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Ignition
What Is Ignition?
Ignition is the leading revenue generation platform for accounting and professional services businesses to spark greater efficiency and profitability.
Ignition automates and optimizes proposals, billing, payments and workflows in a single platform that fits seamlessly into existing technology stacks.
With a vision to transform how professional services and their clients do business together, Ignition empowers 7,000+ businesses to reach their full revenue potential.
To date, Ignition customers have engaged over 1.5 million clients and generated US $6.6b in revenue via the platform.
Ignition’s 180–strong global workforce spans Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines, US and the UK.
Who Uses Ignition?
Accountants, Bookkeepers and Professional Services businesses.
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Ignition
Reviews of Ignition
Practice Ignition is makes service proposals with complex billing arrangements simple and easy.
Pros:
The three main things I like the most about Practice Ignition are: 1. It's ability to handle complex billing arrangements in a proposal. It is the only platform I have come across that can easily manage up front fees, with recurring billing for a fixed period, and display this easily on a proposal. 2. I love the fact that you can set the proposal to require a credit card or bank details before it is accepted. Practice Ignition then collects the funds for you. One of the most difficult parts of running a service business is getting paid, but with Practice Ignition it takes that all away because the upfront fee is billed on acceptance, then the recurring billable amount is billed as set out in the proposal. It couldn't be easier. 3. The integration Practice Ignition has with Xero and WorkflowMax (XPM) is incredible. Once a proposal is accepted, it creates the job in WorkflowMax based on the job templates you have setup in WorkflowMax, and creates the invoices in Xero. It literally takes all the administration out of running a professional services company.
Cons:
There are a few features I would like to see Practice Ignition develop, but after speaking with them they are going to push it right up the priority list as they agree. These features are: 1. The ability to create a recurring rate on recurring jobs 2. The ability to set a due date on a job - at the moment this is picked up from the contract end date. My understanding is this will be sorted soon, so by the time you read this it may be sorted!
Alternatives Considered:
Slow to disburse payments, must check billings are processed, professional interface
Comments: My biggest pain point is why they hold onto your money for so long before releasing it. If not for the good reviews, I would be nervous to use them for payments. I asked a customer to provide a payment via ACH so that I can get it quickly, it was debited from their account the day of and I have yet to receive my money on day 8 (business day 6). The software is indicating an estimated disbursement on day 9, so that means you may not receive the money into your account until day 10 or 11. In my opinion, this is excessive for an ACH payment and makes me concerned about their ability to manage cash. I have another payment via credit card that was pushed back an additional day and we're on day 7 and I have yet to receive it. If you are tight on managing cash, ask the customer to mail you a check or use QuickBooks for the invoice, you will get your money much faster. There were instances during tax season where I setup a proposal to collect a deposit at proposal acceptance and when it was time to close out the account, it was never charged, so you should double check your invoices. Once you get used to using the product, it is nice to have for proposal management and has an effective dashboard and ease of use to follow up with customers. I have yet to have a dispute from a customer about the contract, so their templates are excellent. The customer names don't integrate well with ProConnect and double your customers, which can be quite annoying.
Pros:
Professional interface for customers, ease of signing proposals and entering payment details for automatic processing. Dashboard for revenue and proposal management.
Cons:
Slow to process payments even ACH payments can take 7 business days. I have found that on several occasions that customer tax return deposits were not processed even though it was setup to pay at acceptance. Expensive monthly fee for small firms.
Watch Your Chargebacks
Comments: It's going to be easier and to be more in control of my clients since it doesn't matter there's no recourse once Practice Ignition chooses to believe the other person instead of the people paying for the service. I can do the same thing and work directly with any challenges instead of just sucking it up and losing thousands more.
Pros:
After getting used to it, it didn't seem bad at first but then the charge backs hit without any formal notice nor warning.
Cons:
A former client said they didn't receive the services, Practice Ignition asked me to defend the potential charge back but then it was a waste of my time to do anything because they took back the entire amount, on top of already having charged me for the merchant fees.
Ignition Response
5 years ago
Hi Dwayne, My name is Tom Maxwell and I'm on the leadership team at Practice Ignition. I'm truly sorry you had this experience but please allow me to clarify your concerns here: Unfortunately, your client disputed your charge which initiated an immediate reversal by the clients' bank. Immediate reversals are completely out of our control, which is no different to any payment processor, (including Intuit, as an example: https://intuit.me/2JNFyzg). As soon as we were made aware of the dispute, we immediately contacted you, and as a standard practice, we offered to submit evidence on your behalf. We also asked you to submit more evidence that the dispute had been resolved between you and your client, to strengthen your case. You declined to take up this offer. Dwayne, please know we are here to help in circumstances that fall outside our control. We are sorry your experience went this way and we hope that we have the opportunity to win back your trust again.
Easy to use, Comprehensive Solution with great support
Comments: Very positive, very robust and valuable tool for our company.
Pros:
Easiest to use and Intuitive, also makes it easy for clients to read, approve and pay quickly. Also, support from our Rep is outstanding.
Cons:
Can't think of anything. Software is easy to access, set up and use daily with no issues.
Our ONE platform for proposals, invoicing, and AR!
Comments: Coming from a different field, and needing to learn how to manage proposals/invoicing/payment collection quickly, Ignition has been incredible. We started around March of 2021 and have been extremely happy with the ease of proposal creation + sending (clear PDF versions, automatic reminders to prospect, visibility into when a prospect has viewed the proposal, multiple templating options and clear platform design), invoicing (I set up invoices to automatically run during the month and don't have to worry about collection unless I get an email that payment failed!), and payment collection. Ignition sends helpful emails like credit card expirations and payment failures! I really appreciate how I can utilize the different updates and changes they make to the platform, but I don't have to take courses to understand how to use Ignition! My concerns are promptly addressed, and meeting quarterly with our Key Account Manager has helped us tremendously!
Pros:
All of the features on one platform; integrates with Quickbooks
Cons:
Sometimes the site VERY TEMPORARILY (1-5 minutes, every six months or so, has been my experience) unavailable! The pro is that the improvements have been awesome!
Alternatives Considered:
Keeping compliant and integrations!
Comments: Customer service and help is amazing. Instant replies and support.
Pros:
The integrations with Karbon and Xero.When a proposal is signed Ignition intelligently creates the predetermined job and contact in Karbon. This allows for a seamless experience and job management. Having engagement letters and the ability to manage payments are also very important and useful.
Cons:
We would love to be able to automatically on charge bank and card processing charges without having to include this in our proposal. More integrations (without zapier) to software like hubspot. Also an improved integration with Karbon (where we can sync contacts and jobs without having the proposal being accepted).
Alternatives Considered:
Best proposal software for technology-driven accountants
Pros:
It is very user-friendly and works amazingly within the Xero ecosystem. Our entire team uses it daily and pairing it with Loom videos it really brings a WOW-factor to our clients. Our Onboarding close rate definitely increased significantly!
Cons:
It’s not a full fletched CRM like Insightly or Hubspot of course but can’t complain for the subscription price. More reporting around leads tracking and product type sale % will be awesome to have.
We would be lost without Ignition
Comments: Super easy to use, the team are so friendly and supportive, clients find it very professional
Pros:
We've been using Ignition since 2013 and find it very easy to use. Clients also like the experience, and find it very professional. It's very customisable, allows us to send quotes and proposals very quickly.
Cons:
Would love pricing to be built into the software. We currently build fee quotes in a google sheet.
Alternatives Considered:
my review
Comments: Truly fantastic customer support and onboarding support. they have gone way over above and beyond to get us up and running
Pros:
Deals with onboarding compliance like letter of engagement and taking payment option
Cons:
no complex billing scheduling (coming soon)
Alternatives Considered:
Practice Ignition is a Game Changer
Comments: This product has a lot of functionality but the engagement letter process gets an A+. It provides a very professional and polished presentation for our clients. It is also easy to use and implement.
Pros:
Practice Ignition delivers a professional, eye catching engagement letter quickly and efficiently. The support team goes out of their way to ensure a successful implementation and the product is easy to use.
Cons:
One drawback is that the support team is located in Australia which poses some timing challenges.
I absolutely love Practice Ignition
Comments: Practice Ignition has made engaging with our clients a seamless process. We deal with a large volume of clients and with how easy and efficient the systems are, we are able to quickly send proposals, collect payment with virtually no administrative burden, and have great reporting around every step of the process. I can not recommend this product enough, it is truly one of my favorite programs that we work with inside of our firm and the the support team is just as great to work with! Thank you so much!!
Pros:
- Fast - Intuitive - Option to collect payment in order to sign - Low amount of admin needed - Amazing support team, fast turn around - Scalable - Open to feedback, they actually listen!!
Cons:
I legitimately do not have a single con that I would give. the only thing even close would be there is not currently a way to display a discount for a service item directly from the standard cost of the service. This is something that I have left feedback on and is already slated to be adjusted in a future update. to my previous point, they actually listen to feedback which is amazing.
We Love PI!
Comments:
We love Practice Ignition it has been the platform we have built our business growth on for the past 4 years since implementation. We have grown 10% per year since then; and the fact that everything is streamlined from proposal to billing to collections to accounting in our QB company file has been a game changer. We are spending far less time doing administrative tasks and our accounts receivable has gone from over $80K per month to less than $20K at any given time. I would highly recommend this app to any practice that is looking to grow and sreamline!
Five Stars! We love PI!
Pros:
The ease of use and the interface to the client. Getting paid right away for our services and integrating into our firm's QBO so that we can easily track our clients' billing. The training and support offered are very valuable.
Cons:
We would like to be able to issue refunds to our customers using PI but thus far we are not able to. Also we would like to build in a surcharge for credit card payments but that is not an option.
Absolutely love PI
Comments: Practice Ignition has been a game changer for us from the moment I pulled the trigger on it. It revolutionized our process for creating proposals, is an enormous time saver and it creates a process that is standardized and consistently the awesome experience we want our clients to have. We close more engagements and at better fees than ever before. I can't say enough about how it changed my firm and put us on the path to the firm I really want. It was the start of all the progressive ideas we have put into place because it gave me the space and the revenues to recreate my firm. The team at PI can't be beat. I am seriously crushing on all of them.😍🎉👏👍
Pros:
It automates the preparation of proposals, it makes them look professional, it allows us to be paid sooner, the team at practice ignition is absolutely incredible.
Cons:
Billing clients on an alternative schedule then monthly or quarterly was difficult but they have fixed that problem.
Practice Ignition - a life saver!
Comments: First class from the very beginning. Could not be more helpful and regularly touch base to make sure all okay and using the software to its full capacity.
Pros:
Easy to use software with little tuition required. Set up and off and running sending proposals in no time. Lots of support assistance available with fast response times to queries. It has been a game changer in our company, saving so much time with client proposals and improving our internal efficiencies.
Cons:
Would like to be able to add more notes to a client proposal after it is signed. eg. reminders or comments about the proposal or the client.
Software update
Comments: Good - but I will keep reviewing as the project continues. We have not yet integrated any other products.
Pros:
It links to Xero, XPM and to FYI. We are currently moving to the cloud for most software and a key criterion was to have as much automation of the back office as possible.
Cons:
Not all templates are visible. This means that it is not always possible to reword a message that a particular client would find too informal.
Great website for creating client engagements
Comments: Practice ignition save us heaps of time and this means we get to spend more time on value add work rather than chasing bills.
Pros:
Practice Ignition has helped get a lot of our clients onto fixed fee payment plans this means we don't have to chase bills and its all easy to manage in one place.
Cons:
It can be a bit confusing to get set up. I highly recommend using their tutorial videos to get an idea of what the software is capable of.
Practice Ignition
Comments: Good.
Pros:
Easy/intuitive to use and well priced. Much more organised than paper engagements.
Cons:
Has a few bugs from time to time which prevent it doing what you want it to. Search function not that intelligent, could do with more reporting/data analysis/Excel export functionality. Could also do with the ability to attach more than 1 PDF.
Alternatives Considered:
Great product, takes the headache out of collecting and accepting payments
Pros:
Payments - and how it eliminates steps for my business
Cons:
The cost of payments is too expensive, and the delay of receiving in my bank.
Love Practice Ignition
Comments: Great results from clients. Makes interactions with clients current & new so much easier, they know what we are offering, price and everything is explained in one document.
Pros:
Easy to use and great results. You can set up as many templates as you like.
Cons:
Nothing! It's all so very simple, anyone can use it
Ignition Response
6 years ago
Thanks for your review Kate! We really appreciate it :)
Thoughts on Ignition
Comments: This is an expensive product for a relatively small business but takes away the risk of missed bills and also looks after direct debiting without a third party product. The automatic weekly billing is gold.
Pros:
The biggest pro for us is the automatic billing once a customer has signed and the fact that most customers do not ask about direct debiting they simply provide details and sign. This is wonderful as cash flow is never an issue.
Cons:
Manual billing is our least favourite side. We understand why it is there but we could set this up directly in our accounting software rather than running it through ignition as it has little value. Having said that we do use it to keep the billing moving forward and to remind us it is yet to be billed.
Practice Ignition is a great tool and perfect for organizing proposals
Pros:
great for proposals and cash flow very flexible with different ways of payments, if the client is right infront of you they can check the email right through there phone.
Cons:
the only complain is having to wait 2 weeks for the disbursal, everything else with Practice Ignition works great.
Ignition works wonderfully
Comments: Excellent tool for overall contract management, with a great client experience.
Pros:
Ease of use for the clients, and able to control some of the payment options. Clients managing their own CC expirations etc is also nice. Also, the recurring billing I don't have to execute each month - the system just does it.
Cons:
Initial template setup can feel daunting, but using their help and customer service can speed past that process.
It's super easy to setup and use. Lots of clever features, with more features being added regularly.
Comments:
Client communication - letting them know upfront what my services are going to cost, and having them agree to it so there are no surprises. We've been doing this with clients for a few years but this software has saved me hours every week by simplifying the process and cutting out manual work.
Cashflow improvement - for known or suspected bad payers I can choose that they must enter bank details for a Direct Debit before accepting the proposal. It makes the conversation easier - "I can't start the work until we have an agreement in place". It removes all the time I used to spend chasing debtors.
Pros:
It solves several problems in my business so is great value for money. I can customise how I use it to suit my own workflows and clients. It's simple without compromising effectiveness.
Cons:
There's nothing I've found that I don't like. A few times I've thought the software didn't contain a certain functionality, but after asking support they were able to turn a new feature on for me to test.
Excellent - so efficient!
Pros:
Practice Ignition has made our onboarding and proposal process seamless. The proposals are clear and concise which our clients love. It has certainly improved our invoicing and [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN], our account manager, is brilliant - terribly helpful and patient.
Cons:
When invoicing on completion is selected, it would be good if once the proposal is marked as complete, the final invoice is sent, rather than having to manually push it through.
Automated Engagement letters
Comments: Excellent
Pros:
The ease of creating engagement letters and the automated follow up of clients
Cons:
I would like enhanced flexibility with the pricing of services