Wave Payroll Review 2023: Features, Pros & Cons

Wave Payroll

Wave is a freemium accounting software that’s ideal for service-based small businesses. The accounting reports, invoicing, and business bank accounts are offered for free; services like payroll and bookkeeping must be purchased. With a streamlined dashboard, easy-to-navigate interface, and add-on features like payroll and tax filing, Wave is a fantastic choice for any small business with standard accounting needs.

You may set up payroll for both employees and independent contractors while giving them access to a portal with their information and tax forms, such as W-2s and 1099s. If your employees prefer to get paid via direct deposit, they should receive money three days after you process payroll. If they choose the check option, you’ll have to make sure you have checks for printing; Wave Payroll doesn’t offer a print-and-mail option. Payroll itself isn’t automated, but it is easy to set up Wave Payroll with your pay schedules and get reminders to run payroll on time. Employees and contract workers can set up their profiles and taxes themselves in an employee portal, and they’ll get paid three days after you process payroll if they choose direct deposit. In addition, Wave Payroll has a dashboard where you can see important payroll and tax filing dates, including holidays.

ADP Review

If your business is located in a state not covered by its tax services, Wave Payroll will calculate the applicable tax deductions from your employees’ pay. It will also generate Form W-2s that you can use to file year-end tax reports. Wave Payroll doesn’t have time tracking functionalities, so you need to input the hours into its online time sheet manually. For your hourly staff, you use it to enter their total hours worked, overtime hours, and PTO information.

Wave Payroll earned a high mark of 4.5 out of 5 for pricing due to its affordability and transparency. It also doesn’t charge any setup fees and offers unlimited pay runs. What kept it from getting a perfect mark in this criteria is its lack of plan options. Discover more options on our best payroll services guide for small businesses. However, we do like the site’s user interface and navigation system. Links to the site’s features are displayed in a left vertical toolbar.

OnPay Payroll

The Vendor link is accessible from the same navigation tool that contains links to payroll functions; it’s just not included as a function under Payroll. To further work on your payroll run, you must click Review this Payroll in the upper-right corner. You then see a list of employees along with any pay you’ve already documented; click Details to see a list of withholding items for that employee. Here, finally, you’ll see a list of employees with the hours worked that have already been entered. Click Edit Hours if you need to add or change any time entries you’ve already created and Add Pay if you haven’t yet entered additional pay items.

Wave Payroll

As payroll and tax payments are paid out and you replenish your account, these are reflected in the “Wave Payroll Clearing” account. The system categorizes the transactions (i.e., “Payroll Liabilities” or “Transfer to Wave Payroll Clearing”) for easy payroll bookkeeping. Its exceptional user experience makes it a pleasure to use, too. The company’s initial product, Accounting by Wave, is a double entry accounting tool. Services include direct bank data imports, invoicing and expense tracking, customizable chart of accounts, and journal transactions.

Similar products

However, others wished that it offered more features and robust reporting. Some said that its software runs sluggishly from time to time and that its support team isn’t responsive—with wait hours that can be quite long. Wave Payroll is easy to use, with simple menus and straightforward processes for setting up and running payroll. And, because it doesn’t have a lot of extra features, the interface is straightforward and features are easy to find.

Wave Payroll

Wave Payroll users must submit payroll at least four business days before their employees and contractors are due to be paid. Generally, the cut-off for on-time payroll payments is Tuesday at 3 PM EST. Businesses can efficiently run payroll, manage employee timesheets, handle deductions, onboard new employees, and much more within the software. Wave Payroll’s simple, low-cost features may be basic but they’re well-suited for small businesses needing an affordable all-in-one accounting and payroll solution. Wave’s invoicing feature is as straightforward as it gets, with three pre-built invoice templates to choose from. Businesses can customize invoices to their preference with company logos.

The Kronos Workforce Ready Suite combines project management and human capital management in one unified platform, whether you’re just starting out or have hundreds of employees to maintain. The system includes software for HR, payroll, time tracking, recruiting, … Compare features and functionalities, modules and pricing plans of ezpayroll. Here, you can learn about ezpayroll resellers, organize a demo with our neutral experts, and build your custom ezpayroll software comparison table.

  • The Kronos Workforce Ready Suite combines project management and human capital management in one unified platform, whether you’re just starting out or have hundreds of employees to maintain.
  • Second, you can also “Add to Pay” as described above in the Employee’s records if the worker is slated to receive a bonus, commission, or other emolument.
  • This is definitely not the right software for you if you’re a large business with advanced needs regarding inventory management.

G2 shows more than 20 customer reviews of Payroll by Wave with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Positive reviewers have enjoyed the platform’s easy integrations and the simplified payroll process. Some negative points mentioned are the two-step process of paying 1099 contractors and the lack of international payrolls. Inova Payroll is a cloud-based powerhouse solution for small to midsize businesses that need HR and payroll software. With Inova Payroll, you have a user-friendly tool and a trusted partner that will help foster business success by saving you time and money.

Compare Payroll Software

This is particularly true if you have seasonal or occasional employees and independent contractors that you pay sporadically. You can change their status from active to inactive and only run payroll for them when you need to. Our ratings take into account a product’s cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes.

Is wave accounting really free?

Wave Accounting is the completely free software platform, but two of Wave's offerings can make a big difference for freelancers and contractors who want affordable finance technology. In addition to the standard Wave accounting foundation, Wave also offers Wave Invoicing and Payments by Wave.

Additionally, Wave is perfect for small businesses already using Wave products or businesses looking to integrate simple accounting software with payroll software. Because Wave doesn’t offer tax services in all states, not all businesses will be able to have Wave filed their payroll taxes automatically. https://www.wave-accounting.net/ is a cloud-based solution designed to provide simplified payroll management solutions.