Did you send your client an invitation to sign an Anchor agreement?
NICE!
This article will walk you through the process your client goes through once they get your agreement.
You can watch the video below, or jump straight to the step-by-step instructions here.
How to Approve an Agreement
Step 1: Open the agreement from your email invitation
In Anchor, agreements are created by service providers (that’s you 😄) and sent to the client for approval.
Your client will receive an email notification once an agreement has been sent, along with a link to review and approve the agreement.
In the email, they need to click on "Go to engagement letter" to begin the approval process.
Alternatively, if your client is an existing customer and you sent them an invite to join Anchor, they will need to click on "Go to the new billing portal".
Here’s an example of what these emails would look like:
The agreement review process starts by clicking on “Review the agreement”.
Step 2: Review the services and payment terms
On this page, your client will find the payment terms and services that you agreed upon.
Every service will have a title, description, and rate. Details of the pricing structure and payment frequency (monthly, quarterly, etc.) are listed in each service's section.
Clicking the dropdown arrow will give your client more information about each service.
At the bottom of the page, your client can see additional terms and notes added by you.
Payment terms - Anchor provides the option to pay with net terms. This section will present the agreed-upon net terms. If the agreement is that your client pays upon approval of the agreement, this section will present “Payment on receipt of invoice”.
Agreement effective date - shows if the agreement will take effect upon your client's approval or on a scheduled date.
Notes - if there are any additional understandings between you and your client, that were requested in writing (that do not appear in the T&Cs), this is where your client can review them.
Terms and Conditions - The terms and conditions include all of the remaining non-commercial terms of the engagement. These are usually standardized, but we encourage everyone to read and approve them nonetheless.
Continue to the Payment Method section by clicking “Approve Terms”.
Step 3: Add a payment method
On the next screen, your client will be presented with the option of choosing a payment method.
The two main options are paying by connecting a bank account for ACH payments, or by credit card.
The payment method they provide will be used for automatic payment moving forward. No hassle, no backlog of due payments, no errors.
Connecting your bank via ACH
Paying via ACH is free and therefore our recommended choice.
Anchor connects to the client's bank account via Plaid, a secure and encrypted service.
The "Pay with ACH" option is chosen by default. Upon clicking “Connect Bank”, a new window will pop up. Your clieny should agree to continue with Plaid and then simply select their bank by selecting it from the list., If their bank is not on the list, they can find it in the search box:
Once your client has selected a bank, they should sign in to their account and click "Submit".
After your client has successfully logged in to their bank, they will be asked which account they would like to connect to. Simply choose the account and then click "Set account".
Connecting your Bank Account Using Micro-Deposits
If your client prefers not to log in to their account, or if for some reason the login was unsuccessful, Anchor can easily verify their account using a micro-deposit.
Your client will be able to connect to their bank account for automated ACH payments using the account numbers.
Your client will receive two small deposits (less than one dollar) into their bank account and then confirm the deposits later. Once the confirmation is complete, the client's bank account will be set up for automatic payments for this agreement.
Important Note 🚩 The deposit will not show up immediately. This process can take a couple of business days. Once your client receives the two micro-deposits, they should come back to this page in order to complete the process.
PRO TIP 💡 Let your client know that you can add the deposits on your end to complete the process. All they need to do is tell you that they chose to connect their bank account manually. Read more about Micro-deposits here.
To initiate that process, your client should choose the "Secure ACH" option, click on "Connect bank" and then close the Plaid window as presented below:
Pay with a credit card
To pay using a credit card, simply choose “Credit Card” and then “Connect Credit Card” at the bottom. Your client will be redirected to a new page to insert their card details.
As a reminder: Credit cards have a processing fee of 2.9% + 30￠ (and an additional 1% for foreign credit cards).
Once done, click Submit.
Completing The Process
Once a payment method has been authorized, a confirmation window will appear letting your client know that the agreement is ready for final approval.
They should click on “Approve agreement” to approve the agreement.
Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by sending an email to [email protected], our team is always happy to help!