1. How Proposals Work
You build a proposal from your saved services, send it to the client, and the client reviews and signs it online. A proposal moves through these statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being built or edited. Not yet sent to the client. |
| Sent | Published and emailed to the client, awaiting their response. |
| Signed | The client has accepted and signed the proposal. |
| Declined | The client has declined the proposal. |
Note
The proposal lifecycle: • Build the proposal (8-step wizard) → Draft • Publish & send to the client → Sent • Client reviews online and Accepts + signs → Signed (or Declines → Declined)
Why this matters
Proposals turn your services and pricing into a professional document the client can sign without printing or scanning. A clean, complete proposal helps you win the work faster.
Note
Proposals are usually started from a Deal: open the Deal, sync the customer, then click Generate Proposal (see the Deals manual). You can also create one directly from the Proposals list.
2. The Proposals List
The Proposals list shows every proposal with its key details and status. From here you create new proposals, open existing ones, send reminders and delete.
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Date | When the proposal was created. |
| Proposal # | The unique proposal number. |
| Title | The proposal’s title. |
| Client Name | The client the proposal is for. |
| Total Value (NZD) | The proposal’s total value. |
| Status | Draft, Sent or Signed (shown as a coloured badge). |
| Contact Email / Phone | The client’s contact details. |
| Valid Until | The date the proposal is valid through. |
| Signed By / Signed At | Who signed the proposal and when (once signed). |
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Create Proposal | Starts the proposal builder for a new proposal. |
| Open | Click a proposal to open and edit it in the builder. |
| Send Reminder | Re-email the proposal to the client if they haven’t responded. |
| Delete | Remove a proposal (asks you to confirm). |
| Search / Columns / Export / Saved Views | The same table tools as other lists, search, choose columns, export to Excel, and save layouts. |
3. Building a Proposal, the Step-by-Step Wizard
The proposal builder is a wizard with eight steps, shown along the top. Complete each step, then use Next to move on (and Back to return). You can click a previous step to jump back to it.
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1. Title Page | Basic info, the proposal title, subtitle and the client it is for. |
| 2. Table of Contents | Auto-generated from your content, no input needed. |
| 3. Introduction | Your opening message / cover note to the client. |
| 4. Services | Choose the services you are offering (from your Service Templates), and arrange them into options or packages where needed. |
| 5. Pricing | Set out the pricing and payment details for the chosen services. |
| 6. Payment Terms | How and when the client pays. |
| 7. Terms & Conditions | The legal terms for the engagement. |
| 8. Summary & Publish | Review everything, then publish and send to the client. |
Tip
Use Next and Back to move between steps; the step bar shows where you are. Your work is kept as a Draft until you publish. Most of what fills a proposal is pulled from things you set up elsewhere, the table below shows where each piece comes from.
Before you start, it helps to know where each part of a proposal comes from:
| Part of the proposal | Comes from | Set up / chosen in |
|---|---|---|
| Services & their prices | Your Service Templates | Settings → Service Templates (grouped by Service Categories) |
| Client name & email | Your client records | Clients menu (usually created by syncing a Deal) |
| Company logo & name | Your company profile | Settings → Company Settings |
| Terms & Conditions wording | Your engagement-letter templates | Settings → Engagement Letters |
| Introduction text | Built-in Formal / Casual suggestions (editable) | Typed on the Introduction step |
| Payment-terms wording | Built-in templates (editable) | Chosen on the Payment Terms step |
| Discount & tax rate | Entered per proposal | The Pricing step |
Note
If a service, client, logo or terms template is missing while building, set it up in the place shown above, then return to the proposal, the new item will be available.
3.1 Step 1, Title Page
The cover of the proposal and who it is for.
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Proposal number | Filled in automatically, you don’t type this. |
| Client | Search and select the client this proposal is for. |
| Client Email | Fills in automatically from the selected client. |
| Proposal Title | The headline, e.g. “Proposal between [Your Company] with [Client Company]”. |
| Subtitle / tagline | An optional sub-heading. |
| Valid Until | The date the proposal is valid through. |
| Company Logo | Shown automatically from your company profile. |
Where it comes from
The Client list you search comes from the Clients menu (clients are usually created by syncing a Deal). The Company Logo comes from Settings → Company Settings. If you started the proposal from a Deal, the client and email are already filled in.
- 1Select the Client (or confirm the one carried over from the Deal).
- 2Enter the Proposal Title and an optional subtitle.
- 3Set the Valid Until date.
- 4Click Next.
3.2 Step 2, Table of Contents
Proffa builds the table of contents automatically from the sections of your proposal, so there is nothing to fill in. Review it and click Next.
3.3 Step 3, Introduction
Your opening message / cover note to the client, written in a rich-text editor.
Where it comes from
To save time, use the Formal Template or Casual Template suggestions, Proffa inserts ready-made wording and personalises it with the client’s first name, which you can then edit.
- 1Click Formal Template or Casual Template to insert a starting message (optional).
- 2Edit the wording, keep it concise, address the client’s needs, and use their name.
- 3Click Next.
3.4 Step 4, Services (the heart of the proposal)
This is where you add the services you are offering. There are two ways to add a service:
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| From Template | Opens the service picker (slides in from the right). Choose services, and any add-ons, from your Service Templates. You can pick from one template or several at once (multi-select). |
| Add Custom Service | Add a one-off service by typing its name, description and price directly, when it isn’t in your templates. |
Where it comes from
“From Template” lists the Service Templates you set up in Settings → Service Templates, grouped by their Service Categories, with each service’s name, description and fee. If a service you need is missing, add it in Settings → Service Templates (and its category) first, then come back, or use Add Custom Service for a one-off.
Once added, each service can be expanded to edit its name, description and price, duplicated, or removed.
Grouping services into Options or Packages
As well as listing services individually, you can bundle them into groups that the customer chooses from. This is useful when you want to offer tiers (e.g. “Standard” vs “Premium”) or a fixed package. There are two kinds of grouping:
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Options | Turn on the Options (Optional) switch and click Add Option. An Option groups several services together so the customer picks between options, for example “Standard” vs “Premium”. |
| Packages | Group services into a Package, a bundle with its own name, description and price that the customer can select. |
Each Option or Package you create has:
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A label the customer sees, e.g. “Premium Package”. |
| Description | A short summary of what the group includes. |
| Price | The group’s price (it can total the included services, or be set for the bundle). |
| Services | The services in the group, added with From Template or Add Custom, just like individual services. |
How to group services
- 1Add your services to the proposal first (From Template or Add Custom).
- 2Turn on the Options (Optional) switch to enable grouping.
- 3Click Add Option (or create a Package) and give it a Name, Description and Price.
- 4Add the services that belong in that group, using From Template or Add Custom inside the group.
- 5Repeat to offer more than one choice, e.g. a Standard and a Premium option.
- 6Remove or duplicate groups and services as needed, then click Next.
Note
When you group services into Options or Packages, the customer sees these choices in their proposal view and picks the one they want before signing (see Section 5).
Tip
The prices shown here come from each service’s fee in Service Templates. Editing a price here only changes this proposal, it does not change the template.
3.5 Step 5, Pricing
Proffa adds up the services into a live total. You confirm the discount and tax here.
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Subtotal | Calculated automatically from the fees of the services you added. |
| Discount | An optional discount, either a fixed amount or a percentage. |
| Tax rate / Tax | The tax percentage to apply; you can treat prices as tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive. |
| Total | The final amount, after discount and tax, shown to the client. |
Where it comes from
The Subtotal is built from the service prices on Step 4 (which originates from your Service Templates). The discount and tax rate are entered here, on this proposal.
- 1Review the Subtotal.
- 2Enter a Discount if offering one (choose fixed amount or percentage).
- 3Set the Tax rate and whether prices include tax.
- 4Check the Total, then click Next.
3.6 Step 6, Payment Terms
States how and when the client pays, payment schedule, accepted methods and cancellation policy.
Where it comes from
Proffa provides built-in payment-terms templates you can drop in and then edit (for example a standard schedule and accepted payment methods). Pick one and adjust the wording to suit the engagement.
- 1Choose a payment-terms template to start from (optional).
- 2Edit the wording, schedule, methods and any deposit/milestone terms.
- 3Click Next.
3.7 Step 7, Terms & Conditions
The legal terms for the engagement, in a rich-text editor.
Where it comes from
The Terms templates you can choose from are your Engagement Letter templates, set up in Settings → Engagement Letters. When you pick one, Proffa automatically fills in merge fields, the client’s name and email, your company name and today’s date (for example {ClientFirstName}, {ClientLastName}, {ClientEmail}, {CompanyName}, {Today}), so the terms read correctly for this client.
- 1Choose a Terms & Conditions template (from your Engagement Letters), or start from the default.
- 2Review the auto-filled details and edit the wording if needed.
- 3Click Next to reach Summary & Publish (Section 4).
Note
If no Terms templates appear, create them in Settings → Engagement Letters first (see the Settings manual).
4. Reviewing, Publishing & Sending
The final step, Summary & Publish, is where you check everything and send the proposal to the client.
| Field / Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Send email notification to client | When ticked (default), publishing emails the proposal link to the client automatically. |
| Download PDF | Download the proposal as a PDF (with your company logo) for your records. |
| Publish | Finalise the proposal. With the email option ticked, the client is emailed a link to review and sign; the status becomes Sent. |
- 1On Summary & Publish, review the proposal summary.
- 2Leave “Send email notification to client” ticked to email it automatically (or untick it to publish without emailing).
- 3Optionally click Download PDF to keep a copy.
- 4Click Publish. Proffa generates the proposal and, if selected, emails the client a link to review and sign.
Note
The client receives an email titled like “New Proposal from [your company] - [proposal title]” with a secure link. Company name and logo come from Settings → Company Settings.
5. What the Client Sees & How They Sign
Why this matters
The client reviews and signs entirely online, no printing, scanning or posting. That makes it faster and easier for them to say yes.
The client opens the link from their email (no login needed) and steps through a read-only view of the proposal:
- Title page, your introduction and the services you proposed.
- Where you offered choices, the client selects the option or package they want.
- Pricing, payment terms and the terms & conditions.
- A final Review & Sign step.
5.1 Accepting and signing
- 1The client reviews each section.
- 2On Review & Sign, they enter their name and title and add their signature.
- 3They click to Accept the proposal. Its status becomes Signed, and they’re prompted to download the signed PDF for their records.
5.2 Declining
If the client doesn’t want to proceed, they can Decline the proposal (confirming the choice). Its status becomes Declined.
Note
A proposal can only be signed once. If the client re-opens an already-signed proposal, Proffa shows it as “Already Signed” rather than letting them sign again.
6. After Signing & Managing Proposals
- Track status, the Proposals list shows each proposal as Draft, Sent or Signed, with Signed By and Signed At once accepted.
- Signed PDF, the signed proposal can be downloaded as a PDF (including the client’s signature) for your records.
- Send a reminder, for proposals that are Sent but not yet signed, use Send Reminder on the list to re-email the client.
- Edit, open a proposal from the list to change it in the builder.
- Linked Deal, if the proposal came from a Deal, the Deal’s stage reflects progress (Proposal Sent, then Proposal Signed).
Important
Deleting a proposal cannot be undone. Creating proposals is also limited by your subscription (proposals per month); if you reach the limit, Proffa prompts you to upgrade in Settings → Billing.
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