Rablab saves $40,000 a year and simplifies billing with Ignition
By moving contracts, billing, and payments to a single platform with Ignition, Rablab has reduced manual admin, improved billing accuracy, and saved tens of thousands of dollars in payment processing fees. The Canadian-based search engine agency now runs billing with clarity and confidence, even as it scales to more than 70 retainer clients.
“Ignition completely changed how we handle billing. Between direct debit savings and having a single source of truth for contracts, payments, and renewals, we save an enormous amount of time and money, and we’d never go back.”
Nicolas Rabouille, Co-founder, Rablab
The challenge: Managing growth with fragmented contracts, billing, and payments
Founded in 2016, Rablab is a Montreal-based search engine agency specializing in SEO, Google Ads, and AI visibility for lead generation and ecommerce brands. With 23 employees and around 70 clients on monthly retainers, the agency had reached a scale where its billing and contract process could no longer keep up.
Before Ignition, Rablab relied on a patchwork of tools. Contracts were created and signed in PandaDoc, billing was handled in Zoho, and internal handoffs happened through Asana. Invoices were created manually, and because no single system connected agreements to billing, everything had to be double-checked.
“As soon as something is manual, you need to double-check it all the time,” Nicolas explained. “Zoho wasn’t our single source of truth.”
Payments were another major pain point. Like many agencies, RabLab billed most clients by credit card through Stripe. While convenient, the fees added up quickly. Nicolas estimates the business paid roughly $60,000 in credit card fees before making a change.
The team knew they needed a better way to automate billing, reduce errors, and regain confidence in their numbers. Their accountant pointed them toward Ignition with a clear mandate.
“Our accountant’s mandate was to make us save time on billing and accounting. They said, ‘We use this tool Ignition. You should use it, and you’ll save time.”
Time savings mattered, but so did cash. RabLab wanted to cut unnecessary costs, streamline operations, and bring contracts and payments together in one reliable system.
The solution: One platform to manage agreements, billing, and payments with confidence
Rablab adopted Ignition in late 2024 and quickly made it the backbone of its billing and contract process. Today, Ignition is the agency’s single source of truth for client agreements, payments, and renewals.
“All the bills are pushed automatically to QuickBooks,” Nicolas said. “Now we use Ignition for basically the whole billing process.”
One agreement, one process
All of Rablab’s services are fully templated in Ignition. When the team builds a proposal, they simply select the relevant line items. Some are one-off setup fees, while others are recurring retainers, all bundled into a single agreement.
This approach supports Rablab’s packaged pricing model. Clients pay an initial setup phase, typically covering the first one to three months, followed by an ongoing monthly retainer. Ignition handles both seamlessly.
“Having both one-off and recurring terms in the same deal and having that automatically managed is awesome. With Ignition, we can set it up once, and it just works.”
Faster onboarding and clearer visibility
Rablab’s onboarding process starts with a discovery call and audit, followed by a pricing and roadmap presentation. Once a prospect is ready to move forward, the team sends an Ignition proposal for signature.
As soon as a client signs, the team is notified in Slack. From there, onboarding tasks are created in Asana, and the project is assigned internally. Even though parts of the workflow remain intentionally manual to manage team capacity, Ignition ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
“It’s easier to track who signed, who hasn’t, who paid, and who didn’t,” Nicolas said. “And it’s easier to renew clients, too.”
A major win on payments
The biggest impact came from changing how Rablab gets paid. By using direct debit instead of credit cards, the agency dramatically reduced payment processing fees.
“By using direct debit, we save the equivalent of a full employee salary each year in credit card fees alone,” Nicolas said.
Clients enter their bank details once, and payments are collected automatically based on Rablab’s terms, typically Net 30. Ignition handles the timing, even when invoices are issued at the start of the month.
“We still give them a Net 30,” Nicolas explained. “Ignition takes that into account. This is pretty amazing.”
After fees, Rablab estimates it now saves around $40,000 per year compared to its previous setup. Combined with time savings and improved accuracy, the financial impact was clear.
Control over scope and renewals
Like most agencies, Rablabregularly handles scope changes and add-ons. Ignition makes it easy to create add-ons or new proposals when work expands, ensuring every change is documented and billed.
“For us, it’s important that everything is in the agreement,” Nicolas said. “Otherwise, you can lose track of it.”
Renewals are equally straightforward. The team can duplicate an existing agreement, make adjustments, and resend it without starting from scratch.
“With Ignition as a single source of truth, we can instantly see which clients are up for renewal, exactly how much we’re charging each client, who is overdue, and where revenue stands at any moment.”
The impact: Saving time and tens of thousands of dollars each year
Since moving to Ignition, RabLab has simplified billing, reduced risk, and saved significant money.
- Estimated annual savings from reduced credit card fees: $40,000
- Time saved through automation: 8+ hours per month
- Clients managed on retainers through Ignition: ~70
Before Ignition, billing accuracy and payment follow-ups consumed valuable time. Today, the team has confidence that contracts, invoices, and payments are always in sync.
“It saves us a massive amount of time and money,” Nicolas said. “And we would never go back.”