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Create and send proposals
Learn how to create, customize, preview, and send professional proposals to your customers directly from QuickBooks Online. Use the proposal builder to create a proposal with your branding, add different content elements, link an estimate and email it to be e-signed. This helps you clearly outline your services and terms before the work starts.
| Note: Proposals and proposal templates are included with QuickBooks Online Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced, and with Intuit Enterprise Suite and Intuit Accountant Suite. |
Step 1: Create a proposal
To create a proposal, follow these steps:
Go to All apps
, then Customer Hub, then Proposals (Take me there).Select Create proposal.
Select Customer or Lead, then enter your customer or lead’s name in the search field.
Select Continue.
Step 2: Customize your proposal
You can customize your proposal with different elements. Here’s what you need to know:
Default elements:
Header: Includes your company info.
Proposal details: Includes your customer or lead’s info, the proposal date, and the proposal number.
Text: Describes the proposal, such as the services you’re offering, the scope of work, and any terms your customer should know.
Estimate: Shows your pricing. Select Add an estimate to link an existing estimate or create a new one.
E-signature: Allows your customer or lead to sign and agree to the proposal.
Required elements: The Header element is required and can’t be moved.
Element limits: You can include one Proposal details element, one E-signature element, and one Estimate element in a single proposal. You can include as many Text, Image, Divider, or Spacer elements as you need.
To customize your proposal, follow these steps:
From the proposal builder, select an element to edit the content.
(Optional) To add a new element to your proposal, select Add element, then select Text, Image, Divider, or Spacer as you need.
Select the Design tab, then choose the style settings for your proposal in the Text, Colors, and Base Styles sections. If you have a brand kit set up with QuickBooks, we’ll set your logo, fonts, colors, and styles as the default to match your brand.
Manage elements
Follow these steps to move, duplicate, copy, or delete an element in the proposal builder:
To move an element, select the element, then select the up arrow icon or the down arrow icon.
Note: The Header and Proposal details elements can’t be moved.To duplicate an element, select the element, then select the three-dot icon. Next, select Duplicate.
To copy an element, select the element, then select the three-dot icon. Next, select Copy.
To delete an element, select the element, then select the trash icon.
Add an estimate
You can add an estimate to your proposal to instantly pull in revenue totals and create clarity for your customers. The link works both ways: the proposal shows the estimate, and the estimate shows the proposal it’s linked to.
Important: You can add one estimate per proposal. You can link an estimate that’s still Pending, or create a new one directly from the proposal builder.
To add an estimate to your proposal, follow these steps.
In the proposal builder, go to the Estimate element and select Add an estimate.
Note: The Estimate element is included by default. If you removed it, select Add element, then Estimate to add it back.Select Estimate.
Select the estimate you want to link to your proposal. If you want to view the estimate, select Open estimate.
Select Add to proposal.
Note: If you want to create a new estimate for your proposal, select Create a new estimate.
| Note: To secure cash upfront for a project, request a deposit on the estimate. The deposit request becomes part of your proposal. Learn how to request a customer deposit on an estimate. |
Open a linked proposal from the estimate
After you link an estimate, you can get to the proposal from the estimate in two places:
On the Estimates page, select the arrow icon next to the estimate, then select View proposal. If the estimate isn’t linked to a proposal yet, you’ll see Create proposal instead. Select it to start a new proposal with the estimate already added.
In the estimate itself, find the linked proposal in the activity tracker. Select the down arrow, then select View proposal.
What happens when you link an estimate?
Your customer always sees the current estimate. The proposal doesn’t keep a copy. If you edit the estimate after you send the proposal, your customer sees the update the next time they open the proposal.
Pricing changes can reset an e-signature. If the estimate requires an e-signature, changing its pricing, line items, or deposit sets it back to Pending. Your customer or lead needs to sign the updated estimate. Learn more in Require an e-signature on an estimate.
Statuses stay in sync. When your customer or lead accepts or declines the proposal, the linked estimate is marked Accepted or Declined within a few minutes. If the estimate includes a deposit request, it’s marked Accepted once they pay the deposit. If they accept the estimate directly, a linked proposal that’s still pending is marked Accepted too.
Removing the estimate doesn’t delete it. If you delete the Estimate element, the estimate stays on the Estimates page as Pending and isn’t sent with the proposal. You can send it on its own or add it to another proposal.
Step 3: Preview your proposal
Before you send your proposal, you can preview it in three ways:
Desktop view
Mobile view
PDF view
To preview your proposal from the proposal builder, select Preview, then select Desktop, Mobile, or PDF.
Step 4: Send your proposal
When your proposal is ready, you can email it to your customer or lead. If you want to share your proposal with a direct link, select More actions, then select Share Link.
Here are a few important details about proposal emails:
Transactional email: Proposals are considered transactional emails. This means you can send them to customers or leads without marketing consent.
From email address: The From email address field must include a verified email address.
Required footer: For compliance reasons, the proposal email includes a required footer. This can’t be edited or removed.
Required button: The proposal email includes a View proposal button that links your customers to your proposal. This can't be edited or removed.
To send your proposal, follow these steps:
From the proposal builder, select Continue to send.
Review or edit your Send settings.
When you’re ready to send your proposal, select Send.
After you send your proposal to your customer or lead, track its status on the Proposals page.
Steps for your customer or lead
After your customer or lead receives your proposal, they can follow these steps to approve it:
In the proposal email, select the View proposal link.
Select Sign Proposal.
Complete the Full legal name field.
Select Sign.
Select Accept Proposal.
If they don’t want to approve the proposal, they can select Decline, then select Decline proposal to confirm.
If the linked estimate has a deposit request, your customer or lead is asked to pay it after they accept.
Use a proposal template
If you send similar proposals often, save time with a template. Templates live on the Proposals page, in the Templates tab. Here’s what you can do:
To create a template, select the Templates tab, then select Create template.
To save a proposal as a template, open it in the proposal builder, select More actions, then select Save as template.
To send a proposal from a template, select the template in the Templates tab, then select Use template. Then choose your customer or lead.
Next steps
Proposals help you pitch your work and win the job. After your customer accepts, you can convert the linked estimate into an invoice to bill for the work. Any deposit they already paid is applied to the invoice automatically. When they pay the invoice through QuickBooks, your books update with the payment, so there’s nothing to match by hand.
To get the most out of proposals:
Set up the estimate you’ll link. You can request a customer deposit on the estimate and require an e-signature on the estimate.
Convert the estimate into an invoice after your customer accepts. Learn how to convert an estimate into an invoice.
Let your customer pay the invoice online. Turn on online payments so they can pay by card or bank transfer right from the invoice. Learn how to take and process payments in QuickBooks Online.
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