Every contractor needs accounting software, but choosing between QuickBooks and Wave comes down to three factors: your revenue, your team size, and how much you value your time at tax season.
Wave: The Free Option
Wave is genuinely free for invoicing, accounting, and financial reporting. No trials, no hidden fees. It handles income tracking, expense categorization, and basic reporting well enough for solo operators under $500K in revenue.
Best for: Solo contractors, side hustles, businesses just starting out.
Limitations: No inventory tracking, limited integrations, basic reporting, and customer support is email-only.
QuickBooks Online: The Industry Standard
QuickBooks ($30-$200/month) is the tool your accountant already knows. It integrates with virtually every other business tool: Jobber, Stripe, PayPal, your bank, and your CRM. The reporting is powerful enough to give you real-time profit and loss by job, by crew, or by service type.
Best for: Businesses over $250K revenue, anyone with a bookkeeper or accountant, companies with employees.
Key advantage: Job costing. You can track profitability per project, which is critical for contractors who want to stop underpricing jobs.
The Verdict
If you are under $250K in revenue and doing your own books, start with Wave. The moment you hire a bookkeeper, outgrow the basic reporting, or need integrations with your field service software, switch to QuickBooks Simple Start ($30/month).
Not sure which fits? Book a free audit and we will review your current setup and recommend the right tool for your stage of growth.