How MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory Eliminated Manual Collections and Cut Proposal Time by 90%

01 · The Challenge

The firm operates on a value-based subscription pricing model rather than hourly billing, which creates a predictable monthly billing cycle and makes automated collections both practical and essential. With a significant volume of recurring client invoices and a lean team structure, any inefficiency in the proposal or collections process carries an outsized cost.

“Anchor is a unified platform where I don’t have to do anything manually. It’s not just about collections, it solves many issues and it is one of the best and most cost-effective systems we have added to our app ecosystem.”
Mark A. Gilbert, President and Founder, MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory

Before Anchor, MBS was managing its collections through a fragmented combination of tools. Engagement agreements went out through DocuSign. Recurring payments were handled through Melio and Plooto for clients who had accepted those platforms. For clients who had not, the firm had to rely on clients initiating payment themselves on their own timeline, which Gilbert described as both unpredictable and uncomfortable.

The payment processing cost was the most acute pain. In the years before moving off traditional merchant accounts, MBS was spending approximately $50,000 per year in merchant fees. When processing-fee alternatives became available, Gilbert began transitioning clients to Melio and Plooto to reduce that cost. Those platforms helped, but they introduced a different problem: the setup was largely manual, recurring billing required individual configuration, and the tools did not connect to the broader proposal and engagement workflow. Collections were separate from agreements, which were separate from renewals.

The proposal process compounded the problem. Each new engagement required building a customized agreement largely from scratch. Renewals required an awkward direct conversation with the client, which created an opening for clients to push back on pricing or request changes. There was no systematic way to communicate an automatic annual increase, and no mechanism to enforce it without that conversation.

“Before Anchor, the renewal process always opened the door for clients to complain or ask for a reduction. That conversation was awkward and scary every time.”
Mark A. Gilbert, President and Founder, MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory

02 · The SolutionWhy Anchor

Gilbert began evaluating Anchor not only as a collections tool but as a solution to the entire proposal-to-payment workflow. The deciding factor was that Anchor handled all of it in one connected system: digital proposals, signed agreements, payment method capture at signing, automatic invoicing, and reconciliation sync. Moving to Anchor meant consolidating DocuSign, Melio, and Plooto into a single platform without paying a monthly subscription fee.

The pricing model was also a consideration. Anchor earns on payment processing rather than charging a monthly platform fee, and for ACH payments the per-transaction cost is minimal. For a firm that had spent $50,000 per year on merchant fees, the economics were immediately compelling.

“With Anchor, we can make it very clear that we are setting up an agreement where the change automatically takes effect if the client does not say they are not accepting it. That is very valuable, because we make people sign off saying they have read our terms.”
Mark A. Gilbert, President and Founder, MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory

Gilbert was also drawn to the built-in annual price increase mechanism. Anchor’s agreement structure allows firms to set an automatic cost-of-living adjustment that takes effect unless the client explicitly opts out, with the terms visible and signed off at the time of engagement. That removed the need for the difficult renewal conversation entirely.

Implementation

Gilbert served as the internal champion for Anchor at MBS, taking responsibility for learning the platform and leading adoption. He assigned team members to attend Anchor’s webinars and worked with the Anchor support team directly when questions arose.

A small number of clients have not yet been migrated to Anchor, and Gilbert noted this as a work in progress. His stated goal is for Anchor to be the single billing and collections solution for the entire client base. The migration has been incremental, with existing clients moved over in batches as agreements come up for renewal or as Gilbert initiates the conversation with individual clients.

Gilbert highlighted Anchor’s support model as a meaningful part of the implementation experience. In an environment where most software support is limited to chat or email, he found Anchor’s responsiveness and willingness to get on the phone when needed to be a differentiator.

“One of the metrics I use for any technology is: do I get support? Your team is very responsive and interactive. When need be, you get back on the phone as well. That has been a godsend whenever we have questions.”
Mark A. Gilbert, President and Founder, MBS Accounting Technology & Advisory

03 · The ResultsDirect Savings

The most measurable outcome from moving to Anchor has been the reduction in payment processing cost. At peak, MBS was spending approximately $50,000 per year on merchant fees through traditional payment processing. With Anchor, that figure has dropped to an estimated $1,000 per year, representing savings of approximately $49,000 annually. ACH transactions carry a minimal per-transaction fee, and for clients who choose to pay by credit card, the firm can pass the processing fee directly to the client, removing the cost from MBS entirely.

The proposal and engagement process has been transformed. The firm reported a 90% reduction in time spent on proposal preparation, based on its own assessment, primarily because Anchor’s reusable templates eliminated the need to build customized agreements from scratch for each new client. The standardized proposal structure also supports faster and more accurate scoping, particularly when combined with the firm’s use of AI-assisted analysis to estimate client needs before the proposal is written.

Across the billing cycle as a whole, the team estimates it is saving approximately 30 hours per month. That time has been redirected toward business development and client acquisition. Renewals now happen with minimal team effort: the annual price increase is built into the agreement, clients have already signed off on the mechanism, and the process runs without requiring a one-on-one conversation.

The firm also replaced three separate tools, DocuSign, Melio, and Plooto, with a single platform, reducing subscription overhead and eliminating the manual coordination required when agreements, payments, and communications lived in separate systems.