Reconciled doubles revenue growth and slashes proposal time by ~83%

Before Ignition, Michael used a tedious, multistep sales process. He would create proposals in Microsoft Word, convert them into PDF files, and email them to clients. Then, he would use QuickBooks to send invoices. 

Needless to say, the workflow was highly manual, and the fact that it involved tools that didn't connect to each other meant there was more room for error. 

Because the process was labor-intensive, Michael spent quite a bit of time creating proposals, which created friction in the sales process.

Michael wasn't simply looking for software to automate proposals. He wanted a platform that could support the firm's long-term growth, remove operational friction, and create a repeatable sales process from day one.

“I was trying to find a solution that would automate that process, make it more scalable, and take away the pain of having to edit Word documents and send them via email as attachments,” he says. 

Reconciled’s manual invoicing process was also adding to the firm’s administrative burden. 

The time Michael and his team were spending on invoicing and following up on late payments detracted from valuable client work and strategic growth initiatives. Without an automated system, the firm faced delays in cash flow and unnecessary administrative headaches, making it difficult to scale effectively. This inefficiency underscored the need for a more streamlined, automated approach to billing and payments.

Spending time on manual tasks and all the to-ing and fro-ing with client proposals were causing friction in Reconciled's client experience. Michael recognized that in this day and age, customers demand quicker, more seamless interactions. He understood that continuing with outdated methods was not sustainable for maintaining client satisfaction and growing his business.

From the very beginning, Michael wanted Reconciled to be built differently. Rather than waiting for manual processes to become a bottleneck, he intentionally invested in systems that would support long-term growth. Ignition became one of the foundational platforms that helped Reconciled scale from an early-stage firm into a multi-million-dollar business.

"Ignition allowed us to more than double our revenue. It's replaced and sped up the proposal and sales process and we can scale the number of proposals we send out. 

Beyond the time savings, Michael says Ignition has paved the way for scalability, enabling him and his team to expand their capacity and drive sales. What’s more, Ignition has a slew of templates that businesses can use for their proposals, or they can upload their own. 

“Ignition makes it effortless to present our services to clients via a professional proposal. I love that we can very easily present extra services for clients to add on themselves and generate more revenue without the hard sell.”

Michael also no longer has to worry about getting paid when he sends a proposal and starts a client engagement. With Ignition, he can capture payment details and set up automatic billing when clients review and sign the documents, so he can rest easy knowing he won’t have to chase late payments.

“We reduced our year end AR as a percentage of annual revenue by 20% after the first 12 months of implementing Ignition.”

For Michael, the biggest benefit wasn't just automating invoices – it was eliminating the constant need to think about collections. Instead of chasing payments or hoping invoices would be paid on time, Reconciled could rely on automatic billing and payment collection, giving the team predictable cash flow and more time to focus on clients.

As a result, Michael stresses the need for accounting firms to move away from traditional time-and-material billing to value-based billing. "Shifting out of that mindset, where you're no longer billing just for hours spent – you’re actually billing for value – that's going to be a big shift still for many firms," he says. But this shift allows firms to better quantify the value they provide to clients and ensures clients understand and appreciate the services they receive.

When Reconciled was acquired, the firm's disciplined billing processes became an unexpected advantage during due diligence.

"When buyers looked at our accounts receivable, there was virtually nothing there," says Michael. "It showed them we'd built a business with healthy cash flow and efficient operations."

Having automated proposals, billing, and payments meant Reconciled had a short cash collection cycle and minimal outstanding receivables. According to Michael, this demonstrated operational maturity and gave buyers confidence that the business could continue running efficiently after acquisition.

This customer experience is key. “Customers are used to frictionless experiences when they engage in the new economy and when they engage both software and service providers,” says Michael. “So, for you to stand out amongst your peers as a more modern firm and one that understands the need to create a frictionless experience for customers, implementing a system like Ignition is going to help you with your customer experience overall and also make your work easier when trying to scale your practice.”

After all, he says, “your clients aren't paying for you to spend time crafting the best Word document proposal. Your clients are hiring you because they want advice and they want to experience you as a service provider that can stand out to them.”