Catch the WAVE for Free Accounting: Software You’ll Love for What it Lacks

Fuse Financial Tech Reviewer Joanna Ebizie is at it again.  This week she’s discovered a free accounting tool called WAVE accounting.  What you’ll love most about this new online solution is really what it DOESN’T have….  Here’s Joanna….

“Do you love your accounting software?  I think I know the answer.  Fortunately, there are so many new tools to make accounting tasks easy that now’s a great time to find the one that is exactly right for you.

Today I’ve found an online accounting tool that has one big advantage: it’s free.  But beyond the great price, WAVE accounting represents a whole new, uh, ‘wave’ in web 2.0 accounting.

What makes WAVE different from all the rest of the accounting programs?  Maybe what it DOESN’T have.  Check this out:

1. No More Monthly Fees.  Unlike the other accounting tools we’ve reviewed, WAVE is free.  And as the site says, that’s “100% free, not free-ish”.  So even if you decide WAVE is not for you, you’re not out of pocket.
2. No More Data Entry.  If you are still manually entering data today’s your lucky day.  WAVE’s web 2.0 features suck up expenses and other financial information directly from your corporate bank account. It has a database of banks to choose from.
3. No More Categorization.  Putting costs into categories is a basic accounting bore, uh, I mean function.  WAVE’s automatic categorization feature makes a good guess as to which category your purchase should be in (such as books, food, etc.). If it guesses wrong, you can re-categorize purchases by dragging and dropping transactions into the correct category’s folder.  Easy!
4. No Security Worries.  I hate carrying around my QuickBooks data on my laptop.  Yes, its password protected, but is that really safe?  At WAVE your data is hosted in the cloud with 256-bit encryption — one of the most advanced encryption standards available. It’s the same encryption used in online banking.
5. No Accidental Banking.  WAVE data is read-only, which means you can’t accidently make a transfer or send a check.  OK, this may be something you WANT to do, but if you’re using a good bank with online banking, you’re probably better off keeping the two things separate.  This also means you can outsource your accounting (to a group like FUSE!)

I didn’t get to speak with anyone at WAVE myself, but in an interview with IT Business, the CEO said he specifically created WAVE for small businesses that want to be a little more organized financially, but don’t want to deal with the complexity of accounting software. He was inspired by online banking and wanted to create a program that was as simple as many online banking interfaces.

WAVE is compatible with FreshBooks, an invoicing program for freelancers. It’s also available as a plugin in Google’s App Marketplace… so it stays right on the front page of your Google Chrome Browser (my fav). You can sign into WAVE with a Google account or Yahoo account. (One less password!) And WAVE is working on adding compatibility with other programs.

And when you’re ready for outside finance & accounting help (did I mention FUSE?), you can let an unlimited number of other users access the information. Don’t worry about them making unauthorized transactions since all information is read-only!

Conclusion: I’m Catching the Wave
WAVE brings business owners ease and convenience in a free package. It combines a simple interface, invoicing, financial statement creation and other traditional accounting features with online access to bank information.  Perfect for iPad and Tablet users, perfect for small biz, perfectly simple and perfectly free.

What more could you ask for?

Dedicated to your (Accounting) success!

Joanna

Joanna Ebizie, MBA, is a freelance writer and editor whose work includes writing and editing for magazines and websites such as the Business Finance Store, Austin Monthly Home, Texas Music and Horns Illustrated.  She’s a Texan who’s big on small business. Contact her through our contact page here at www.fusecfo.