Wave simplifies payroll for microbusiness owners with Check

Wave is the one-stop-shop for over 300,000 small businesses.

Company info

Industry

Accounting and Financial Management

Company Size

Private, 201-500 employees

Toronto, Canada

Meet Wave

Wave is a money management solution for small business owners, including accounting, invoicing and online payments. With a base of more than 300,000 active customers primarily representing microbusinesses of five or fewer employees, Wave serves customers that reflect the American economy. Though these microbusinesses are an underserved market, they account for the majority of U.S. businesses. Wave understands every small business is different and that they each define success on their own terms. That’s why Wave designs tools to help microbusiness owners attain their unique visions of what it means to thrive, while offering greater confidence, clarity, and ease.

300,000

Customers served

50

States

The opportunity: Simplify operations and expand payroll

Wave enables small business owners to focus on what they love without getting mired in the complexities of business management. Supporting customers with a payroll solution in addition to an existing suite of tools seemed like a natural next step. In early 2012, the company launched Wave Payroll in Canada before expanding to the US. While Wave Payroll was designed to simplify customers’ financial operations, the product introduced a unique set of challenges for Wave’s internal team: delivering a comprehensive payroll service across the 11,000+ jurisdictions throughout the US while maintaining top-tier expertise, compliance, service, and support. Introducing Wave Payroll in the U.S. created new layers of complexities and risks involving licenses, money remittance, and regulations.

In time, Wave recognized an opportunity to relieve their team of the complexities that come with payroll management. If they could replace their homegrown solution with an embedded payroll provider, they could refocus more people, time, and financial resources on solutions related to their core offerings. Wave would be able to focus on what they do best — the same freedom they afford small and micro business owners every day.

"As a customer-obsessed company, we’re excited for anything that can simplify the process of building and growing a business. Microbusiness owners—the creators, soloists, and freelancers — are powering our economy, but are often bogged down by the complexity of running their business. With better technology and simplified processes, like payroll, they can truly ‘find their thrive’ and grow their business."

Zahir Khoja

CEO

Wave

The solution: Secure the right embedded payroll partner

Wave launched a search for an embedded payroll partner. They looked for an experienced partner with deep domain expertise and an API-first approach. Their ideal partner would enable full tax service coverage in all 50 U.S. states, maintain compliance, and integrate seamlessly with Wave’s ecosystem of products. Above all, they prioritized finding a mission-driven partner with a passion for supporting small businesses. Wave found that partner in Check.

Results of our collaboration

Given the partnership with Check, Wave will soon be able to offer their customers a more robust payroll solution with ease. Wave can reap the benefits of reduced administrative burdens while their customers can enjoy an all-in-one, accurate payroll service with human-powered customer support, next-day direct deposits, and more. Together, Wave and Check can better serve small business owners across the U.S., crushing complexity while helping them “find their thrive.”