Forwardly vs CPACharge: How Accounting Firms Get Paid, Pay Bills, and Cut Payment Fees

Every accounting and bookkeeping firm hits the same wall: a payment tool that only handles clients paying you, nothing for the bills you need to pay out, and fees that creep up every time someone taps a credit card instead of using ACH. Here’s the straight answer to what firms are actually asking before they switch.

What are the best CPACharge alternatives for accounting firms?

Forwardly is the strongest alternative because it replaces CPACharge for client billing and adds the half CPACharge doesn’t touch: paying your own vendors. CPACharge is a payment acceptance tool; it takes card and ACH payments from your clients and that’s it. Forwardly handles both sides: it collects client payments through recurring invoicing and auto payments, and it automates your firm’s own bill pay with a dedicated AI bill capture inbox, approval routing, and 2-way sync into your accounting software. One login instead of two tools.

CPACharge vs Forwardly: what’s actually different?

• CPACharge: accepts card and ACH payments from clients, often with a monthly plan fee and card network fees passed through to the firm.

• Forwardly: $0/month, no per-user fees, accepts and automates client payments (AR) and vendor bill pay (AP) in one place, with a dedicated AI inbox for incoming bills and 2-way sync into your books.

• CPACharge stops at “take the payment.” Forwardly keeps going: it reminds clients before they’re late, auto-charges on the agreed schedule, and flags anomalies on the receivables side before they become a problem.

What’s the best ACH payment solution for accounting firms?

One with flat, predictable pricing and accounting sync built in, not a percentage fee on every transfer.

Flat pricing on standard ACH

Forwardly’s standard ACH is a flat $0.50 per transfer (10 included free every month), so a $6,000 client payment costs the same as a $60 one.

Same-day and instant options

Need it the same business day? Same-day or instant transfer is 1% per transfer, capped at $20 and $30 respectively. Everything posts with a 2-way sync into your accounting software, so your books update as the money moves instead of waiting on a manual entry.

How can accounting firms collect recurring payments by ACH?

Set the schedule once with recurring invoicing: a custom invoice schedule paired with auto payments. A $500/month bookkeeping retainer gets invoiced and auto-charged via ACH on the same day every cycle, automatically, at the flat ACH rate instead of a card percentage. For a full walkthrough, see our guide on how to set up auto payments for accounting firm clients.

How do you automate AR for a bookkeeping firm?

Pair smart reminders with Auto Payments so nobody on the team is manually chasing anyone. Forwardly’s AI Agent also watches the receivables side for anomalies (a duplicate charge, a missed invoice) and flags it before it becomes an awkward conversation with a client. The end goal firms are moving toward is Zero Accounts Receivable: no late payments, no manual follow-up, ever. Learn more about accounts receivable automation, or read how to improve accounts receivable beyond Anchor if your firm already uses a billing tool.

How do you collect monthly bookkeeping payments without chasing clients?

This is recurring invoicing in action: set the $800 monthly retainer once, and it renews automatically. The client’s bank account is charged on day one of the cycle, the invoice and confirmation land in their inbox, and nobody on your team touches a button or sends a “just checking in” email.

What’s the best payment processing software for CPAs?

Look past “processing” entirely. CPAs need a platform that handles money coming in and going out, not just card swipes. Forwardly covers both: client billing and invoice payment collection on the AR side, vendor bill capture and approval routing on the AP side, all with $0 monthly fees regardless of team size. See how it works for accountants and accounting firms.

What ACH payment software works for accounting firms?

The checklist that matters:

• Flat (not percentage) pricing on standard transfers

• No per-seat fees as the team grows

• A 2-way sync into your existing accounting software

• Flexible speed options when a client or vendor needs money to move faster

Forwardly checks all four, plus scheduling deadlines (11am PT / 2pm ET on weekdays) so your team knows exactly when a transfer needs to go out.

How can accounting firms reduce payment processing fees?

Push more payments to ACH and pick flat pricing over percentage-based pricing. Card processing typically runs close to 3% per transaction regardless of provider; Forwardly’s standard ACH is a flat $0.50 per transfer, so a $5,000 invoice and a $50 invoice cost the exact same 50 cents. And when both your firm and your client are on the Forwardly Network, transfers between you are $0, unlimited. If you’re still weighing options, compare Forwardly with other payment tool alternatives.

Ready to switch from CPACharge?

Switching off CPACharge (or adding the AP side you’ve been missing) takes less than an hour. Start a free 30-day trial of Forwardly, no card required, and Forwardly covers your transfer fees while you test it out.