Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (2024)

Small business payroll that makes paying employees, contractors, and yourself, easy!

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Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (1)

Easy payroll software for small business

  • Run payroll in minutes

  • No hidden fees

  • 100% guaranteed accuracy

Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (2)

Pay employees and contractors

Also, easily generate T4 and T4A slips and summaries for tax season

Pay employees and contractors

Pay independent contractors and employees, and generate W2 and 1099 forms for tax season.

Tax payments and filings

Wave’s complete payroll tax service can automatically pay and file your state and federal payroll taxes for businesses in AZ, CA, FL, GA, IL, IN, MN, NY, NC, TN, TX, VA, WA, and WI. (Coming soon to more states.)

Direct deposit

Deposit payments quickly, reliably, and directly into your employees’ bank accounts. Less work for you, and your team will love it.

Automatic tax remittances

Keep compliant and save time by having Wave handle your Canada Revenue Agency tax remittances on your behalf.

Automatic payroll journal entries

Our payroll software is seamlessly connected with the rest of your Wave account to reduce the time you spend on manual bookkeeping.

Employee access

Your employees can log into Wave securely to access their pay stubs and T4s, and manage their contact and banking information.

Easily switch from another payroll provider

When you switch from another payroll software, migrating your data is simple. Learn more about how you can switch to Wave.

Self-service pay stubs and tax forms

Employees can securely log in to access their pay stubs and W2s, and manage their contact and banking information.

Protect your team with workers' comp

Only pay for what you use and simplify annual audits with workers' comp built for small business owners.

Make managing payroll effortless

Automated, accurate payroll helps you stay compliant, save time, and be stress-free.

Start your 30-day free trial

Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (3)

Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (4)

I love hitting that approved payroll button every month. I get paid from it, so it's great—but it also just feels really fun!

Robbie Katherine Anthony - Euphoria LGBT Inc.

Payroll pricing

No set-up fees or hidden charges.

USCanada

Monthly fee

Available in all provinces and territories, except Quebec

Tax service states

Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin

$25 CADmonthly base fee

  • + $6 CAD per active employee
  • + $6 CADper independent contractor paid

$40 USD monthly base fee

  • + $6 USD per active employee
  • + $6 USDper independent contractor paid
  • 100% payroll accuracy guaranteed
  • Unlimited free direct deposits
  • Automatic tax payments to the CRA
  • Pay yourself, employees, or contractors hassle-free
  • Seamless integration with Wave Accounting software
  • Get the full picture of your cash flow with wage and tax payment reporting
  • Integrated employee portal for access to pay stubs, tax forms, and vacation leave
  • Full employee management with ROEs, top ups, benefit calculations and more
  • Easily generate T4 and T4A slips and summaries

Wave handles your payroll taxes

These 14 states include tax services with the option to automatically transfer tax payments and file the paperwork with your state tax office and the IRS (this excludes 1099 Filings).

Self service states

All other 36 states

$20 USD monthly base fee

  • + $6 USD per active employee
  • + $6 USD per independent contractor paid

Wave makes filing your own payroll taxes easy

The remaining 36 states are self-serve, which means you’ll have to pay and file the paperwork yourself. Wave makes it easy by showing you what information and how much money you’ll need per payroll.

*Wave charges sales tax as required, including applicable New York Sales and Use Tax in New York State. Taxes charged appear on your invoice.

*Please note payroll tax processing is not available to household employers in the US.

Try payroll software free for 30 days.

Start now

See all small business payroll features

  • Run your payroll with ease and accuracy.
  • Make payments, record accounting entries, and file tax documents for your independent contractors.
  • Pay employees with one simple click every payday.
  • See a breakdown of your payroll expenses by employee, expense type, and more.
  • Employees get online access to pay stubs and tax forms, and can update their banking and contact details.
  • We consistently update our features to incorporate government relief programs and changes.
  • Generate W2 and 1099 forms without the hassle.
  • Save time with automatic tax filings and payments available in Tax Service States.
  • Track leave time and accruals required to process payroll.
  • Payroll automatically integrates with Wave Accounting, Invoicing, and Payments to keep your records up to date.
  • Get a priority connection to our customer support team via live chat Monday-Friday.
  • Connect with our support team via email for prompt assistance.

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How does the 30-day free trial work?

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. See our full US terms here, and our full Canadian terms here.

What if I want to pause my payroll for a period of time?

You can deactivate your payroll account at any time by navigating to Settings > Billing > Deactivate.

Why is the base price different for some US states?

The base rate is higher in tax service states (Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin) because Wave automatically transfers tax payments and files the necessary paperwork with your state tax office and or IRS.

In self-service states (all other 36 states) Wave Payroll does not make payments or file on your behalf.

Can I pay independent contractors with Wave's payroll software?

You sure can! 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.

How do I run payroll for my small business?

We totally get it—running payroll for your small business can seem like a daunting task, especially when you've got so much on your plate. That's why a payroll software like Wave's can help ease the burden of doing payroll on your own. We've also crafted a guide to small business payroll to help you navigate the process.

What are the benefits of using small business payroll software?

Doing payroll manually involves confusing and time-consuming calculations. Not to mention the stress of worrying about making errors and winding up in a tax audit (yikes!).

Payroll software saves you time so you can focus on the best parts of running your business. And, in the long run, an online payroll software provider like Wave can save you a lot of money by reducing human error so you can avoid tax penalties (and who doesn’t love saving money?).

When can I begin using small business payroll software?

You don't have to wait for a new quarter or year to start using payroll software—you can start running payroll at any time! And if you’re switching providers, you can make the transition easily by importing all the necessary forms and information in just a few minutes. Check out our handy support article to learn how you can switch to using Wave’s payroll feature.

Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (5)

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Payroll Software for Small Businesses - Wave Financial (2024)

FAQs

Can you do payroll with Wave? ›

You can use Wave Payroll to create basic payroll reports. If you go to the dashboard, you'll be able to track wages and taxes you've paid or assess payroll benefits and deductions.

How much does Wave charge per transaction? ›

Wave Payments charges a per-transaction fee (1% for bank payments, 2.9% + $0.60 for credit cards, and 3.4% + $0.60 for American Express).

Does Wave integrate with QuickBooks? ›

Zapier makes it easy to integrate QuickBooks Online with Wave - no code necessary. See how you can get setup in minutes.

Is Wave good for taxes? ›

Wave offers payroll tax payments and filings in fourteen states within the US. There is no additional cost for this feature if your business is based in one of these states. You can authorize tax payments and filings in the payroll setup hub, and we'll take it from there!

Does Wave send you a 1099? ›

The Form 1099-K you receive from Wave reports the gross processing volume of card payments in your Wave Payments account. The gross processing volume represents the total amount of money you've processed through Wave in a calendar year before fees, refunds, or adjustments.

How much is ADP payroll for small businesses? ›

Roll by ADP is an innovative payroll solution for small businesses. It's a chat-based payroll mobile app for payroll management and HR assistance. This ADP payroll product is also transparent in pricing, costing $29 per month plus $5 per employee. You can also try Roll by ADP for free for three months.

Is Wave a good alternative to QuickBooks? ›

Wave's platform is simpler and designed for easy use for freelancers and businesses of one, while QuickBooks is designed to cover complex business needs and grow as your business grows. If you're a freelancer or other solo service provider, Wave is a better option.

What percentage does a Wave invoice take? ›

Wave does not charge a subscription or any hidden fees. While users never pay startup or monthly fees, Wave does charge a credit card processing fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for most cards. This is a typical credit card processing fee that you'll find on any platform.

Is Wave really free? ›

Wave's Starter Plan is free, and all its features are available immediately, with no trial period or time limits. This includes: Accounting - Includes transactions, reports, adding sales taxes and more. Invoicing - Creating, sending, and editing invoices.

Does Wave connect to your bank account? ›

Wave works with Plaid, a specialist provider of secure bank data connections, to offer the ability to automatically import your bank transaction data.

How much did H&R Block pay for Wave? ›

Wave to be acquired by H&R Block for $537 million

It is with incredible excitement that I share that today H&R Block has signed an agreement to acquire Wave.

Does Wave have bookkeeping? ›

Wave also offers bookkeeping, payroll and tax coaching and advisory services for an extra fee. Depending on your needs, you can get access to: An in-house accountant. 30 day unlimited email access to a tax, accounting or payroll professional.

Does rippling handle payroll? ›

Yes! Unlike other payroll systems that can only handle US payroll and require you to pay for additional expensive software, Rippling Global Payroll allows you to hire, pay, and manage your entire workforce, regardless of location in one place.

Can you pay vendors through Wave? ›

You need to have a contractor added as a vendor in Wave before you can pay them. Learn how in How to add contractors. On the left-side menu, click Purchases > Bills. Select Create a bill.

Can you pay bills through Wave? ›

Deposit, withdraw, pay bills for free. Send for only 1%.

What can you do with wave accounting? ›

Wave Accounting Features

With Wave's mobile app, you can send invoices, upload receipts and track expenses in one place on the go. Since the Starter plan only allows for one user, that one user has full access to the platform.

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