I LOVE Wave, but I just moved by business back to Quickbooks. Here's why...
tsfjax
Member Posts: 47 ✭✭
I have just completed my year-long Wave experiment and I am (truly) very sad to say I've just ponied up the coin to buy the newest version of QB desktop. 
Wave is a wonderful platform that I really like, so I would be remiss to not explain myself.
The bottomline for me is reporting capabilities. I need to be able to drill down, deep-dive, and every other cliche buzzword to measure every part of my business from multiple angles. I've noted a few of them in these forums (namely Cost to Serve). I loved being able to sit at the table with a client and send them an estimate right while I was sitting there and having Wave's servers handle it, and automated reminders for invoices were a game changer for keeping up with my receivables, but, at the end of the day, the Reports page just made me sad (and occasionally frustrated). A Power BI, Qlik, or Tableau integration might be able to fix this IF (and only if) you map as many data points as you can. I'd be happy to help with the brainstorming on this if it ever becomes an idea that makes it to the Road Map.
Estimate statuses are another big one. The competition doesn't have this functionality, either, but I can add a memo in the specific estimate and pull it out during reporting so I've created a uniform system that uses the same status wording for all my estimates.
I was surprised to find that transaction fees and payroll costs were big ones for me (surprised because I don't use any automation currently, but I discovered that I spend a lot of time on these and am really in need of one that integrates with my accounting platform).
For my clients who aren't on retainer my invoices are typically $50-$200 for ad hoc requests. I would love nothing more than to have an integrated payment solution but Wave's is too much (the competition is, as well, so I'm still stuck with Square but I'm on the hunt for something else). Payroll at $35 a month, whether or not you use it, it crazy. 
Give people the option of $X each or $35 a month + $X each (the idea being that the pay-per option would be higher than the monthly subscription price). Again, the competition doesn't have the advantage here, but I can print checks that are window-envelope-ready so there is some time savings there.
Being able to bill (and deduct from) deposits and/or retainers would be amazing but the last one I want to leave you with is attachments. Wave's ability to take a picture of a receipt and extract the info to save time when adding it into accounting is amazing. It was a game changer for me like automated invoice reminders were. Being able to view the actual, original invoice later on when I couldn't remember what I had bought from Costco was awesome. 
One thing I've started doing is sending my Ts&Cs as an attachment in every estimate and invoice I send and that ability doesn't exist in Wave (the footer and comments fields are just not a solution, unfortunately). I've read posts from other folks asking for the same capabilities because they wanted to send completion photos to their clients with their final invoices, among other uses. Imagine how much time that would save a craftsperson if they could snap a photo from the jobsite and attach it to the invoice he's getting ready to send from his phone while the rest of the crew finished cleaning up.
I also run a small nonprofit on Wave and am planning to keep it here because Wave is an absolutely fantastic platform and I really, really like it. And the fact that these forums exist are a testament to how much you folks care about the voice of the user. I know that I will never get that kind of interaction using the competition.
So this post isn't "goodbye" and it's most definitely not a rant. It is, though, a totally non-negative, non-critical explanation of why I've had to move my company's financials back to They Who Shall Not Be Named (except for the first one so I could then use "competition" everywhere else ).
I recognize that for every 'switch' you build in, you're adding something that can break (it's why I'm a fan of antique cars, quite frankly), but I'm hoping as you guys move down the Road Map I'll be able to dump "them" permanently and come back to one of the easiest and most intuitive UIs I've seen in a long time. Being able to do that with something as complex as business accounting is a feat!
Thanks for reading this, and thanks for building a great tool for small businesses to grow with! 
Comments
@tsfjax First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to leave us with all the feedback that you have. It's always bittersweet to see an active community forum member move onto another platform, but ultimately, it sounds like you have found a platform that is better suited for your needs. What's great about your post is that it gives us a lot to consider and allows our team to have tangible insights when it comes time to start revisiting some of the areas that you have spoken to. Thank you for the year that you allowed Wave to be your trusted accounting platform and hoping all the best for your business moving forward! All the best!
Thanks, @JordanD.
As I said, I am keeping the charity I run and my personal stuff here, so it is not goodbye completely -- I'm hoping reporting capabilities get to the point where I can have everything in one place again. 
@tsfjax & @JordanD
Thanks for this post.
I also run a small non-profit and am sadly at the same point, but for different reasons. For me, it is the rigidity of the payment platform that is tripping me up.
Processing 200+ membership dues payments across 8 different nationwide chapters (each set up as a customer in Wave due to lack of sub-ledgers), has required me to manually touch all 200+ transactions individually, because I can' t use Wave's payment solutions, because they generate an unmodifiable accounting transaction (not even a lousy notes field?), that either doesn't display the customer or payee (for invoices), or doesn't support customers at all (for checkout), so I'm back to PayPal and manually touching each and every transaction.
As a product manager by trade, I wish Wave would either hire me, or do a better job of fully thinking through their solutions, because they repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot by needlessly straightjacketing their solutions to only work one way; whereas, better use of preference setting would let them better cater to different scenarios. Why not let me choose if I can modify a Wave generated accounting transaction or not? Why not let me choose if I want to assign an existing customer to a Wave Checkout or not? Instead, you prevent me from doing these simple things and render your solution useless to me.
I'm currently investigating Quickbooks, much as I detest Intuit, as well as Oracle's NetSuite. If Wave would actually listen to customer feedback and actually make changes to their products accordingly, I wouldn't have to consider leaving, but they don't, so I have to.
Thanks for listening,
Chris
@christopherdawes Through TechSoup.org you can get a desktop or QBO subscription for cheap. All you have to do is register using your 501 info and you’ll get accredited for their offers. It is what I was doing with my NPO before coming to Wave.
I love the folks at Wave — just see how interactive they are here — it just takes them years and years and years to get some of the ‘basics’ on their roadmap (like better reporting capabilities) and that is disheartening at times. I know they’ll get there eventually, which is why I am not gone entirely because I know they’re heading int he right direction.
Wave: integrate with Tableau (I’d even settle for Power BI), pretty, pretty, pretty please!!
@tsfjax We absolutely agree,
We have added Xero to our portfolio as it has far more flexible functionality in many accounting areas.
But WaveApps will be a force to be reckoned with someday - that is very clear to see.
We use WaveApps for very small clients and non-profits accounting records, and also for clients who need invoicing on the go. There are many start-up businesses in our country that don't have funds for accounting software and WaveApps is ideal for them.
We are looking forward to seeing what WaveApps grows into!
Well said. I have my non-profit and personal finances here so I can keep an eye on updates and new features (and eventually/hopefully bring my business back.