Proposals overview

A proposal is a scope-of-work and pricing document your client reviews, accepts, and signs online. When the client accepts, Tidyflow creates the invoice for you, and can take payment at the same time. 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, agrees to the terms, signs electronically, and pays if there is an amount due today. Tidyflow then creates an invoice from the accepted proposal, and a recurring invoice schedule if it includes recurring services.

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; see Service Types Overview. Recurring services carry their own schedule, including frequency, start date, and whether generated invoices are saved as drafts or auto-sent.

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 it, or share a link

Click Send Proposal to email the secure link to the approver contact. You can check Preview email in the send dialog first to see the exact subject and body. 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.

What your client sees

Your client steps through Introduction, Options (when there are packages), Pricing, Terms with your engagement letter, and finally Sign. They type their full name, sign by choosing a signature style or uploading a signature image, and tick a checkbox confirming they agree to the engagement letter and proposal. Depending on the total, the final button reads Accept Proposal, Accept & Pay, or Accept & Save Card. Card payment happens on Stripe’s checkout, and a saved payment method can cover future recurring invoices automatically.

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. The invoice for the accepted amount is created for you, and recurring services continue as scheduled invoices; see Create and send an invoice.

Proposal statuses

A proposal moves from Draft to Sent when it goes out, Viewed once your client opens it, and Pending Payment while a payment is in progress, before finishing as Accepted or Declined. 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.

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