Anchor does a lot of the heavy lifting for accounting firms. Proposals, agreements, automated billing, collections; it handles basic AR functionality without anyone chasing a client or manually generating an invoice. For firms that were previously running billing on email and spreadsheets, it's a genuine step change.
But there's a difference between getting paid in general, and getting paid on time in a way that scales. Anchor's standard ACH takes as many as eight business days to clear, and at $5 per standard ACH payment received, costs start adding up quickly as your client base grows. For firms looking to move money faster, get smarter visibility across their receivables, and an option to cover the AP side too, Forwardly fills the gaps Anchor wasn't built to address.
The two tools work well together. Both platforms do not charge any monthly subscription fees. Anchor handles the client-facing proposal experience it was built for. Forwardly handles the payment speed, automation, and intelligent monitoring that sit outside Anchor's lane.
Where the gaps show up
Anchor's automated billing works exactly as advertised. Clients connect a payment method when they sign, invoices go out on schedule, and payments collect without your team lifting a finger. The limitation isn't the automation; it's the speed, cost at scale, and scope of what that automation covers.
Standard ACH through Anchor clears in as many as eight business days, and at $5 flat per payment received, a firm with 80 clients paying monthly is spending $400 a month just to get paid. Card payments carry an additional 2.9% + $0.30 fee, paid by the client, which can create friction for clients who'd rather not absorb a fee just to pay faster.
Across North America, roughly 38% of B2B credit sales are affected by overdue invoices and 4% eventually get written off entirely, according to Atradius's 2025 Payment Practices Barometer. Automated billing helps, but settlement speed and cost efficiency matter too. A payment that takes the better part of two weeks to clear is a meaningful gap in your working capital, regardless of how automated the billing was. Money sits with Anchor while you wait. Payroll services provider ADP earned more than $1.4 billion in interest from clients' funds last year alone. That's one reason some providers have an incentive to hold your funds instead of moving them to your account as quickly as possible. It's a cost that rarely gets discussed, but delayed access to your cash can quietly cost businesses tens of thousands of dollars each year in lost interest, reduced cash flow, and missed opportunities.
And then there's the AP side. Anchor doesn't touch vendor bills, outbound payments, or approval workflows. Those still need a separate tool or a manual process running quietly alongside everything Anchor automates on the AR side.
What Forwardly adds on top of Anchor
Payments that settle in seconds, not days
Forwardly adds instant bank transfer alongside same-day ACH, next-day ACH, and standard ACH. Instant transfers settle in around 60 seconds, including on weekends and holidays. Clients who want to pay quickly can do it via bank transfer without absorbing a card processing fee. For the firm, cash that was previously available up to eight business days later is now available the same moment a client pays.
For a firm running 50 or 100 recurring client engagements, cutting that settlement window down and simplifying per-transaction pricing is a meaningful difference in how predictable your cash position actually is.
2-way sync that keeps your books current
Forwardly's 2-way accounting sync updates invoices, bills, and payments in real time across your accounting software the moment a transaction clears. No manual reconciliation at month-end, no double entry, no cross-referencing platforms to confirm a payment landed. Everything stays current with touchless reconciliation.
The Forwardly Business Network removes friction between platforms
When clients or vendors are running different accounting software, syncing information manually becomes a low-grade constant headache. The Forwardly Business Network connects businesses across different accounting platforms so invoices and bills sync automatically between connected parties. Customer and vendor information stays current without anyone keying in the same data twice. It simply means that an invoice created in QuickBooks or Xero is automatically delivered as a bill in your customer's accounting system, eliminating manual data entry, OCR, and invoice capture altogether.
The Forwardly AI Agent catches problems before they become expensive
Forwardly's AI Agent monitors your receivables and surfaces delays, duplicate invoices, anomalies, and irregular patterns early. Instead of finding out something went wrong three weeks after the fact, you get the context to act while there's still something to do about it. For firms managing dozens of recurring client engagements, that early visibility keeps the AR picture accurate all month, not just when someone has time to check it.
AP automation on the same platform
Once Forwardly is connected, outbound payments run with the same level of automation as inbound. Forwardly's AI captures vendor bill details, codes transactions automatically, and routes them through approval workflows before syncing with your accounting software. Money in and money out, one dashboard, no switching between tools to understand where your cash stands.
Anchor handles what clients owe you. Forwardly handles both sides.
What this looks like for a firm already using Anchor
An accounting firm signs a new client through Anchor. The agreement goes out, the client connects their payment method, and the recurring invoice schedule runs exactly as it always has. The only difference: the client pays through Forwardly instead of Anchor, choosing instant transfer instead of waiting up to eight business days.
Each month, whenever an invoice is generated in Anchor and synced to QuickBooks or Xero. Forwardly then automatically collects the payment, settles the transaction, and updates the invoice status in your accounting system, with no manual work required. The AI Agent monitors receivables in the background and flags anything that looks off.
Anchor handles the client-facing proposal and billing creation experience it was built for. Forwardly handles the payment speed, AP automation, and intelligent monitoring that sit outside Anchor's lane. Together they cover the full cycle without leaving gaps.
Setting it up
Getting the two platforms working together doesn't require a migration, just a few connections. Start by disabling the online payment option inside Anchor's payment settings; this is what redirects clients to pay through Forwardly instead. And then connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero account to Forwardly so invoices sync in real time the moment they get created in their accounting system, then set your default payment speeds; instant, same-day, next-day, or standard ACH , depending on how you would like your clients to pay. From there, send payment requests directly from Forwardly and clients receive a payment link by email to complete payment.
For retainer clients, turn on Auto Payments so Forwardly automatically collects payment for each invoice as it is issued, whatever the amount. . And while you're in there, connect your vendor bill inbox so Forwardly's AI starts capturing, coding, and routing outbound payments through the same platform. The Anchor workflow stays exactly as it is; you're just adding a faster, more complete payment layer on top of it.
Common questions
Does Forwardly replace Anchor entirely?
No. Anchor can still own proposals, agreements, and automated invoice creation. Forwardly takes over once the invoice exists in the accounting system, handling payment collection, speed, and reconciliation from that point forward.
Is the payment redirect automatic, or do I have to set it up?
You have to set it up manually first. Disable the online payment option inside Anchor's payment settings so clients can no longer pay through Anchor, then send payment requests from Forwardly for each invoice. To make collection fully automatic going forward, request Auto Payments authorization from the client once; Forwardly handles collection on every subsequent invoice without anyone initiating it each time.
What's the actual gap between Anchor and Forwardly for AR?
Mostly everything that happens after the invoice is raised. Anchor doesn't offer instant or real-time payments, so you're stuck on whatever standard processing time applies. There's no automatic reconciliation either, which means someone's still matching payments to invoices by hand. Forwardly closes both gaps, plus a few others: full audit trails on every payment, the ability to collect from multiple clients at once instead of one at a time, and support for ERP platforms like Sage Intacct and NetSuite if you ever outgrow QuickBooks Online.
Does this work for retainer clients specifically?
Yes, that's where it pays off most. Anchor handles the recurring invoice schedule, Auto Payments handles the collection side in Forwardly, and the two work together even if the amount changes month to month.
What does the Forwardly AI Agent do for AR?
It monitors your receivables and surfaces delays, duplicate invoices, anomalies, and irregular patterns early so your team can act before problems escalate rather than finding out after the fact.
What accounting software does Forwardly sync with?
Forwardly syncs with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage Intacct, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, FreshBooks, and Zoho Books. For the Anchor workflow specifically, QuickBooks Online and Xero are the two platforms Anchor raises invoices through, but Forwardly's sync coverage goes well beyond that as your firm scales.
Worth checking: does your Anchor setup still rely on someone remembering to follow up? See what changes once Forwardly's connected.
By:
Maninder Sidhu
Published
