When making purchasing decisions, striking the right balance between benefits and costs is crucial for businesses as this can either add to or reduce your bottom line. Using accounting software has numerous perks but, finding the software that satisfies your business needs at a price that works is crucial to business success.
In this post, we’ll be examining the pros and cons of two accounting software options for small businesses and freelancers, ZipBooks and Wave as we explore other options that might just be what you need.
ZipBooks
Zipbooks is a cloud-based invoicing and accounting software for business owners and freelancers. It offers features like invoicing, expense tracking, business and accounting reports and others. ZipBooks is best suited for service-based businesses because it lacks inventory management and accounting.
Pros
- Create estimates and invoices for clients
- Zipbooks has a user-friendly interface
- It has a time-tracking feature for service-based businesses
Cons
- ZipBooks does not have a mobile app for Android devices
- It is not suitable for businesses with inventory; there is no inventory management and accounting
- Bank reconciliation is limited to banks in the US and Canada
ZipBooks Pricing
(Source ZipBooks.com)
Zipbooks offers a free plan and paid plans.
Paid plans start from $15- $35 billed monthly. In addition, ZipBooks also offers an Accountant plan with a custom price for accountants and bookkeepers handling multiple clients.
What Customers are saying about ZipBooks
I don’t like that I can’t track inventory. I’ll need to have, open and use an additional program for inventory and figure out how to incorporate them. (Review from Capterra)
The biggest issue I have with ZipBooks is their mobile app. I’m running it on my iPhone and it seems like it’s just a web app published in a shell, storing no local information. It’s difficult to track time or send invoices that haven’t been saved as a draft. Sent invoices also display in reverse order – with the cache clearing every time I open the app. If they built a full-featured, native app I think ZipBooks would be perfect. (Review from Capterra)
The basic version only carries very basic needs for keeping track. Specially if you run an agency with multiple project cost centres, the subscription becomes quite expensive (Review from G2)
Sometimes my card gets kicked out, or I need to renew the connection to my payment processing platforms and it doesn’t email me about it until someone tries to pay and can’t. (Review from Capterra)
Related post: Wave vs FreshBooks: Comparison
Wave
Wave is a free invoicing and accounting software for freelancers and small businesses. It comes with add-ons at a price for users; Wave payment to process transactions, Wave Payroll, Mobile Receipts and Advisors.
Pros
- Free invoicing and accounting software (Wave Payment and Wave Payroll come at a price)
- The interface is easy to use.
- There is no limit to the number of users on an account
Cons
- Wave services are restricted to businesses in the US and Canada alone.
- It generates limited reports
- Wave only integrates with Wave payment as an online payment gateway.
- Not suitable for businesses with inventory (e.g., wholesalers and retailers).
Wave Pricing
(Source Wave.com)
What customers are saying about Wave
It’s now exclusive to North America when it used to be available worldwide Wide which makes it difficult to integrate new business ventures. (Review from Capterra)
Their customer service is horrible. If you can even get them, they have no problem lying right to your face. Read other review sites and you’ll see! (Review from G2)
It is very disappointing that they have withdrawn their services from Europe and other countries outside the US and Canada. (Review from G2)
Bank reconciliation is known to be inaccurate with Wave, with many reports that data doesn’t sync with the bank for months at a time (Review from Capterra)
ZipBooks vs Wave Apps
| Feature | ZipBooks | Wave Apps |
| Free Plan | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory tracking | No | No |
| Accounting reports | Yes | Yes |
| Estimates and Quotes | Yes | Yes |
| Vendor Billing | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple user access | Yes | Yes |
| Audit Trail | No | No |
| Budgeting tools | No | No |
Vencru: The Invoicing and Accounting Software for All Businesses
Can’t compromise on intuitiveness, affordability and comprehensive accounting for your business accounting solution?
Vencru is a simple, all-in-one invoicing, inventory management and accounting software for product-based and service-based businesses. Unlike Wave and ZipBooks, Vencru supports inventory management and accounting. You don’t need extra software for inventory tracking and calculating your COGS- get it all in one place on Vencru!
With Vencru, invoice clients anywhere in the world, track your inventory and orders, streamline the sales process with a POS app, track expenses, generate comprehensive accounting and business reports, manage customer relations, manage vendors, track employee performance, collaborate with team members and lots more all at an affordable price!
Vencru offers a free plan with paid plans starting at $6 to $50 billed monthly. Get insights into all aspects of your business, save time and add to your bottom line on a simple and affordable platform available to business owners worldwide!
Comparisons of Vencru vs Zipbooks vs Wave Apps
| Feature | Vencru | ZipBooks | Wave Apps |
| Free Plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coverage | Worldwide with over 160 supported currencies | Worldwide | US and Canada |
| Intuitive (Easy to use) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing (billed monthly) | Starts at $6 | Starts at $15 | Free |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory management | Yes | No | No |
| Estimates and Quotes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Order Management (shipping status) | Yes | No | No |
| Accept Online Payment | Yes | Yes | Yes (Restricted to Wave Payment) |
| Multicurrency (For sales and expenses) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| POS App (Mobile, Desktop and Web) | Yes | No | No |
| Tax reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Purchase Order and Vendor Bills | Yes | No | Yes |
| Business reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Double-Entry Accounting reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Employee management (sales by employee report) | Yes | No | No |
| Budgeting tools | Yes | No | No |
| Product barcode scanning for sales and inventory | Yes | No | No |
| Expiry date tracking for products | Yes | No | No |
| Audit Trail | Yes | No | No |
| Mobile App | Yes | Yes (iOS only) | Yes |
Key features of Vencru
- Invoicing and Sales Management– Create online invoices in less than a minute. Automatically track debtors, manage business sales, improve cash flow, and get your financial reports
- Estimates and Quotes– Create quotes and proposals in various currencies and seamlessly convert estimates into invoices.
- Inventory Management– Keep track of what you have in store, update when to restock, and deduct when you create invoices or receipts
- Double-Entry Accounting– Powerful and robust double-entry accounting system. Track assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, and expenses.
- Expense Management– Track and manage all your business expenses and receipts in one place. Say goodbye to manual expense reporting and streamline your finances.
- Vendor Billing– Make and send vendor bills, track orders and deliveries, and sync inventory items easily.
- Business Reporting– Convert all data into insights needed to grow your business with simplified business reports. Review dashboards and reports on your sales, expenses, inventory and clients.
- Accept Online Payments– Accept online payments with credit cards, debit cards, eChecks, and more, and have every penny accounted for with our bookkeeping features.
- Client Management- Manage your clients, automate client statement reports, track their orders, and keep on top of your debtors.
Vencru Pricing
Check out our pricing page!
Free Trial: Signup for a free 14-day trial on Vencru. No credit card is required! See how Vencru makes managing your business very simple!
Demo: If you prefer, you can schedule a free demo with one of our experts. We’ll answer all your questions.
How to migrate to Vencru from ZipBooks or Wave
Want to migrate from your present business management software to Vencru? Here’s how easy it is:
- Book a free demo with our customer support team
- Decide on the best plan that works for you
- We will work with you and provide training on how to migrate successfully.
