MitoBooks vs. Wave: when free accounting stops being enough

Wave earned its following by being free. For a new business with a few invoices and one bank account, that's hard to beat, and we'd tell plenty of first-year businesses to start there.

The trouble comes later. The business hires, buys inventory, opens a second location, or gets an accountant who needs more than an income statement. At that point, a free tool that doesn't track what you need costs more than a paid one that does.

Signs you've outgrown Wave

• You need to track profit by location, department or job. MitoBooks has classes, locations and projects, with profit and loss reports for each.
• You carry inventory. MitoBooks tracks quantity on hand, posts cost of goods sold when you sell, and reports inventory valuation.
• You issue purchase orders or set budgets. Both are built into MitoBooks, including a budget vs. actual report.
• You want to lock a period. A closing date keeps last year's numbers from changing after you've filed.
• Several people work in the books. MitoBooks roles control who can view, enter or approve.

What you pay

Wave's Starter plan is free, with some features on its paid plan. Check Wave's pricing page for current details.

MitoBooks is $30 per company per month with unlimited users and every feature included. There's no free plan, but there's also no tier to upgrade to later.

Where Wave is ahead

• Price. If your needs are simple, free is unbeatable.
• Bank connections and payroll are available through Wave's paid options. MitoBooks imports bank statement files and doesn't offer payroll yet.

Making the move

MitoBooks imports customers, vendors, products and your chart of accounts from CSV files, and you can enter opening balances with a single journal entry. The import guide covers both. Or open the demo company first and see whether the extra structure is worth it for your business.