Proposals overview

A proposal is one document with your services, prices and engagement letter. Your client opens it from a secure link, picks an option, signs, and pays online where you have online payments set up. Proposals live under Billing in the left sidebar.

How proposals work

You draft a proposal with your services and pricing, attach an engagement letter if you use one, and send it. The approver contact receives an email with a secure link; no sign-in is needed. Your client steps through the proposal, adds payment details if the proposal requires them, agrees to the terms, signs electronically, and pays any amount due today. When a payment method was added first, that amount is charged to it as soon as they sign. Tidyflow creates an acceptance invoice only when something is due at acceptance, and a recurring invoice schedule if the proposal includes recurring services. One-time fees can also be billed on Job completion or when you request the balance.

Create a proposal

1. Go to Billing and open Proposals
2. Click the + button, give the proposal a title, and click Create Draft
3. Add an introduction, then build the pricing from One-time fees and Recurring services line items
4. In the sidebar, choose the Client, the Approver Contact who will receive it, an Engagement Letter template if you want one included, and the currency and tax rate

Line items can link to a service from your catalog, which pre-fills the price and shows the service’s client-facing description on the proposal. Linked Service terms also appear in an engagement letter containing {{service_schedule}}; see How to send an engagement letter.

The Invoicing section below the line items controls when recurring billing starts and whether invoices auto-send or wait as drafts; see How proposal invoicing works.

Customize a service for one proposal

Edit a proposal line’s service name, quantity or unit price directly on the proposal. To change a linked service’s description for this proposal only, open the service menu beside the line and choose Edit description for this proposal. Reset to catalog description restores the shared description. See Services overview for how shared service defaults reach draft proposals.

Add a video to a proposal

Proposal videos are available on the Pro plan. A proposal can show two videos: an Intro video at the start of the proposal and a Next steps video your client sees after signing.

1. Upload or record the video in Loom, YouTube or Vimeo
2. Copy the video’s share link
3. In the proposal editor, click + Add video below the introduction and paste the link into Intro video or Next steps video

The video previews in the editor once the draft saves. Videos are not included in the proposal PDF. If the video is private or password protected on Loom, YouTube or Vimeo, your client needs access there to watch it, so use an unlisted or public link.

To add the same videos to every new proposal, go to Settings > Billing, find Proposal videos, and click Edit. You can still change or remove the videos on each proposal.

Preview a proposal before sending

Click Preview as client below Send Proposal. Tidyflow saves your current draft edits, then opens the proposal in a new tab as your client will see it. The Sign step shows what the client will pay or authorize, and clients cannot accept a draft preview. See How to send an engagement letter for checking the assembled letter in the same preview.

Offer package options

Switch the pricing section from Single pricing to Packages to offer tiered options, for example Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Each package has its own line items, and you can mark one as Recommended. Your client compares the options and picks one as part of accepting, and only the selected package is invoiced.

Send a proposal or share its link

Click Send Proposal to email the secure link to the approver contact. The send dialog shows the deadline and reminder schedule; click Change to adjust them for this send. You can check Preview email first to see the exact subject and body, and open What happens when they accept to review the billing that follows. If you would rather send the link yourself, use Share link in the actions menu; it makes the proposal live and copies the link without emailing your client.

Sending a proposal with an amount due today requires online payments to be connected. Set that up once in Settings under Billing, in the Online payments section.

Proposal expiry and reminders

New proposals expire 14 days after sending, and Tidyflow can email your client automatic reminders until they respond. You can change the expiry on each proposal and set the reminder schedule for your workspace. See Proposal expiry and reminders.

What your client sees

Your client steps through Introduction, Options when there are packages, Pricing, Terms when a letter or terms are included, and Payment when the proposal requires payment details. The final step is Sign. They type their full name, choose a signature style or upload a signature image, and confirm their agreement.

The final button reads Accept proposal without online payments, Sign and accept, Sign and pay when a payment method was added first, or Sign and continue to payment when an amount is due and no method was added. Adding a payment method never charges the client until they sign. See How proposal invoicing works for the settings that control this.

After acceptance

The proposal shows as Accepted, with the signature and an audit trail (name, email, time, and IP address) on the proposal and its PDF. A client with the status Prospect becomes Active, and an automation can create a Job from a template when a proposal is accepted; see Automate client onboarding. Tidyflow creates invoices according to the proposal’s billing schedule and collects any amount due at acceptance online. What gets billed and emailed, and when, is covered in How proposal invoicing works.

Proposal statuses

A proposal moves from Draft to Sent when it goes out, Viewed once your client opens it, and then Accepted, Declined, or Expired if its deadline passes unsigned. Older proposals that were waiting on a Stripe checkout show Awaiting payment or Awaiting payment details until that checkout completes. To list them, filter by the Awaiting completion status. Withdrawing a live proposal marks it Withdrawn and revokes the client’s link.

Record an acceptance made outside Tidyflow

If your client agreed on a call or by email, open the proposal’s menu and choose Mark accepted. Pick the package the client agreed to, add an optional note, and Tidyflow records the acceptance without emailing your client; the invoice is created as a draft for you to send. The audit trail records which team member accepted.

Mark accepted also completes a proposal your client signed but left showing Awaiting payment details. Their signature and package choice are kept, and no payment method is saved. Your client can add one later from the client portal or when they pay their first invoice online.

Other things to know

• Duplicate any proposal to reuse it as a new draft
• PDF is available at every status; before acceptance it includes ruled signature lines, so you can print it for a wet signature
• Proposals are numbered with a configurable prefix, PROP- by default, in Settings under Billing
• Accepted proposals are kept as an immutable record and cannot be deleted; duplicate one to start over