Wave

Wave gives indie authors a genuinely free accounting foundation for tracking royalty income and publishing expenses. The Starter plan costs nothing and covers unlimited invoicing, expense entry, and financial reports — enough for most authors just starting to organize their publishing finances without paying for software.

What You Get#

• Unlimited invoicing: Create professional invoices for freelance writing, ghostwriting, or editing clients — no invoice or client caps on either plan
• Expense tracking: Log deductible expenses by category (cover design, editing, advertising, subscriptions) manually, or via receipt photo upload
• Financial reports: Generate profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements for tax prep — these feed directly into Schedule C categories your CPA or tax software needs
• Payment processing: Accept credit cards and ACH payments via Wave Payments at 2.9% + $0.60 per transaction (Starter); Pro plan reduces the per-transaction fee on the first 10 monthly transactions

What's Behind the Pro Paywall#

The free Starter plan requires manual bank statement imports. Wave Pro ($19/month or $190/year) unlocks automatic bank transaction sync and auto-categorization — the features that eliminate ongoing manual data entry. Pro also includes:

• Etsy integration: Automatic import of Etsy shop transactions (US Pro subscribers only, synced every 24 hours)
• Auto-merge and categorize: Transactions are matched and categorized based on your history, reducing month-end reconciliation time
• Late payment reminders: Automated follow-up emails for unpaid invoices
• Unlimited users: The free Starter plan restricts accounts to single-user access; Pro adds unlimited users with different permission levels

Who It's For#

• New indie authors: Writers just starting to track publishing income who need a free starting point with room to upgrade as revenue grows
• Simple finances: Authors with one or two income sources (e.g., KDP royalties + occasional editing client) and predictable expense categories
• US and Canadian authors only: Wave Payments only deposits to US and Canadian bank accounts; features like Etsy integration are US-only

Pricing: Starter plan is permanently free for core accounting — not a time-limited trial. Pro plan is $19/month or $190/year (often discounted to ~$9.50/month for the first 3 months). Optional add-ons: Receipts ($8/month or $72/year), Payroll (starting $25/month), Wave Advisors dedicated bookkeeper service (starting $149/month, or a one-time $229 accounting coaching session).

Strengths#

• No invoice or client caps: Unlike FreshBooks (5 clients on the $23/month tier), Wave imposes no limits on how many clients or invoices you can manage — even on the free plan
• Genuinely free: Core accounting features remain free indefinitely, with no credit card required to get started
• Familiar double-entry structure: Wave's chart of accounts and reporting matches professional accounting software, making it easy to hand reports to a CPA at tax time

Limitations#

• Auto-bank imports are Pro-only: On the free plan, you must upload bank statements manually or enter transactions by hand — a significant time drain for authors with active multi-platform royalty streams
• No KDP integration: Wave does not connect directly to Amazon KDP. Authors must manually enter royalty deposits from their bank statement or downloaded KDP reports
• Customer support only for paying users: Starter plan users have no access to human support; reviews from 2025 flag support issues following Wave's mid-2025 payroll processor switch, with many users reporting slow or absent responses
• Limited third-party integrations: Wave offers fewer app connections than QuickBooks or Xero, making it a weaker fit for authors with complex software ecosystems

Alternatives#

FreshBooks ($23/month) includes automatic expense categorization without needing a separate paid tier, plus stronger invoicing workflows. For authors who need auto-bank imports without paying, the only path in Wave is upgrading to Pro at $19/month — making FreshBooks a comparable alternative at $4/month more.