If you have Xero or QuickBooks connected to your Ignition account, you can import your repeating invoices and automatically convert them into draft proposals in Ignition.
You can use this feature to engage all your existing clients in bulk and help you get paid faster, especially if you're using Ignition payments.
Interactive demo
How to create draft proposals by importing repeating invoices
1. Navigate to the Pipeline tab → click Import.
2. The Import screen will list all your recurring invoices in your connected ledger.
Select the repeating invoices that you'd like to import as draft proposals in Ignition.
You can search and filter for specific client names and invoice line items.
When you are ready, click Import to create these repeating invoices as draft proposals.
Note: For QuickBooks practices, you'll also be able to select and filter through specific transaction types.
3. When ready, click into the notification in the bottom left corner to view all of the proposals that have been generated.
From this view, click into any of these proposals to make any changes you like.
Then, review your proposals and send it to your clients to sign individually or in bulk. Alternatively, you can also accept it on their behalf.
4. When the proposal has moved to an Awaiting Acceptance status, Ignition will automatically start the billing AND delete the recurring invoice in Xero or QuickBooks to prevent double billing.
Note: You do not need to manually delete the recurring invoice in Xero or QuickBooks, unless Ignition notifies you that the deletion has failed for any reason.
If you’re using Ignition payments, payments will automatically be collected if your client has a payment method on file. If they don’t have a payment method, you can use our bulk payment request feature to request a payment method from your clients.
Invoice deletion errors
Ignition will automatically delete the repeating invoice in Xero or QuickBooks as soon as the proposal moves to an Awaiting Acceptance status.
However, sometimes there are errors that cause a failure in deletion.
If this happens you will be notified on the Pipeline tab, as well as the specific proposal's Activity trail.
Please ensure that you navigate to your Xero or QuickBooks account and delete the repeating invoice manually.
Information on how draft proposals are created
This section details intricacies and nuances when you create proposals from your repeating invoices in Xero or QuickBooks.
Please use the triangles on the left of each section to expand and collapse.
Services names in the draft proposal
Services names in the draft proposal
It's currently not possible to change the service name, however you can change the description, price and price type if you wish.
Draft proposals that are created will contain a service called “Current service”. The service description will be the imported invoice’s line item description.
Sometimes this service may be duplicated multiple times in one proposal if you import a repeating invoice that has multiple line items in a single invoice.
If there is a Xero Item name or QBO service name, Ignition will use this as the service name in the proposal.
If there’s no Xero Item name or QBO service name, we’ll use “Current service”.
Note: This will show as “Imported service from Xero/QBO” in the CSV export when you export your service revenue in the Dashboard → Services panel.
Repeating invoices will be generated as separate proposals
Repeating invoices will be generated as separate proposals
The imported ledger invoices will be generated as separate proposals.
This means one repeating invoice in Xero or QuickBooks = one Ignition draft proposal.
You can add more services and billing rules to the generated draft proposal, but the feature will only create the one proposal per invoice that’s imported.
Proposals generated from Xero
Proposals generated from Xero
Price on Xero invoice different from the generated Ignition proposal
Ignition translates tax and it occasionally generates rounding errors because Ignition only stores tax-exclusive amounts to the nearest cent in the proposal editor.
This means if Ignition imports an invoice that’s tax-inclusive, then there can occasionally be rounding issues because Xero rounds to 3 decimal places, compared to Ignition's rounding to 2 decimal places.
Please consider this and round to the nearest satisfactory figure you wish.
Proposals generated from QuickBooks
Proposals generated from QuickBooks
Minimum contract length
When generating a proposal from a QuickBooks repeating invoice, the minimum contract length on the Ignition proposal will match the “end after X occurrences” figure in QuickBooks
e.g. if the QuickBooks recurring invoice ends after 6 more occurrences, the minimum contract length will be set to 6 months from the date the proposal was generated.
QuickBooks bundles
If you are a QuickBooks practice and use "bundles" on your invoices, the bundle service name will be added as the service on the proposal and the sum of the grouped service values will be used for the price.
When this bundle option is enabled Ignition will populate the service description with the grouped service details like below:
Bundle description
#1 Bundle product/service name
#1 Bundle product/service description
#2 Bundle product/service name
#2 Bundle product/service description
FAQ
I have set some discounts in my Xero/QBO ledger. Can this be shown in the proposal?
Discounts will not be shown in the Ignition invoice as we currently do not have a discounts feature. However, our product team are currently researching this feature for future development.
I can’t see all of my Xero or QuickBooks repeating invoices. Why?
This is likely because you have invoices in multiple currencies or negatively priced services. Ignition currently does not support multiple currencies or negatively priced services. Ignition will only show, create and import invoices in your practice’s default currency.
Alternatively, if your repeating invoice has expired, it will also be excluded from the list.
Open this section for more details about why you may not see your repeating invoice in Xero or QuickBooks.
Open this section for more details about why you may not see your repeating invoice in Xero or QuickBooks.
Xero
Negative line item - Ignition does not support negative line items on services.
End date has been reached - The end date of the recurring invoice has expired, so there are no active recurring invoices to show.
Unsupported currency or multiple currencies - Ignition does not support multiple currencies. It will only show invoices in your default currency.
QuickBooks
Unsupported currency or multiple currencies - Ignition does not support multiple currencies. It will only show invoices in your default currency.
Discount on QBO invoice - There’s currently no way to convert the discount on the QBO invoice to individual service lines in Ignition, so QBO invoices with discounts won’t show in the recurring invoices list.
Unscheduled invoice - Unscheduled transactions naturally don’t have an upcoming date to be invoices, so these invoices will not show in the recurring invoices list.
“Bill” or “Vendor credit” transaction type - These QBO transaction types are only allocated to vendors. Ignition is unable to map these to clients and therefore this will not show in the recurring invoices list.
