How to send an engagement letter

In Tidyflow, engagement letters are sent as part of a proposal. You write reusable letter templates in Settings, attach one to a proposal, and your client reviews and signs the letter when they accept the proposal. The letter and the proposal are covered by one signature, so there is no separate signing step for the client.

If you want to send an engagement letter on its own as a PDF, without a proposal, use electronic signatures instead. See Send a PDF engagement letter instead below.

How engagement letters work

Engagement letter templates live in Settings under Engagement letters. A template is the reusable wording of your letter. You can use the same template for different clients and Jobs, with the services and fees supplied by each proposal.

When you send a proposal, Tidyflow fills in the client and firm placeholders and locks the template wording onto the proposal. The proposal also keeps its own copy of linked service descriptions and terms. Later changes in Settings do not rewrite a sent proposal. The service schedule is displayed in previews and on the client’s proposal, then fixed to the selected package when the client accepts.

Your client opens the proposal from a link, reviews the engagement letter on the terms step, ticks a box confirming they have read and agree to the engagement letter and proposal, and signs electronically. The accepted proposal, including the letter and the signature, stays on the proposal record in Tidyflow.

Only workspace owners and admins can manage engagement letter templates.

Create an engagement letter template

Go to Settings and open Engagement letters
Click the + button in the top right
Give the template a name, for example “Standard Engagement Letter”
Write the letter content and click Create letter

Tidyflow includes a starter template for your region, so you usually edit an existing template rather than starting from a blank page.

The editor supports headings, bold, italic, underline, lists, and links. You can use these placeholders anywhere in the letter. Client and firm details are filled in when the proposal is sent; the service schedule is rendered when the letter is displayed:

Placeholder	Replaced with
`{{firm_name}}`	Your firm name
`{{client_name}}`	The client’s name
`{{contact_first_name}}`	The first name of the contact receiving the proposal
`{{date}}`	The date the proposal is sent
`{{start_date}}`	The proposal’s start date
`{{service_schedule}}`	Proposal line descriptions, quantities and fees, followed by linked Service terms; acceptance fixes the selected package’s schedule

Customize the scope and fee for each proposal

You do not need a separate letter template for each Job. Keep general wording in the template, reusable service conditions in Settings > Services, and the client’s prices and specific deliverables in the proposal.

Content	Where to edit it	Where the client sees it
General letter wording	Settings > Engagement letters	Engagement letter
Proposal line descriptions and prices	The proposal’s pricing lines	Pricing and the letter’s service schedule
Detailed Service description	Description in Service settings, or Edit description for this proposal in the proposal’s Service menu	Proposal pricing section
Service-specific conditions	Service terms in service settings	Engagement letter, below the service schedule

The template must contain {{service_schedule}} for the schedule and Service terms to appear. A custom line that is not linked to a service contributes its line description and price, but has no Service terms to include. Each linked service’s terms appear once, even if several lines use that service.

The detailed Service description is optional. To tailor it for one client, open the linked Service menu beside that proposal line and choose Edit description for this proposal. The change affects only that proposal and does not change the Service defaults. This description appears in Pricing, not inside the engagement-letter body. The proposal and letter are covered by the same signature.

The proposal editor lets you select a letter template; it does not offer a separate editor for that proposal’s general letter wording or Service terms. Edit service defaults changes the shared service. See Service Types Overview for how changes to defaults reach drafts.

Preview the engagement letter before sending

In the proposal editor, click Preview as client below Send Proposal. The preview saves your current draft edits first. Review Pricing for the scope and fees, then Terms for the assembled engagement letter. For packages, select an option to check its services and terms. A draft preview cannot be accepted.

See Proposals overview for the full creation and acceptance flow.

Set a default template

To have a template pre-selected on every new proposal, go to Settings, open Engagement letters, open the row menu on the template, and choose Set as default. You can change or remove the default at any time; this only affects new proposals.

Send the letter with a proposal

Go to Billing and open Proposals
Create a proposal, or open an existing draft
In the Engagement Letter dropdown, choose the template to attach, or None to send the proposal without a letter
Send the proposal

Your client receives an email with a secure link. Clients do not need to sign in to review and accept. On the terms step they see the heading Engagement Letter with your letter text, confirm they have read and agree, and sign electronically as part of accepting the proposal.

Send a PDF engagement letter instead

If your engagement letter is a PDF, or you want a signature without sending a proposal, use electronic signatures. Upload the PDF to the client and choose Request Signature, or save it as a reusable signature template in Settings under Signature templates so you can send the same document to any client. See Electronic Signature Overview.

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