Wave

Wave breaks the mold in accounting software by offering genuinely free invoicing and accounting — not a trial, not a limited free tier, but truly free core functionality. For freelancers and small agencies that need professional invoicing and basic bookkeeping without adding another monthly subscription, Wave provides a compelling solution. Unlimited invoicing, double-entry accounting, financial reports, and receipt scanning are all included at zero cost.

The accounting engine is more capable than you might expect from a free tool. Wave uses proper double-entry bookkeeping with a customizable chart of accounts, generates profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and tax summaries, and connects to bank accounts for automatic transaction import. For small agencies tracking income and expenses across multiple clients, this covers the basics that would otherwise require a paid tool like QuickBooks or Xero.

Compared to paid alternatives, Wave's main limitations are in payment processing geography (strongest in North America), integrations, and customer support. European agencies may find the payment features less useful, and the lack of native time tracking means you'll need a separate tool to connect hours worked to invoices. But for the core loop of sending invoices, tracking expenses, and generating financial reports, Wave proves that agencies don't necessarily need to pay for accounting software to get professional results.