Goodenia fordiana is a prostrate herb with a stalk up to high with a rosette of leaves at the base. The leaves are elliptic, long and wide abruptly tapering to a petiole long. The flowers are arranged near the ends of leafy racemes up to long, each flower on a pedicel up to long with linear bracteoles about long. The sepals are linear, about long, the corolla yellow, long. The lower lobes of the corolla are about long with wings about wide. Flowering occurs from October to December.