ScanForTax vs Wave
Wave is great for invoicing, and receipt capture is a paid extra. See how ScanForTax's purpose-built receipt scanner compares for Canadian professionals.
The bottom line
VerdictWave is a solid accounting tool with a free Starter plan, and its paid receipt capture reads receipts with OCR and turns them into bookkeeping records. ScanForTax is purpose-built for Canadian receipt management: AI-powered OCR plus automatic CRA T2125 categorization and line-item extraction — the features that save you time at tax season.
Feature-by-feature comparison
See exactly where each tool excels — and where it falls short.
| ScanForTax | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt Scanning | ||
| AI-powered OCR | Paid plans | |
| Line-item extraction | Not listed | |
| Confidence scoring | Not listed | |
| Bulk scan processing | Up to 10 at once | |
| Mobile camera scan | ||
| Email receipt forwarding | ||
| CRA Tax Compliance | ||
| Auto T2125 categorization | ||
| 21 CRA line items | ||
| GST/HST/PST split | Manual | |
| Per-item categorization | Not listed | |
| CRA-compliant 6-year retention | Not listed | |
| Reports & Export | ||
| CSV export | ||
| Excel export | Not listed | |
| QuickBooks IIF export | ||
| Year-end tax summary | ||
| Monthly category reports | ||
| Dashboard & charts | ||
| Accounting Features | ||
| Invoicing | ||
| Payroll | Paid add-on | |
| Bank connections | Pro plan | |
| Double-entry bookkeeping | ||
| Income tracking | ||
Receipt Scanning
AI-powered OCR
ScanForTax
Wave
Paid plansLine-item extraction
ScanForTax
Wave
Not listedConfidence scoring
ScanForTax
Wave
Not listedBulk scan processing
ScanForTax
Wave
Up to 10 at onceMobile camera scan
ScanForTax
Wave
Email receipt forwarding
ScanForTax
Wave
CRA Tax Compliance
Auto T2125 categorization
ScanForTax
Wave
21 CRA line items
ScanForTax
Wave
GST/HST/PST split
ScanForTax
Wave
ManualPer-item categorization
ScanForTax
Wave
Not listedCRA-compliant 6-year retention
ScanForTax
Wave
Not listedReports & Export
CSV export
ScanForTax
Wave
Excel export
ScanForTax
Wave
Not listedQuickBooks IIF export
ScanForTax
Wave
Year-end tax summary
ScanForTax
Wave
Monthly category reports
ScanForTax
Wave
Dashboard & charts
ScanForTax
Wave
Accounting Features
Invoicing
ScanForTax
Wave
Payroll
ScanForTax
Wave
Paid add-onBank connections
ScanForTax
Wave
Pro planDouble-entry bookkeeping
ScanForTax
Wave
Income tracking
ScanForTax
Wave
Why Canadian professionals choose ScanForTax
While Wave serves a global market, ScanForTax is purpose-built for Canadian tax rules and CRA compliance.
CRA T2125 Auto-Mapping
Every receipt auto-categorizes to the correct CRA T2125 line item — all 21 expense categories, ready for filing.
GST/HST/PST Split
Automatically separates recoverable GST/HST from non-recoverable PST — critical for ITC claims that other tools miss.
AI Line-Item Extraction
A Costco receipt with 20 items gets each one categorized separately — office supplies, cleaning, food — to the right T2125 line.
Tax-Ready Export
Export year-end summaries to QuickBooks IIF, Excel, or CSV — formatted and categorized, ready for your accountant or self-filing.
Honest comparison
Every tool has strengths. Here's where each one excels.
Where ScanForTax wins
AI receipt scanning with line-item extraction
ScanForTax uses AI-powered OCR to extract every line item, tax amount, and merchant detail. Wave's receipt OCR turns each receipt into a bookkeeping record, but its receipt pages don't describe line-item extraction.
Automatic CRA T2125 categorization
Every receipt is automatically sorted into the correct T2125 expense line. Wave's public pages don't mention CRA T2125 categorization.
QuickBooks IIF export
Export directly to QuickBooks format. Wave's public pages list CSV and PDF report exports but no IIF export.
Per-item categorization
A Costco receipt with office supplies, cleaning products, and snacks gets each item categorized separately — Wave's receipt pages don't describe per-item categorization.
Where Wave wins
Full accounting suite
Wave includes invoicing and double-entry bookkeeping, with bank connections on its Pro plan and payroll as a paid add-on — features ScanForTax doesn't offer (by design).
Free tier with more features
Wave's free Starter plan includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills, and bookkeeping records (receipt capture costs extra). ScanForTax's free tier focuses on receipt scanning with a 15-scan monthly limit.
Email receipt forwarding
On its paid receipt plans, Wave lets you forward email receipts to your Wave email address. ScanForTax currently requires camera scan or photo upload.
What is Wave?
Wave is an accounting and invoicing platform with a free Starter plan. It offers bookkeeping, invoicing and paid payroll, and its receipt capture (with OCR) comes with the paid Pro plan or a separate Receipts plan. Its public pages don't mention CRA T2125 categorization.
Switching from Wave
Get up and running with ScanForTax in minutes.
Export your data from Wave as CSV (Reports → choose a report → export as CSV)
Sign up for ScanForTax and scan your receipts going forward
Use ScanForTax's AI scanner to re-scan any original receipts you still have
Your CRA-categorized data exports cleanly to QuickBooks, Excel, or CSV
Frequently asked questions
Can I use ScanForTax and Wave together?
Is Wave really free?
Does Wave do automatic CRA categorization?
Which is better for a sole proprietor filing T2125?
Can ScanForTax replace Wave entirely?
Other comparisons
Stop losing deductions.
Scan receipts year-round and your T2125 categories and GST/HST totals are ready at tax time. First 15 scans free, no credit card required.