Wave Accounting
Private | |
Industry | Small business software |
Founded | Canada (2009) |
Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
Key people |
Kirk Simpson (co-founder and CEO), James Lochrie (co-founder) Les Whiting (SVP Financial Services) |
Number of employees | 147 (April 2017) |
Website | www.waveapps.com |
Wave Accounting Inc. is a company that provides a suite of financial services and online software for small businesses. Wave is headquartered in the Leslieville neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada. The company manages more than $175 billion in income and expense transactions for its customers, including $21 billion in annual invoicing.[1]
The company's first product was a free online accounting software designed for businesses with 1-9 employees, followed by invoicing, personal finance and receipt-scanning software (OCR). In 2012, Wave began branching into financial services, initially with Payments by Wave (credit card processing) and Payroll by Wave, followed by Lending by Wave[2] in February 2017.
In 2010, Wave launched the first free double-entry accounting platform in the cloud, which included unlimited bank data downloads. [3]
Features and integrations
The company's initial product, Accounting by Wave, is a double entry accounting tool. Services include direct bank data imports, invoicing and expense tracking, customizable chart of accounts, and journal transactions. Accounting by Wave integrates with expense tracking software Shoeboxed, and e-commerce website Etsy.
The next product launched was Payroll by Wave, which was launched in 2012 after the acquisition of SmallPayroll.ca.[4] Payroll by Wave is only available in U.S.A. and Canada.
Invoicing by Wave is an offshoot of the company's earlier accounting tools.
Additional products launched on or shortly after the company's rebrand[5] in December 2012 include:
- a credit card processing tool, Payments by Wave, built initially on an integration with Stripe credit card processing.
- a receipt scanning tool, Receipts by Wave[6]
Wave also produces free mobile applications that integrate with the online functionality:
- Invoice by Wave for iPhone[7]
• Invoice by Wave for Android
- Payments by Wave for iPhone[8]
- Receipts by Wave for iPhone[9]
- Receipts by Wave for Android[10]
- Payroll by Wave for iPhone[11]
Pricing and business model
Wave provides its software for free[12] to more than 2 million customers.
Revenue from the company comes from the paid financial services the company offers:
- Payments/credit card processing (fees are a percentage of the transaction)
- Lending (in a partnership with OnDeck; financial details are not public)
- Payroll (monthly subscription fee plus usage fees)
Wave previously included advertising on its pages as a source of revenue. Advertising was removed in January 2017.
Wave’s software is free, as opposed to freemium in that the tools can be used without tiers or limits.
Wave does not currently disclose its revenue or financial statements publicly. However, media reports in 2016[13] indicated annual revenues of $20 million at that time. In 2017 Wave raised $24m in funding led by NAB Ventures.[14]
History
CEO Kirk Simpson and CPO James Lochrie launched Wave Accounting Inc. in July 2009. Wave Accounting launched to the public on November 16, 2010.[15] In June 2011 Series A funding led by OMERS Ventures[16] was closed. In September 2011, FedDev Ontario invested one million dollars in funding.[17] In October 2011, a $5-million investment led by U.S. venture capital firm Charles River Ventures was announced.[18] In May 2012, Wave Accounting closed its series B financing round led by The Social+Capital Partnership, with follow-on participation from Charles River Ventures and OMERS Ventures.[19]
Wave acquired a company called Small Payroll in November 2011,[20] which was later launched as a payroll product called Wave Payroll. In February 2012, Wave officially launched Wave Payroll to the public in Canada,[21] followed by the American release in November of the same year.
In August, 2012, the company announced the acquisition of Vuru.co,[22] an online stock-tracking service. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In December 2012 the company rebranded itself as Wave to emphasize its broadened spectrum of services.[23]
References
- ↑ "Wave’s New App Makes Mobile Invoicing and Accepting Credit Card Payments Faster and Easier Than Ever". waveapps.com. Wave Accounting Inc. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ↑ "OnDeck Partners with Wave to Launch “Lending by Wave” Small Business Financing Powered by OnDeck". OnDeck. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ↑ "Wave History". /www.waveapps.com. Wave.
- ↑ Canada (2011-11-02). "Wave Accounting acquires Small Payroll and relaunches as Wave Payroll". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "With 500K Users, Wave Rebrands To Tell The World It Isn’t Just About Free Accounting Anymore". TechCrunch. December 17, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
- ↑ Etherington, Darrell. "Wave Debuts Free Receipt Scanning And Management Tool To Add To Its Free Accounting Platform". Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ↑ Lazanis, Ryan. "Wave Accounting Releases New Mobile App for Invoicing". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ↑ "iTunes App Store". iTunes App Store. Apple. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ↑ "Receipts by Wave". iTunes App Store. Apple. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ↑ "Google Play". play.Google.com. Google.
- ↑ "Payroll by Wave". iTunes App Store. Apple. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ↑ "Wave Accounting Pricing". Wave. Wave. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ↑ Galang, Jessica. "WAVE RAISES $14.6 MILLION WITH GOAL TO GROW TEAM TO 150 AND CONTINUE MOBILE DEVELOPMENT". betakit. BetaKit. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ↑ "Canadian fintech firm Wave raises $24M in Series D funding led by NAB Ventures". econotimes. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
- ↑ Canada (2010-11-20). "Wave Accounting launches free service for small businesses". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Home". OMERS Ventures. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Toronto startups get $1M in federal funding | Growth Strategies | Resource Centre | Entrepreneur | Financial Post". Business.financialpost.com. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Toronto startup raises $5M in latest ‘Wave’ of funding | FP Tech Desk | Financial Post". Business.financialpost.com. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ Wednesday, May 16, 2012 (2012-05-16). "Wave Accounting Raises $12M from Social+Capital Partnership, Charles River Ventures & OMERS Ventures". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ Canada (2011-11-02). "Wave Accounting acquires Small Payroll and relaunches as Wave Payroll". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ Canada (2012-02-01). "Wave Accounting launches Wave Payroll in Canada". Techvibes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "Vuru.co is now part of the Wave family - Wave Accounting - Free Small Business Accounting Software". Wave Accounting. 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
- ↑ "With 500K Users, Wave Rebrands To Tell The World It Isn’t Just About Free Accounting Anymore". TechCrunch. December 17, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2013.