Wave's free tier is real — but it has zero Singapore compliance built in. No GST F5, no PayNow, no UEN, no IRAS-aware workflow. Every hour you spend manually doing what ArcPay automates, plus the risk of getting GST wrong, is the real price. ArcPay starts at S$79/month and gives you the full SG compliance stack out of the box.
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Real problems Singapore SME owners report every month
Wave has no GST F5 workpaper, no quarterly filing reminders, and no IRAS-aware exports. If you're GST-registered in Singapore, Wave doesn't help you stay compliant — your bookkeeper rebuilds the F5 from scratch every quarter. ArcPay tags GST at the line level and exports F5 directly.
Wave's payment processing is North America–only. Singapore customers can't pay you via PayNow through Wave. You're still emailing bank details, chasing references, reconciling by hand. ArcPay puts a PayNow QR on every invoice and matches the payment automatically.
Wave was acquired by H&R Block, a US tax company. Singapore features were never a roadmap priority. No UEN, no SG bank feeds, no IRAS reminders, no ACRA-aware vendor checks. ArcPay is the opposite shape: built around exactly those things.
Wave's invoicing is free, but payments, payroll, and the things you actually need cost extra. Once you also factor in the bookkeeper hours to do what Wave can't (GST F5, PayNow reconciliation, multi-level approval), the all-in monthly cost regularly exceeds an ArcPay subscription — without giving you compliance.
How ArcPay SG compares to Wave for Singapore SMEs
| Feature | ArcPay | Wave |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore GST F5 (auto-tagged + export) | ✅ Yes | ❌ Not supported |
| PayNow QR on every invoice | ✅ Native | ❌ US/Canada only |
| PayNow / FAST payouts to suppliers | ✅ Native | ❌ Not supported |
| UEN format + ACRA-aware checks | ✅ Yes | ❌ No UEN field |
| IRAS quarterly reminders | ✅ Automated | ❌ Not available |
| Singapore bank handling (DBS/OCBC/UOB) | ✅ Upload + auto-match | ❌ No SG bank support |
| AP: AI invoice extraction | ✅ Singapore-trained, default | ⚠️ Wave Receipts (US-tuned) |
| AP: Multi-level approval workflow | ✅ Built-in | ❌ Not available |
| AR: WhatsApp + email chase sequence | ✅ Multi-step + escalation (Scale) | ❌ Not available |
| GST F5 risk | Low — system-tagged | High — built by hand |
“Wave was free, but I was filing GST manually on a spreadsheet. One mistake and the IRAS penalty would have cost more than ArcPay for two years.”
Every feature in ArcPay was built with a Singapore SME owner in mind. PayNow payments, GST F5 automation, UEN verification, IRAS quarterly reminders, and AI trained on Singapore vendor invoices. Not a North American product retrofitted for Asia.
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Trusted by Singapore SMEs · PayNow native · GST ready · IRAS compliant