Here's a scenario most Ignition users know well. The proposal is out, the client has signed, the engagement is live. By every measure, the hard part is done. And yet, somehow, you're still waiting to actually get paid.
Ignition is excellent at what it's designed for: turning a sales conversation into a signed agreement and a raised invoice. What it isn't designed for is what happens next; the payment request, the follow-up, the reconciliation, and the inevitable "just checking in on that invoice" email that nobody enjoys sending. That's a separate job, and it's one most Ignition users are still doing manually.
Forwardly is built specifically for that second job. And when the two tools work together, the gap between signed proposal and settled cash shrinks from days to, in some cases, seconds.
Why the gap exists in the first place
When a client signs through Ignition, the platform raises an invoice in QuickBooks Online or Xero automatically. Clean, tidy, exactly what you'd want. But Ignition's built-in payment processing runs on standard ACH, which can take up to six business days to clear. For a client who has literally already committed, that's six days of money that's technically yours but practically unavailable.
Across North America, B2B invoices already average 43 days to payment, and roughly 38% of credit-based B2B sales are affected by overdue invoices, according to Atradius's 2025 Payment Practices Barometer. Signed or not, "committed" and "paid" are not the same thing until the money actually moves.
What Forwardly actually changes for Ignition users
Forwardly’ replaces the slow, manual payment leg of your Ignition workflow with AI-powered AR automation that handles collection, reminders, and reconciliation without anyone driving it manually.
Faster settlement
Once you send a payment request through Forwardly, the client receives a payment link by email and can pay via instant bank transfer, same-day ACH, or next-day ACH. Instant transfers settle in around 60 seconds. Compare that to the six-day window Ignition's native ACH can take, and the gap is hard to ignore once you've seen it.
Automated collection for retainer clients
For clients billed on a recurring schedule, Auto Payments authorization means Forwardly collects against each invoice as it raises, against whatever that invoice totals. Variable amounts, flat fees, anything in between; no new request, no new conversation, no chasing.
2-way sync that keeps your books current
Once payment clears, Forwardly's 2-way accounting sync automatically updates the invoice status across Forwardly and your accounting software simultaneously. Month-end reconciliation stops being a task someone has to sit down and do. Payments are matched and categorized without manual entry, on any side.
The Forwardly AI Agent catches what you'd otherwise miss
Across your receivables, the Forwardly AI Agent surfaces delays, duplicate invoices, anomalies, and irregular patterns before they turn into write-offs. Instead of finding out a payment went sideways three weeks after the fact, you get the context to act fast while there's still something to act on. For firms managing a large client roster through Ignition, this is the difference between proactive AR management and retroactive damage control.
How to actually optimize the Ignition proposal workflow
The sync between Ignition and Forwardly isn't automatic out of the box. Here's what it takes to set it up properly:
Disable Ignition's online payment option. Go to your payment settings in Ignition and turn off the toggle that lets clients pay invoices directly within the proposal tool. Forwardly's support article walks through the exact steps.
Connect QuickBooks Online or Xero to Forwardly. This is what lets Forwardly pick up invoices the moment Ignition raises them.
Set your payment terms and approval rules. Choose default speeds (instant, same-day, next-day, or standard ACH) and set up approval workflows if multiple people touch client accounts.
Send a payment request from Forwardly. Once an invoice is raised, go into Forwardly and send the client a payment request. The client receives a payment link by email and can pay via whichever method suits them, instant bank transfer, same-day ACH, next-day ACH, or standard ACH.
For retainer clients, set the recurring schedule inside Ignition. Ignition handles the recurring invoice cadence as part of the proposal itself, so each invoice raises automatically on schedule without anyone recreating it each month or quarter.
Layer Auto Payments on top for those same clients. Once a client authorizes Auto Payments in Forwardly, collection happens against whatever each invoice actually totals, flat retainer or variable amount, without anyone needing to send a new payment request each cycle.
Payments reconcile on both sides automatically. Once paid, the invoice updates to "paid" in Forwardly and your accounting software, no manual checking required.
If a client pushes back and wants to keep paying through the proposal app anyway, that's worth a quick conversation rather than letting it slide. It's an easy case to make: instant settlement in 60 seconds versus a payment that might not clear for nearly a week, often at a lower cost on your end either way.
What this looks like in practice
Say a client signs a new engagement letter in Ignition for a quarterly advisory retainer. Ignition raises the invoice in QuickBooks Online automatically, the way it always has. Because the payment toggle is off, Ignition's own payment option is no longer available to the client. Someone on your team sends a payment request from Forwardly; the client receives it by email, clicks the link, and pays via same-day ACH. The invoice is marked paid in both systems without anyone on your team touching a spreadsheet.
For the next quarter, because the recurring schedule is already set in Ignition and Auto Payments is authorized in Forwardly, the invoice raises on schedule and gets collected without anyone initiating either step manually.
Run that across a client list of fifty or a hundred accounts, and the time saved isn't really about any single invoice. It's about what your team isn't doing anymore: waiting on six-day ACH cycles, sending manual payment requests one by one, and reconciling everything by hand at month end. Forwardly's own data on this kind of workflow shows firms seeing collections move roughly five times faster and spending about 90% less time on manual AR tasks.
Where to go from here
If your Ignition workflow still ends with someone sending a follow-up email, the setup described above takes an afternoon to put in place, not a quarter. Turn off online payments inside Ignition, connect QuickBooks Online or Xero to Forwardly, set your payment terms, and turn on Auto Payments for anyone on a retainer. From there, Forwardly's AR automation handles the rest.
Forwardly also handles AP with the same level of automation. Vendor bills get captured by AI, coded automatically with near 100% accuracy, routed for approval, and paid without anyone manually keying in details or chasing down a signature. So once your receivables side is running on autopilot, your payables aren't far behind. One platform, both directions, no switching between tools to see where your cash stands.
Connect your accounting software to Forwardly and see what the full picture looks like when neither side of your books needs babysitting.
FAQ
Does Forwardly replace Ignition?
No. Forwardly doesn't create proposals or agreements; Ignition still handles that. Forwardly takes over once the invoice exists and focuses entirely on getting it paid faster.
Do I need to change a setting for this to work?
Yes. You need to disable the online payment option inside Ignition so clients are redirected to pay through Forwardly instead of through Ignition's built-in ACH. Forwardly's support article covers the exact steps.
What accounting software does this work with?
Forwardly syncs in real time with QuickBooks Online and Xero, which covers the invoices Ignition creates through either platform.
How much faster are payments with Forwardly compared to Ignition's built-in ACH?
Instant bank transfers settle in about 60 seconds, with same-day and next-day ACH also available. That's a meaningful jump from the up to six business days Ignition's ACH option can take.
Got an Ignition workflow that's still running on six-day ACH cycles and manual follow-ups? Connect your accounting software to Forwardly and see what collections look like when nobody has to chase a single invoice.
By:
Maninder Sidhu
Published
