Ignition

Ignition is a cloud-based client engagement and revenue automation platform for professional services businesses. It brings proposals, engagement agreements, service scopes, billing and payment collection into a connected workflow. Its customers include accounting and bookkeeping practices, tax advisors, marketing agencies, management consultants and business advisory firms.

Founded in 2013 by chartered accountant Guy Pearson and product designer Dane Thomas, the company began as Practice Ignition. The platform grew out of problems encountered in accounting firms: administrative overhead, work performed outside an agreed scope and slow collection of outstanding payments. On March 1, 2022, the business rebranded to Ignition to reflect adoption across a broader range of professional services.

From proposal to payment

Businesses can create branded online proposals with digital brochures, personalized video and electronic signatures. Engagement letters and defined service scopes help firms establish what they will deliver and how clients will pay. These capabilities connect the initial agreement with subsequent billing and collection, rather than leaving each stage as a separate administrative task.

Payment tools support one-off, scheduled and recurring collections through credit cards, ACH and direct debit. Embedded payment processing uses Stripe. Scope-change management and service catalog editing help firms update their offerings and account for additional work, while AI pricing features provide service benchmarks and assistance with proposal pricing.

Connected business workflows

Ignition integrates with Xero and Intuit QuickBooks Online, alongside tools including Karbon, Gusto, Slack and Zapier. These connections support accounting synchronization, client onboarding and practice workflows, reducing the need to transfer engagement and billing information manually between systems.

Headquartered in Sydney, the company operates internationally through regional teams and an operations center in the Philippines. The research reports that its platform serves more than 8,500 service-based firms worldwide, has facilitated over 2.4 million client relationships and has processed more than $15 billion in client revenue. Its focus remains the commercial and administrative work surrounding professional services: agreeing engagements, managing scope and collecting payment.