Harvard-Educated Wave Experts | FT Fast 500

Free Accounting, Connected Everywhere Wave

Wave offers free accounting software perfect for freelancers, consultants, and small businesses. Our Wave integrations extend its capabilities by connecting with payment processors, CRMs, e-commerce platforms, and productivity tools. Automate invoice creation, track expenses automatically, and get real-time financial insights without the manual work. Wave's simplicity combined with smart integrations gives you enterprise-level automation at small business prices.

Free

Core software

5hrs

Saved weekly

100%

Invoice accuracy

Auto

Bank sync

Automate Your Wave Integration View Integration Options

Why Integrate Wave with Your Business Systems?

Zero Software Cost

Wave's free accounting means more budget for your business. Our integrations extend Wave's capabilities without expensive software subscriptions. Pay only for the automation that saves you time.

Automatic Invoicing

Stop creating invoices manually. When a project completes in your project management tool or an order comes through your website, Wave automatically creates and sends the invoice.

Expense Automation

Receipts from email, bank transactions, and purchase systems automatically categorize in Wave. No more shoebox of receipts at tax time.

Systems We Connect with Wave

Stripe

PayPal

Shopify

Etsy

Asana

Trello

Monday.com

Gmail

Expensify

Plus 100+ more systems - if you use it, we can integrate it with Wave

How Wave Integration Works

Connect Your Systems

We securely connect Wave with your other business applications using official APIs and best practices.

Map Your Data

Configure how data flows between systems - which fields map where, what triggers sync, and business rules.

Automate Forever

Once configured, data flows automatically 24/7. Monitor with dashboards and alerts for complete peace of mind.

Data Flow Architecture

Here's how data flows between Wave and your connected systems:

┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│  Payment/Sales  │     │   Integration    │     │      Wave       │
│    (Stripe)     │────▶│     Engine       │────▶│   Accounting    │
└─────────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
        │                        │                        │
        │                        ▼                        │
        │               ┌──────────────────┐              │
        │               │  Data Transform  │              │
        │               │  • Fee tracking  │              │
        │               │  • Tax handling  │              │
        │               │  • Categorize    │              │
        │               └──────────────────┘              │
        │                        │                        │
        ▼                        ▼                        ▼
   ┌─────────┐            ┌─────────────┐          ┌──────────┐
   │ Payment │            │  Validation │          │ Income   │
   │Received │            │  & Logging  │          │ Recorded │
   └─────────┘            └─────────────┘          └──────────┘

Example: Stripe Payment → Wave Income
═══════════════════════════════════════════════
1. Customer pays invoice via Stripe
2. Stripe webhook fires payment_intent.succeeded
3. Integration receives payment with metadata
4. Payment matched to Wave invoice by reference
5. Processing fee calculated and recorded separately
6. Invoice marked as paid in Wave
7. Net amount reconciled to bank feed

Common Field Mappings

Source Field	Target Field	Notes
stripe.customer.email	Customer.Email	Primary matching field
stripe.customer.name	Customer.Name	Customer display name
stripe.payment.amount	Payment.Amount	Amount in cents, convert to dollars
stripe.payment.fee	Expense.Amount	Stripe processing fee
stripe.payment.net	Deposit.Amount	Net amount after fees
stripe.invoice.number	Invoice.Reference	For payment matching
stripe.payment.created	Payment.Date	Unix timestamp to date
shopify.order.line_items	Invoice.Lines	Product details
shopify.order.total	Invoice.Total	Order total including tax
shopify.order.tax	Invoice.TaxAmount	GST amount

Example API Response

Sample data structure when syncing from Wave:

// Wave GraphQL - Create Customer
mutation CreateCustomer {
  customerCreate(input: {
    businessId: "QnVzaW5lc3M6YWJjMTIz",
    name: "John Smith",
    email: "john@example.com",
    currency: "AUD"
  }) {
    customer {
      id
      name
      email
    }
  }
}

// Wave GraphQL - Create Invoice
mutation CreateInvoice {
  invoiceCreate(input: {
    businessId: "QnVzaW5lc3M6YWJjMTIz",
    customerId: "Q3VzdG9tZXI6eHl6Nzg5",
    invoiceNumber: "INV-001",
    invoiceDate: "2024-01-15",
    dueDate: "2024-01-29",
    items: [
      {
        description: "Design Services - Logo Package",
        quantity: 1,
        unitPrice: 1500.00,
        taxes: [{
          salesTaxId: "U2FsZXNUYXg6Z3N0MTAl"
        }]
      }
    ]
  }) {
    invoice {
      id
      invoiceNumber
      total {
        value
        currency { code }
      }
    }
  }
}

// Stripe Webhook - Payment Success
{
  "type": "payment_intent.succeeded",
  "data": {
    "object": {
      "id": "pi_1234567890",
      "amount": 165000,
      "currency": "aud",
      "customer": "cus_abc123",
      "metadata": {
        "invoice_number": "INV-001"
      },
      "charges": {
        "data": [{
          "balance_transaction": {
            "fee": 4290,
            "net": 160710
          }
        }]
      }
    }
  }
}

AI & Custom Integration Examples

Beyond system-to-system connections, we build custom AI solutions and interfaces powered by Wave data.

Smart Expense Categorization

AI analyzes merchant names and transaction descriptions to automatically categorize expenses. Learns from your manual corrections to improve accuracy. "UBER" goes to Travel, "BUNNINGS" to Supplies.

Receipt Data Extraction

OCR and AI extract vendor, date, amount, and GST from receipt photos. Automatically creates expense entries in Wave with correct categorization and tax treatment.

Invoice Payment Prediction

Machine learning analyzes customer payment patterns to predict when invoices will be paid. Helps with cash flow forecasting and identifies slow-paying customers for follow-up.

Duplicate Detection

AI identifies potential duplicate transactions - same amount, similar date, same vendor. Prevents double-counting expenses that would affect tax reporting.

Integration Prerequisites

Before starting your Wave integration, ensure you have:

Wave account (free tier works for most integrations)
Wave API access via GraphQL
Stripe or PayPal account for payment integrations
Connected source system (Shopify, Asana, etc.)
Understanding of your Wave income/expense categories
GST registration details if applicable

Common Issues & Solutions

Wave API authentication failing

Stripe fees not recording correctly

GST not calculating on invoices

Customers not matching

Bank reconciliation not matching

Real Results from Wave Integration

“As a freelance designer, Wave with Stripe integration is perfect. Invoices go out automatically when I mark projects complete in Asana, payments record themselves, and I spend zero time on bookkeeping. All for free accounting software.”

Freelance Designer

Creative Services, Melbourne