Cone

Cone is a proposals, billing, and payments platform for accounting firms, covering proposal creation, engagement letter signature, recurring invoicing, time tracking, and payment collection in one workflow.

How accounting firms use it

The value is in what happens after a client says yes. In most firms the proposal is signed and then someone has to remember to set up the billing schedule, add the client to the invoicing run, and configure the payment mandate — steps that get missed, particularly when the person who won the work is not the person who bills it.

Here acceptance creates the billing arrangement directly. Recurring invoices generate on schedule and payment is collected automatically, so the gap between agreeing a fee and being paid narrows considerably.

Key features

Proposals are assembled from service packages with pricing applied per service, delivered for e-signature. Engagement letter templates covering common accounting services are included and editable.

Billing supports fixed fee, recurring, and hourly arrangements, with time tracking built in and tracked time flowing into invoices. Payment collection covers card and bank debit, with automated retries on failure.

Integrations sync invoices and payments to QuickBooks Online and Xero, keeping the ledger current without manual entry.

Who it’s best for

Small and mid-sized firms wanting proposal, billing, and payment consolidated rather than assembled from separate subscriptions, particularly those with a mix of fixed-fee and hourly work.

Firms needing workflow automation, document management, and client portals will still need practice management alongside it — Karbon, Canopy, or Financial Cents. Ignition and GoProposal are the direct alternatives, and Anchor focuses specifically on automating the billing side.