Quick answer
Confirm the proposal is actually sent and the client's email is correct, then have them check junk for a message from go.ignitionapp.com. For payment failures, check the client's card/bank details and whether Stripe or GoCardless is set up. For invoices that don't reach Xero, the usual culprits are a mismatched contact name, an incompatible account, or a Xero lock date.
WHY IT HAPPENS
A few moving parts, one at a time.
An Ignition proposal touches several systems: it emails the client, collects a payment method through Stripe (cards) or GoCardless (direct debit), and — once accepted — pushes an invoice into Xero for billing. A hold-up in any one of those looks like "Ignition isn't working". The trick is to figure out where the chain breaks: is the proposal not leaving Ignition, not reaching the client, failing at payment, or failing to sync to Xero? Once you know that, the fix is usually quick.
WHAT TO CHECK
Trace it from proposal to payment to Xero.
- Check the proposal actually sentIn Ignition, confirm the proposal status is Sent or Awaiting acceptance, not Draft. If it's still a draft, it never went out — finish and send it. Also double-check the recipient's email address is spelled correctly.
- Have the client check junk and the right domainIgnition proposal and payment links come from the go.ignitionapp.com domain. Ask the client to search their inbox and junk/spam folder for that sender, and to add it to safe senders. If it's genuinely lost, resend it or copy the direct proposal link and email it to them yourself.
- Confirm the client is completing every stepA proposal isn't accepted until the client agrees to the terms and enters a valid payment method. If they've stalled, the status stays "awaiting acceptance" — a quick reminder often clears it.
- Check the payment method and providerIf payment fails, it's usually the client's details: an expired card, insufficient funds, or a bank account that isn't set up for direct debit. Confirm you've connected the right payment provider in Ignition — Stripe for card payments, GoCardless for direct debit — and that it's active for your region.
- Confirm Ignition is connected to XeroFor billing to flow, Ignition needs a live connection to your Xero organisation. In Ignition's app/Xero settings, check the connection is active and pointed at the correct Xero file, and reconnect if it's dropped.
- Fix contact and account mapping in XeroIf an invoice won't sync, the most common cause is the client name in Ignition not matching the contact name in Xero. Align the names (watch for duplicates or archived contacts), and make sure the mapped account is a valid income account — a bank or expense account will be rejected.
- Watch the Xero lock date and invoice numbersXero won't accept an invoice dated before your period lock date, and duplicate invoice numbers can be rejected. Adjust the invoice date to after the lock date, resolve any duplicate reference, then re-trigger the sync.
If proposals or billing keep failing across clients — rather than one-off — the issue is usually in the Ignition-to-Xero connection, your account mapping, or email deliverability from your domain. That's worth fixing properly once so every future proposal and invoice flows without hand-holding.
