Budget accounting software for US freelance invoicing and tax

For a U.S. freelancer with irregular income, I’d pick Wave if keeping the monthly cost as close to zero as possible is the priority.

🥇 My recommendation: Wave

Wave's $0 Starter plan gives you unlimited invoices, estimates, bills and bookkeeping records, making it particularly attractive when your income fluctuates—you aren't paying a subscription during slow months.www.waveapps.com

The catch is that automatic bank imports, transaction categorization and receipt/expense automation are in the $19/month Pro plan, rather than the free tier.www.waveapps.com

So I'd use:

• $0 Wave Starter if you have relatively few expenses and don't mind entering transactions yourself.
• $19/mo Wave Pro if you want your bank activity and expenses automatically organized.
• QuickBooks Solopreneur at $20/mo if you're willing to spend a little more for stronger self-employed tax features.

When QuickBooks is worth the extra $20/month

QuickBooks Solopreneur is specifically designed around one-person businesses and Schedule C filing. It can categorize business/personal transactions, capture receipts, track mileage, and organize income and expenses. Its current free tier is quite restricted—only two invoices/month, two receipts/month and five mileage trips/month—while the $20 Lite tier removes those limits.quickbooks.intuit.com

That's a meaningful advantage if you're a freelancer who drives for work or has lots of deductible expenses.

Bottom line

For your exact scenario: Wave Starter wins. It's the easiest way to get professional invoicing and basic books without committing to another monthly bill when freelance income is unpredictable.

Choose QuickBooks Solopreneur instead if "tax tracking" means you want substantially more automation around deductions, receipts and mileage rather than simply keeping clean income/expense records.

One important distinction: these tools help organize information for your taxes; they don't replace a CPA or guarantee that you're calculating quarterly estimated taxes correctly.

Wave pricing · QuickBooks Solopreneur · FreshBooks 