dips down, that no software can aid in support the financial health other than to track the expenses and income and watch the balance to observe.
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ScreenShots

ZipBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of ZipBooks DashboardScreenshot of ZipBooks TransactionsScreenshot of ZipBooks InvoicingScreenshot of ZipBooks Accountant Messaging