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Welcome to the Engager.app Help Centre

Getting Started with Adfin Payments in Engager

Andy Tyrrell
  • Updated

Introduction: What is Adfin and how can it help your business?

Adfin is a powerful payment collection tool now integrated into Engager. It allows you to collect client payments through Direct Debit, credit card, debit card, or open banking, giving you more control and predictability over your cash flow.

By enabling Adfin , you can:

  • Automate payment collection with Direct Debits linked to client engagements.
  • Reduce time spent chasing payments—clients sign up at the point of engagement.
  • Minimise risk of late or missed payments—you control when and how payments are taken.
  • See everything in one place—manage and monitor payment status directly within Engager.

Whether you're onboarding a new client or updating an existing agreement, Adfin  helps simplify how you get paid—so you spend less time on admin and more time growing your business.

How to Set Up and Use Adfin in Engager (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Connect Adfin to your Engager account

  1. In Engager, go to Settings.
  2. Click on the Adfin Integration option.
  3. Click Authorize (or Reauthorize if already connected).
  4. Log into your Adfin account when prompted - please your email and password for this stage. It's a fresh authorisation, do not log in using 'Google' or 'Xero'
  5. You’ll be returned to Engager once authorization is complete.

Step 2: Choose how client names appear in Adfin 

  1. Choose between First Name Last Name or Last Name First Name.
  2. Decide if you want to include a trading name (e.g., “John Doe trading as JD Accounting”) by ticking the box.
  3. Click Save.

Step 3: Set your Direct Debit preferences

  1. Choose the default behaviour when sending a Letter of Engagement:
    • Mandatory (client must set up a Direct Debit),
    • Optional, or
    • Not offered.
  2. You can override this setting for individual letters later.
  3. (Optional) Use the button at the bottom to delete all Adfin data from Engager if needed.

Step 4: Link a client to Adfin 

  1. Go to your client’s record in Engager.
  2. Under General Info, click Link with Adfin .
  3. If the client isn’t found, create a new record and click Confirm and Save.

Step 5: Send a Letter of Engagement with Direct Debit

  1. Generate the letter of engagement as usual.
  2. Click Send.
  3. Choose to use the default Direct Debit setting or select a different one for this client.
  4. The client will receive an email to review and sign the letter.

Step 6: What the client sees

  1. The client opens the email and clicks Review and Sign.
  2. After signing their name, they’ll be prompted to set up a Direct Debit.
  3. The setup page asks for:
    • Business account name
    • Account number and sort code
    • Email address
    • Confirmation of mandate terms
  4. Once completed, the Direct Debit is marked as active, and they can approve the engagement.

Step 7: Manage Direct Debit requests

You can also:

  • Send Direct Debit requests separately (outside of a Letter of Engagement).
  • Cancel a Direct Debit from the client record.
  • Track the status of all Direct Debits using the Adfin Payments section or by filtering your client list.

Direct Debit Statuses Explained:

  • Not linked: Client hasn’t been linked to Adfin yet.
  • Not created: No Direct Debit request has been sent.
  • Awaiting acceptance: Request sent, waiting on client to complete.
  • Accepted and activating: Client accepted, bank is processing.
  • Active: Direct Debit is active and ready to use.
  • Cancelled: The Direct Debit has been cancelled.

Adfin Engager troubleshooting.

  • If you log in to Adfin using Google or xero single sign-in, then you need to change it in the settings to log in with email and password. Adfin have not enabled the single sign-in option on link apis; this is being fixed in the coming days by Adfin .
  • If you have linked Adfin to xero or qbo, then you must link xero or qbo in engager for the three-way sync to work.
  • If you use invoice platforms such as Sage and Freeagent and upload invoices directly to Adfin , then the Engager integration will work fine
  • Why do I need to link Xero or QBO to Engager if it is linked to Adfin ? 

    The reason is a little bit complicated but I’ll try explaining it. we’ve done it this way after Adfin asked us to reduce the risk of creating duplicate clients. 

    Whilst if you add a client to Adfin , they push it to Xero, if you add it to Xero, Adfin doesn’t pick it up immediately as they have no way of knowing if it’s a customer or supplier straightaway.

    If, after adding client A directly to Xero, you added this client to Engager and tried to link with an existing client in Adfin, the client wouldn’t be there. So the natural thing to do would be to select "Create new client in Adfin”. That would create an Adfin client B that would not be linked to Xero because the Engager client is not linked to Xero; therefore, it cannot tell that client A in Xero is the same as client B being created in Adfin. All because Xero integration is not enabled in Engager.
  • To request a direct debit mandate as part of the LOE process, you need to add the client to Adfiin and if using QBO or xero, then to them as well, a couple of clicks when setting up the prospect/client and press save. If you don't want to add them to Adfin and QBO/xero at this stage, you can not offer the DD mandate at signing the LOE and send the request via email later on
 

Need Help?

If you have questions or need support, our team is here to help. Contact us at support@engager.app and we’ll be happy to assist.

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