Wave
Key Info:
Wave is cloud accounting software for small businesses that supports bookkeeping, connected bank and card transactions, transaction categorisation, invoices, receipt capture and financial reporting. It can be accessed online and through the vendor's small-business mobile app for relevant everyday workflows.
Details
Bookkeeping and connected transactions
Wave describes workflows for connected bank and credit-card transactions, categorisation and bookkeeping records. Start a pilot with accounts that are safe to test and establish who is responsible for reviewing imports before relying on them. Include a duplicate item, an uncategorised transfer, a delayed connection and a transaction that must be split. The aim is to document which actions are automatic suggestions and which require accounting judgement.
Receipts, invoices and reports
The product also describes receipt capture, invoicing and reports such as profit and loss, balance sheet and cash-flow views. Verify the complete trail from captured receipt or issued invoice to the related accounting entry and report. Review period dates, adjustments and report definitions with the person responsible for the books. A visual dashboard is not a substitute for agreeing a close process or checking supporting transactions.
Scope and operating controls
Wave is targeted at small-business accounting, so teams should confirm that their jurisdiction, tax requirements and chosen plan match the intended use. Do not assume a feature is available in every location or edition. Test browser and mobile access with the expected roles, then document bank-connection ownership, export options, access removal, retention and recovery procedures. Keep external payment, payroll or tax services clearly separated from the accounting scope being evaluated.
Decision record
Capture the selected region and plan, the reviewing accountant, reporting cadence and a procedure for bank-feed exceptions. A documented boundary between bookkeeping and adjacent payroll, payment or filing services helps prevent a feature assumption from becoming a compliance risk.
Practical acceptance
A successful trial shows who reviews imported transactions, how a correction is made and which report is used to complete a period. Preserve a short evidence pack for those checks, including the chosen regional configuration and any external service that remains responsible for payroll, payment acceptance or filing.
Review scenario
Test a realistic sequence of imported bank activity, receipt capture, customer invoicing and a month-end report review. Deliberately introduce one duplicate item, one miscoded expense and one transaction that arrives after a report is prepared. The reviewer should be able to correct the records and explain whether the change affects a completed period. Store the chosen plan and regional assumptions with that exercise.
Evidence to retain
Maintain a short configuration record for bank connections, report definitions, user roles and the external services retained outside Wave. The record should include a corrected transaction and the close report that reflects it. This allows the business to review assumptions when its banking, payroll or filing arrangement changes rather than relying on a generic product description.