What resellers need from their software, from sources outside Wave and outside Nexa:
Resellers who buy stock without paying sales tax need to create and file resale certificates that meet the state's rules. In California, a valid certificate must show the buyer's business name and address, the seller's permit number (or why none is required), a description of the property, the phrase "for resale", and a signature. Words like "exempt" or "nontaxable" alone do not qualify. (cdtfa.ca.gov)
Misusing a resale certificate carries penalties that the software should help prevent. In California, a buyer who knowingly gives a resale certificate for items they will not resell owes the tax plus interest, and the seller's permit may be revoked. A penalty of 10 percent of the tax or $500, whichever is greater, applies per purchase made for personal gain or to evade tax. Items bought tax-free and later kept for personal use must be tracked so the tax can be paid. (cdtfa.ca.gov)
Resellers who sell on online marketplaces need to separate sales where the marketplace collected sales tax from sales made through other channels. Texas says a marketplace seller is not responsible for collecting and remitting tax on marketplace sales if the provider has certified it assumes those duties. If no certification exists, the seller should keep collecting. Sellers must keep records of marketplace sales for at least four years. (comptroller.texas.gov)
Resellers need to keep proof that each marketplace is collecting tax on their behalf, and the marketplace's sales reports. Washington says sellers do not need to collect retail sales tax if they have proof the facilitator is doing so. Facilitators must send sellers monthly gross sales information within 15 days of month end. Sellers still owe B&O tax and other taxes if they meet a registration threshold. (dor.wa.gov)
Resellers must track inventory and cost of goods sold. IRS Publication 334 says that where inventories are necessary to show income, a business must keep an inventory and use an accrual method for purchases and sales of merchandise. It also requires a method for identifying and a method for valuing inventory items, with inventory valued at the start and end of each tax year to work out cost of goods sold. Small business taxpayers with average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less over the 3 prior tax years (indexed for inflation) can choose not to keep an inventory. (irs.gov)
Wave covers the general bookkeeping side of reselling well. The free Starter plan has unlimited invoices and bookkeeping records. Pro at $19 a month adds automatic bank transaction import and categorizing, and receipt capture is included. Wave's feature list shows nothing for the core reseller jobs, though. It has no resale certificate creation or tracking, no separation of marketplace-collected sales tax from other channels, no storage of marketplace sales reports, and no inventory or cost-of-goods-sold tracking. A reseller on Wave would handle those in spreadsheets or by hand.
Nexa covers more of the paperwork around the edges. It has sales tax tracking, expenses, bank reconciliation, profit and loss, a balance sheet, purchase orders, receipt scanning, and a simple stock count per product. It does not do full inventory management: no valuation, no reorder points, no multi-location stock. Valuation is what the IRS inventory and cost-of-goods-sold rules call for. It also has no resale certificate tool, no marketplace tax separation, and no sync or import with QuickBooks or Xero. If you use its automated emails, they send only while Nexa is open on one of your devices. Nexa is software you run yourself, with no hosted support desk.
Over three years Wave Pro is $228 a year, or $684. Nexa is $279 once, or 3 payments of $99, and runs on one device. Adding optional Cloud Sync at $4.99 a month brings the three-year total to $458.64. Switching saves money, but it doesn't close the gap that matters for this trade. A reseller already on Wave should stay put until they pick up a tool that handles inventory valuation, resale certificates and marketplace tax records. A reseller who needs only light bookkeeping and a basic stock count could reasonably choose Nexa on cost.
Our read for resellers: Neither tool covers a reseller's core needs of inventory valuation, resale certificates and marketplace tax records, so look for dedicated inventory and sales-tax compliance software.
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Bottom Line
Wave costs resellers $228/year at today's list price. Nexa is $279 once for invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking and accounting in one suite — so after 14.7 months it has cost less than Wave, and you own it after that. What it is not: hosted-for-you software with a support desk and a roadmap you can lobby. That is the trade, and the rest of this page is the detail behind it.
Can it pay for itself?
Nexa is $279 once, about $23 a month over its first year. Its Drain Guard reads your expenses (from a linked bank, an imported statement, or ones you type in), finds the charges that repeat, and adds them up by the month. Keep or Cut then walks you through them one at a time. Cancel $23 a month of charges you'd forgotten about and Nexa has paid for itself inside the first year, before you count the Wave bill you'd stop paying.
It depends on what you find and what you cancel, so we don't promise a number. In our demo data, Drain Guard finds 5 subscriptions adding up to $110.13 a month. That is sample data, not a customer's.
The verdict for resellers: Neither Wave nor Nexa is the main system for this work; start with software built for it. Nexa only makes sense beside it, at $279 once against $684 for Wave over three years.
Choose Nexa if:
You're done paying monthly forever
You're a solo operator or small team (1-5)
You need financial suite, invoicing and time tracker in one tool
You're tired of price increases
You want to own your tools like you own your equipment
Choose Wave if:
You have a large team (10+) needing enterprise features
You're deeply invested in Wave's specific workflow
You need a feature Nexa doesn't have yet
Sound Familiar?
My inventory comes from everywhere: thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, clearance racks and liquidation lots. Sourcing is the skill; I'm checking sold listings on my phone in the aisle, because the only price that matters is what something has actually sold for, not what people are asking. Back home, every item gets inspected, cleaned or repaired, measured, and photographed on a plain background, several angles plus flaws. Listing is the grind: a title with the words buyers search, condition notes that prevent returns, and the right price for a fast sale or a patient one. I list the same stock across several marketplaces and have to delist it everywhere the moment it sells, or I'll oversell and take a hit on my seller rating. Every morning I'm packing yesterday's sales and printing labels, and the post office run is part of the routine. The numbers I watch are cost per item, days to sell, fees and shipping, because a $40 sale can net me $12. Dead stock that won't move gets bundled, discounted or donated so it stops eating shelf space.
Tracking cost basis across hundreds of items
Platform fee reconciliation
Multi-channel inventory
Tax complexity with varying state rules
The books, invoicing and time tracking are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot into something you buy once. The sections below price both routes honestly.
None of that is a software problem you can buy your way out of in one click — it is why the tool you pick matters more than what it costs. Wave solves some of it. So does Nexa. The difference is what you are left holding in three years.
What Wave Actually Costs Resellers
Today's list price is $19/month — $228 a year, from Wave's own pricing page. Every figure below is that price, multiplied. Nothing is projected.
Three years at today's price
Year 1$228
Year 2$228
Year 3$228
Three years of Wave$684
Nexa: $279 once (or 3 × $99). Over the same three years, that is $405 less.
If Wave raises its price, the three-year cost goes up; if it cuts it, the cost comes down. We don't guess which. Add-ons, extra seats and card-processing fees are not included, on either side.
Feature-by-Feature
Feature
Wave
Nexa
Invoicing
✓
✓
Scheduling
✗
✓
CRM
✗
✓
Time Tracking
✗
✓
Full Accounting
✓
✓ (SIMPL)
Task Management
✗
✓
Works offline
✗
✓
Price
$19/mo
$279 once or 3 × $99
3-Year Total
$684
$279
You own it?
No — stop paying, lose access
Yes — forever
✓ and ✗ for Wave come from its own published feature list. — means the feature isn't in that list, which is not the same as Wave lacking it: check with them. Three years is at today's price.
What "$279 Once" Does And Doesn't Buy
It buys the software, not a service contract. You install Nexa and it runs on your machine. There is no seat count, and nothing stops working if you stop paying, because there is nothing to stop paying.
Wave's monthly fee is not only rent. It pays for their hosting, their support desk, and their engineers shipping changes every week. If those matter to how you work, that is a real thing you would be giving up.
Cross-device sync is the one optional extra — $4.99/month if you want your data mirrored between machines. Skip it and Nexa still works; you just sync manually.
The honest risk of buying once: you are betting on us still being here to improve it. The honest risk of renting: the price is theirs to raise, and the graveyard section below is a record of tools that did exactly that.
What Wave Does Better
Straight from Wave's own feature set. If one of these is the reason you pay them, that reason does not disappear because Nexa is cheaper.
Free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping
Bank transaction import on Pro
Receipt capture
Late payment reminders
Simple enough to run without an accountant
A free plan to start on (with limits), so you can use Wave before paying anything.
Wave is the better call if you need free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping specifically, or if your team is large enough that per-seat pricing still beats buying software outright.
What Wave Is Built For
Wave says it is built for small business owners and solopreneurs at every stage, not accountants. Its page names freelancers, contractors and consultants. (waveapps.com)
The Starter plan costs $0 and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. (waveapps.com)
Pro costs $19 USD a month or $190 USD a year. It adds automatic bank transaction import (for banks Plaid supports), automatic merging and categorizing of bank transactions, and automated late-payment reminders at 3, 7 and 14 days after the due date. (waveapps.com)
Pro lets you put your logo and brand colors on invoices, remove Wave branding from footers, and attach files to invoices and estimates. It also adds user roles (admin, editor, viewer), and the payroll manager and Block Advisors tax pro roles are free. (waveapps.com)
Online card payments on Starter cost 2.9% + $0.60 (Amex 3.4% + $0.60). On Pro the first 10 transactions each month are 2.9% + $0, then 2.9% + $0.60. (waveapps.com)
Wave Advisors starts at $149 a month and includes a dedicated bookkeeper and monthly financial statements. Payroll is an add-on starting at $25 a month in one region and $40 in the other; the page does not say which price applies where. (waveapps.com)
Wave lists a mobile app for invoices, expenses and receipts, and 256-bit SSL encryption with PCI-DSS Level 1 certification. Live chat and email support runs Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 4:45 PM Eastern, and is tied to optional add-ons. (waveapps.com)
What people outside Wave and outside Nexa say:
NerdWallet lists a free plan and straightforward invoicing as pros. Its cons are no built-in third-party integrations, no advanced features such as mileage, time tracking or inventory, no live support unless you pay, and no audit trails. (nerdwallet.com)
NerdWallet says "An overwhelming number of Wave reviewers criticize its customer support." It adds that the paid plan "doesn't address Wave users' biggest complaint: customer service." (nerdwallet.com)
Tech.co praises the free tier, affordable add-ons and the way Wave "does the basics well." It concludes "Wave is definitely worth it" for side businesses that don't need specialist accounting features. (tech.co)
Tech.co criticizes Wave for lacking advanced features such as budgeting, cash flow projections, stock handling and project accounting, and for struggling to scale with growing businesses. It also says phone and live chat support come at a premium. (tech.co)
Read on each linked page in October 2026. Check them again before you decide; vendors change plans often.
Where business tools fit — for a reseller
Software doesn't do the actual work — it automates the business around it. And that part is the same for every reseller: find the work, manage it, bill for it, get paid. Each step has a tool — and the right single tool runs the whole loop, so the handoffs are automatic and you get back to the actual work. Tap a step to see what gets automated.
1
Find the work
Win the job
↓
A lead, a call, a referral — and a quote or estimate that turns it into a booked job.
CRM / contacts
Estimates & proposals
Booking / scheduling
then ↓
2
Manage the work
Do the job
↓
The part you actually get paid for — with the time, materials, add-ons, and tasks tracked as you go, not guessed at later.
Job / project tracking
Time tracking
Expenses, materials & add-ons
then ↓
3
Bill for it
Send the bill
↓
The work becomes the invoice — the hours, the add-ons, the materials, the deposit credited — totaled and sent, instead of re-typed at 9pm.
Invoicing
Deposits & credits
then ↓
4
Get paid
Collect payment
↓
Paid by card or link, the deposit credited, and what's overdue chased — without you doing it by hand.
Card / online payments
Automatic reminders
You can stitch four separate subscriptions across these four steps, or run one tool that does the whole flow so a booking becomes a job becomes an invoice becomes a payment without re-typing. Either way the goal is the same: less time on the business of the business, more on the actual work. (Nexa is built to be the one — but the honest options for each step are above and below.)
Calculate Your Full Stack
Wave plus whatever else you're paying for:
Email yourself this comparison?
Switching from Wave
1
Export your data — Go to Settings → Data Export. Download customers, invoices, transactions, and accounts.
2
Set up Nexa — 15-minute setup. Import your client list and bank transactions from CSV.
3
Parallel run — Run both for 1-2 weeks. Re-create recurring invoices in Nexa and check your bank imports.
4
Cancel Wave — Cancel paid features. Your free account data stays accessible for records.
✓ 30-day money-back guarantee. Zero risk.
What This Means for Resellers
The median reseller earns $38,000/year. At $228/year, Wave is a recurring slice of that — paid again every year, whether the year was good or not. Owning the same jobs outright is $279 once, and the slice stops.
Nexa is $279 once. Invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, accounting — all connected, built for resellers. You own it like you own your Smartphone with camera.
Is Nexa actually right for a reseller?
An honest fit check — because the wrong tool is worse than no tool.
Right for you if
You run solo or a small team — like the 150,000 resellers in the US who do, and you wear every hat.
You're tired of paying every month for 0 and a pile of apps that don't talk to each other.
You want invoicing, scheduling, and client tracking in one place — not scattered across five apps.
You'd rather own your software once, the way you own your Smartphone with camera.
Look elsewhere if
You have a large team that needs enterprise seats, granular roles, and dedicated admin staff — Nexa is built for solo and small operators (1–5), and a bigger platform will serve you better.
You need full payroll for a large team or deep, SKU-level inventory — that's not what Nexa is for.
You're genuinely happy paying monthly and don't mind stitching tools together. No tool fixes a workflow you already like.
The honest fit: if you're a solo or small resellers business that owns its tools and is sick of renting software, Nexa replaces your whole stack for $279 once. If you're scaling into a large team with dedicated admin staff, a bigger platform may fit better — and we'd rather tell you that now than sell you the wrong thing.
The books, invoicing and time tracking are the pieces of that day. Some tools rent you each piece separately. A few — Nexa among them — bundle the lot into something you buy once. The sections below price both routes honestly.
What resellers actually deal with
Tracking cost basis across hundreds of items
Platform fee reconciliation
Multi-channel inventory
Tax complexity with varying state rules
A day in the life of a reseller
My inventory comes from everywhere: thrift stores, estate sales, garage sales, clearance racks and liquidation lots. Sourcing is the skill; I'm checking sold listings on my phone in the aisle, because the only price that matters is what something has actually sold for, not what people are asking. Back home, every item gets inspected, cleaned or repaired, measured, and photographed on a plain background, several angles plus flaws. Listing is the grind: a title with the words buyers search, condition notes that prevent returns, and the right price for a fast sale or a patient one. I list the same stock across several marketplaces and have to delist it everywhere the moment it sells, or I'll oversell and take a hit on my seller rating. Every morning I'm packing yesterday's sales and printing labels, and the post office run is part of the routine. The numbers I watch are cost per item, days to sell, fees and shipping, because a $40 sale can net me $12. Dead stock that won't move gets bundled, discounted or donated so it stops eating shelf space.
The tools a working reseller actually owns
Smartphone with camera
Shipping supplies
Storage space
Scale
Printer
Why resellers leave the big platforms
0: quickbooks
Local resellers on Nexa
Real resellers near you who run their business on Nexa — book directly, no platform fee.
Are you a reseller? Post your business and get found in your area — $2.99 one-time.
Or browse every reseller on Nexa →
The kit a working reseller owns
The tools of the trade — each a one-time buy that earns its keep for years.
Smartphone with camera
Shipping supplies
Storage space
Scale
Printer
You paid for these once because good tools last. That's the bar your software should clear too — priced like a tool you own, $279 once, not a subscription that costs more than your kit every year.
How To Read This Page
We make Nexa. It is one of the two options compared here, so read this with that in mind. We have tried to make Wave's case the way we would want ours made — their strengths above are their own published feature list, not our summary of it.
The prices are Wave's published list prices, checked on the date shown in the sources below. Plans change; check theirs before you decide.
No customer quotes appear on this page because we do not have any from resellers we can verify. For user testimony, read the independent reviews — Wave on G2 and on Capterra — where the reviewers are not selling you anything.
Check the price yourself:Wave's own pricing page is the source for every figure above, read on the date shown in the sources section below.
We are not neutral about subscriptions, and that is the argument, not a hidden assumption: software you pay for once is cheaper over three years than software you rent, unless you need something only the rented one does.
How we put this guide together
We build a reseller's guide the same way every time, and we'd rather you trust it than take it on faith. Nexa is our product, so the test we hold ourselves to is simple: a tool only "wins" a job here when it genuinely does that job better for a reseller — and where something free, open-source, or buy-once does it better, we say so and link you to it. Where Nexa falls short (payroll is the honest example), we name the alternative outright.
Where the numbers come from
Vendor pricingQuickBooks $456/yr, Wave $228/yr, FreshBooks $516/yr, Square — taken from each company's published plans, last verified September 2026. Pricing moves; each name above links straight to that vendor’s own pricing page so you can confirm it before you decide.
Income contextThe $38,000 median we cite for the typical reseller is occupational median annual pay from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics), compiled April 2026. We use it only to show software spend as a share of real income — your own numbers will differ.
The field's own bodiesWe anchor what resellers actually need to the people who set the standards — NRF. We don't speak for them; we point you to them so you can weigh this guide against the profession's own.
Three-year mathMulti-year totals are today's list price multiplied by the number of years. No price rise is projected, so the figure can be checked against the vendor's own pricing page; if they raise it, the real cost is higher.
Found something out of date? Prices change and we don't catch every move the day it happens. This guide is published and maintained by the Nexa team; if a figure here is wrong, tell us and we'll fix it — getting it right matters more to us than the sale.
FAQ
Is Nexa really a Wave replacement?
For solo resellers and small teams, yes. invoicing, scheduling, CRM, time tracking, task management, and full accounting — all for $279 once. Wave may be better if you have a large team (10+) or need enterprise-specific features.
What does Wave do that Nexa doesn't?
Wave has features like Free plan covering unlimited invoices and bookkeeping and Bank transaction import on Pro that some businesses rely on. For most solo resellers, these aren't dealbreakers.
How fast does Nexa pay for itself?
At $19/month, Nexa pays for itself in 14.7 months. After that: $228 saved every year.
Can I pay in installments?
Yes. Nexa is $279 as a one-time payment, or 3 payments of $99 ($297 total). Either way it's a one-time purchase — no subscription, no recurring fees ever.