Payroll by Wave: catch the wave of easy payroll administration!

It lets you run payroll in a matter of minutes and provides you with the information you need for filing taxes—or, if you are in one of the states it services, it files them for you. It has an employee portal for viewing pay stubs and tax forms (if applicable). Payroll by Wave calculates state and federal payroll taxes you’re required to pay. If you’re not in one of those states, the site still tells you what’s due, but you have to actually do the filing and make the payments yourself.

• Wave Payroll’s partnership with Next Insurance allows you to provide workers’ compensation insurance in all US states.
• Additionally, Wave is perfect for small businesses already using Wave products or businesses looking to integrate simple accounting software with payroll software.
• If you’ve yet to set up your direct deposits, a task reminder will appear on the dashboard that includes a link to the system’s direct deposit setup page.
• Employers can run payroll for employees and contractors, connect their accounts with Wave Accounting and let Wave file their payroll taxes for them in some states.

Wave Payroll’s two pricing packages, Tax Service States and Self Service States, respectively offer full-service and self-service payroll. Payroll by Wave does not have a separate section for payroll reports. There’s only one (Payroll Wage & Tax Report), and it’s found in the list of more-standard accounting reports. Most payroll applications include at least a dozen payroll-related reports. There are currently no mobile apps for the site, either, and what you see if you log in through your phone’s browser isn’t optimized for mobile. Save the record and add any additional workers, then click Continue Setup, which takes you back to the main setup page, where the Manage Employees link opens your Employees page.

Customer Service and Support

It is easy to understand and easy to manage income and expenses. With Wave Payroll, your small business can manage payroll, employee deductions and taxes in an easy-to-use, affordable platform. You may set up payroll for both employees and independent contractors while giving them access to a portal with their information and tax forms, such as W-2s and 1099s. If you’re in one of the states that doesn’t yet support automatic payroll tax filings and payments (which is most of them), Wave’s price is at the low end of the sites we’ve reviewed. You’ll pay a $20 per month base price, plus $4 per month for each employee or contractor.

• Wave Payroll lets businesses manage payroll, employee deductions and taxes all in one platform.
• Wave Payroll offers a hybrid manual and automated payroll service.
• While Wave Payroll is a basic payroll solution without all the bells and whistles, OnPay is more robust.
• Multiple pay schedules are available—such as weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, and monthly.

Each link opens a screen whose directions are clear and understandable. As we noted earlier, though,the actual payroll run screens require some extra work. Should you need help along the way, chat, phone, and email help are available, as is a 30-day free trial.

Can you do payroll on Wave?

However, we do like the site’s user interface and navigation system. Links to the site’s features are displayed in a left vertical toolbar. Half are devoted to Wave’s bookkeeping tools (Sales, Purchases, and so on). Click the Payroll link, and a new menu of options appears (Run Payroll, Employees, Timesheets).

Businesses in states where tax services are available pay a base fee of $35 per month and an additional $6 per month for every employee or independent contractor. The easiest payroll software depends on what your company’s needs are. Some of the best payroll services that are also easy to use include OnPay, Gusto and ADP RUN. While Wave Payroll’s features are pretty basic, its employee status option is a great perk. This is particularly true if you have seasonal or occasional employees and independent contractors that you pay sporadically. You can change their status from active to inactive and only run payroll for them when you need to.

How Wave Payroll Compares With Top Alternatives

The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships. Wave Payroll doesn’t include HR features, and its onboarding features are limited to new hire self-guided onboarding. Simply add your new hire’s email address, and they’ll be sent an onboarding checklist to complete. There are currently 13 different reports available, and only two are specific to payroll. Click Approve Payroll when you’ve finished with all employees, and you’ll see your total payroll cost.

You can’t create records for them alongside employee records nor pay them within the site’s payroll tools if you’re issuing them checks. Rather, you’ll set them up as Vendors on the main Wave site, specifying that they’re 1099-MISC Contractors so you can create those forms every January. The Vendor link is accessible from the same navigation tool that contains links to payroll functions; it’s just not included as a function under Payroll. Overall, Payroll by Wave grants companies greater efficiency when it comes to calculating employee compensation.

Payroll by Wave: catch the wave of easy payroll administration!

In addition, employees can access their pay stubs securely through the platform’s portal along with tax forms that they may require for filing their own returns. If you’re on the Tax Service States plan but prefer to handle payroll tax payments and filings yourself, Wave Payroll will allow you to downgrade your plan. You still have to pay the $40 base fee per month (plus the per-employee costs) even if you opt not to get the provider’s automated tax filing services.

What is Payroll by Wave?

And, in the long run, an online payroll software provider like Wave can save you a lot of money by reducing human error so you can avoid tax penalties (and who doesn’t love saving money?). Wave Payroll supports paying both employees and independent contractors when you run payroll. The proper tax forms—1099 in the US and T4-A in Canada—are how to estimate normalized earnings also generated for you. Wave Payroll users must submit payroll at least four business days before their employees and contractors are due to be paid. Generally, the cut-off for on-time payroll payments is Tuesday at 3 PM EST. Contractors are not included in the employee payroll run unless you set them up for direct deposit.

Wave Payroll is a simple payroll solution for small businesses needing basic payroll features, such as direct deposit, deductions, check-printing, and much more. The software’s seamless integration with  Wave’s accounting makes Wave a great option for businesses looking for an all-in-one accounting and payroll solution. If you haven’t already entered all of this information, you can do so when you process the payroll. You click Run Payroll in the left vertical pane to get started. Graphical representations of calendar pages at the top of the screen tell you the start and end dates of the current payroll, as well as the actual payday.