Wave Payroll Review: Cost, Features, Alternatives

wave payroll

This connection means businesses can manage multiple financial aspects from a singular platform. For comparison, many competitors require technical knowledge to link third-party programs. As a result, Wave’s seamless integrations are a breath of fresh air.

Businesses in states without tax services pay a cheaper base fee of $20 per month but the same per-employee rate of $6 per month for every employee or independent contractor. Employees can use self-service accounts to view pay stubs, updated information and access tax forms. Approval to use online payments is subject to eligibility criteria, including identity verification and credit review. You’ll need to answer a few questions about your business and provide us with a little more information about yourself in order to get approved to accept online payments. Upon processing your first payroll, you can use Wave Payroll for up to 30 days, commitment-free. At any time, you can activate to start your billing cycle and gain access to items like tax filing and approving payrolls beyond the current month.

Let’s cut to the chase; the platform doesn’t provide worker benefit packages. Sure, it can handle deductions from paychecks, but you’ll need to separately source health insurance offerings — among other items — for your staff. Employees can easily pull detailed pay stubs and tax documentation.

Lack of advanced HR features

This will help us provide you with customized content. If you didn’t receive an email don’t forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support. But in the other 36 states, the cost is $20 per month.

  1. For example, you could compare payroll costs per hour to sales transactions.
  2. In general, though, customers are satisfied with Wave’s products and customer support.
  3. Customers like Wave Payroll’s simple interface and say it’s easy for those without accounting experience to run payroll.
  4. As long as you have the required information, there’s no need to shell out money for a fancy software to create pay stubs.
  5. The platform focuses on keeping people paid with few bells and whistles.

The Square Payroll is a perfect companion if you already use the company’s popular point-of-sale (POS) system. You can integrate the two solutions to unearth new insights into your business. For example, you could compare payroll costs per hour to sales transactions.

Worker’s compensation insurance options

For this reason, employees may want to save their pay stubs, but aren’t required to do so. Employers, however, must keep payroll records for the specific lengths of time mandated by federal and state governments. In general, though, customers are satisfied with Wave’s products and customer support. Its plans, prices, and features are fairly standard, comparable to competitors like SurePayroll and Square Payroll. But Wave Payroll’s full-service payroll plan is only available in 14 states, so if you want fully automated tax filing in all 50 states, Wave might not be right for you. The software’s ability to seamlessly integrate with other Wave products, including accounting and invoicing, is a significant advantage.

One of https://accountingcoaching.online/’s more notable drawbacks is its focus exclusively on U.S. and Canadian businesses. Similar easy-to-use competitors like Gusto provide global support. So, if you need multinational paycheck processing, Wave won’t fit the bill. The platform seamlessly integrates with Next Insurance, a third-party workers’ compensation insurance provider. This connection makes it a piece of cake to stay covered against liability. Of course, you can still source your own provider, but we appreciate Wave’s efforts to save small-business owners time and frustration when searching for coverage.

wave payroll

A well-regarded name in the payroll and HR software realm, Gusto delivers more than just payroll processing. Perhaps Wave’s limited functions are too underwhelming for you, or maybe you need international support in Europe or elsewhere. If so, there are other payroll competitors for you to consider. four ways to identify more business opportunities isn’t just beautiful for small-business owners — it also offers a rich experience for staff members.

The software only has one plan at $40 per month with an additional $6 per month per paid employee. Wave Payroll is a cloud-based software that helps small businesses run payroll and calculate and file payroll taxes. While it offers a reasonably priced option for small businesses, it is lacking in some features compared to competitors and only offers tax filing services in 14 states.

Account Information

Our (non-judgmental) team of bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll experts is standing by to coach you—or do the work for you. Create beautiful, free invoices that reflect your business branding. Automate overdue reminders, set up recurring bills, and add notes or terms of service with ease. This lack of benefits support is massively inconvenient. So, even though Wave boasts a beginner-friendly concept, the platform surprisingly leaves you out to dry regarding non-cash compensation. You can add deductions for benefits through Wave but will need to purchase and manage benefits separately.

Additionally, Wave Payroll integrates with fewer third-party accounting software than solutions like Gusto and OnPay. Use this calculator to quickly determine your employees’ weekly hours for smooth and efficient payroll processing. Wave Payroll is an excellent choice for small businesses needing a simple, beginner-friendly solution. The platform focuses on keeping people paid with few bells and whistles.

Wave Payroll supports paying both employees and independent contractors when you run payroll. The proper tax forms—1099 in the US and T4-A in Canada—are also generated for you. Pay stubs are used to verify payment accuracy and may be necessary when settling wage/hour disputes.

See all small business payroll features

Wave invoices are integrated with our free accounting software, so payments are recorded and categorized for you – which means less bookkeeping and tax season prep. Yes, you can use Wave Payroll to pay independent contractors and regular employees alike. Regardless of the type of payee, the cost per person is an extra $6 per month on top of your monthly base fee. Essentially, running payroll yourself just means reviewing the numbers and pressing a button on the software to pay out your employees. But nothing can match the convenience of scheduling automatic payroll runs, so if you’re looking for more thorough automation, Paychex or ADP could be a better fit. Unlike Wave Payroll which has limited HR functionalities, Gusto offers a more comprehensive suite.

Note that the start date is by default Jan. 1 and this tool is only for salary-based income employees. You can save the pay stub as a PDF to email to your employee or keep for your records. Payroll software saves you time so you can focus on the best parts of running your business. Wave Payroll automatically calculates, withholds and pays federal and state taxes for businesses in 14 U.S. states.

Wave Payroll boasts several standout features designed to make the payroll process hassle-free. In self-service states (all other 36 states) Wave Payroll does not make payments or file on your behalf. Automated, accurate payroll helps you stay compliant, save time, and be stress-free. The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. “It’s not just a cool piece of software, it is giving peace of mind to people.” You deserve to know your taxes aren’t something you have to sweat over the entire calendar year.”

In these areas, Wave calculates your tax liability for you, though you still need to submit your tax paperwork manually. Looking for a more robust outsourced payroll solution? We recommend Justworks as our top PEO alternative to Wave. Keep compliant and save time by having Wave handle your Canada Revenue Agency tax remittances on your behalf. Monitor your cash flow, stay organized, and stop sweating tax season.

Wave has helped over 2 million North American small business owners take control of their finances. Wave has helped over 2 million small business owners in the US and Canada take control of their finances. Wave Payroll is a middle-of-the-road payroll solution that works best for current Wave Accounting users.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top