Create & apply proposal templates

Proposal templates are used to define the scope of an engagement between your firm and a client. Create as many proposal templates for different uses (bookkeeping, single-year tax prep, audit, representation, financial analysis, clean-up, payroll, etc.) as you need.

Create proposal templates

A proposal template can be created by a firm owner, an admin or any team member who has manage templates  access rights. It’s helpful to design templates in advance so that you have them ready to go or to further customize.

To create a proposal template, go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, select Proposals & ELs, then click Create template.

Or access the template creation page by adding the Send proposal/EL automation while editing a pipeline, then clicking on New template.

Proposal template creation flow

Proposal consists of several sections, each of them is presented to a client on a separate page. You have the option to customize which sections will the proposal template include and what will be inside each of them:

• General
• Introduction
• Services
• Terms
• Send

Tip

While your services, billing and payment options may require customization for each client, having a general proposal template with filled-in Introduction and Terms pages is a practical approach. This enables you to insert them when crafting a proposal swiftly.

General

First, add some basic information about your proposal and define settings:

a) Template name: Enter the title of your proposal template (clients won’t see it).

b) Team member: Select the team member who will receive the payment associated with a proposal.

c) Signature requirement: Select whether one or all signatories must sign the proposal for it to be considered signed. 

d) Name: Enter the title of this proposal (clients will see it). Here, you can use shortcodes to include the account name, next year’s date and other dynamic data.

Introduction

This is a place where you can introduce yourself. Explain to your clients who you are, what services you provide, the value you bring, and any other information you want to share. Include images and videos to make your self-presentation shine (the maximum image size is 5 MB). 

Fill out the following sections:

a) Title: Add a title that aligns with your branding or the specific content you’re including (clients will see it).

b) Text body: Add your introduction here. Use shortcodes to include the account name, next year’s date and other dynamic data.

c) Format: Use different tools (font, alignment, links and so on) to work with text.

d) Insert: Add a logo, upload pictures from your computer, and embed video, if needed (YouTube and Loom videos are supported).

Services

At this step, you have the option to present your client with your services or even let them choose from your different packages. When setting services up, you can ask the client for a deposit on acceptance, link recurring invoice with automatic payment or send the proposal with a list of services only. You will be able to issue an invoice at any later point as well.

You have these options for presenting your services to clients:

• Tiered packages let you offer up to 3 service bundles within a single proposal. This allows you to present different service levels (such as Bronze, Silver, Gold) and let clients compare options, select the package that fits their needs, and sign—all in one flow. You can reorder packages to control the order in which they appear, and set up tags to be assigned automatically when a client chooses a specific package.

• List of services is a fixed-priced proposal with a list of services. Clients review the services you’re offering but cannot choose between different options—they either accept or decline the entire proposal.

• No service: Just skip the section.

Here’s how they look from client’s side: list of services on the left, tiered packages on the right.

If you have decided to list the services or add tiered proposals, you will then need to add services and/or invoices and set up payment options. See dedicated article for the details.

Terms

The Terms page is where you can provide your engagement letter or contract that outlines the terms of the relationship between your firm and the client.

Fill out the following sections:

a) Title: Add a title that aligns with your branding or the specific content you’re including (clients will see it).

b) Text body: Add your terms of agreement here. Use shortcodes to include the account name, next year’s date and other dynamic data.

c) Format: Use different tools (font, alignment, links and so on) to work with text.

d) Insert: Add a logo, upload pictures from your computer, and embed video, if needed (YouTube and Loom videos are supported).

Send

Your client will receive a link via email to view and sign the proposal. Here, you can customize the email that will be sent, set up automatic reminders and select the payment method for the linked invoices:

a) Allowed payment methods: This is how you want your invoices to be paid (either by credit card, bank debit, or both). We support a number of payment methods for your clients .

b) Automatic invoice payment: When enabled, clients provide payment details once, and invoices are charged automatically without additional authorization required.

• This option appears only if you issue invoices within proposals .
• It could be turned on only if you have Stripe or TaxDome Payments set up as a default payment method for your firm.
• When disabled, clients will be asked to provide payment details for each invoice.

c) Custom message in email: Toggle on to craft a custom message which will replace the default text in the email system notification. When composing a message template, you can use account and date shortcodes.

d) Reminders: Toggle on to enable sending automatic reminders for pending proposals.

Once you’ve done, save your template. Now, you can apply it when creating a proposal.

Add proposal templates from the Marketplace

You can download ready-made proposal templates with the best practices. To add a proposal template from the Marketplace:

1. Go to  Templates > Marketplace from the left menu bar and open the Proposals & ELs tab. 2. Click  Get free on the template you want to add or click on its price and proceed with the payment if it’s a paid template.

3. Go to  Templates > Firm templates, open the Proposals & ELs tab and click on the name of the proposal template to begin editing. Make sure to insert info about your firm in all places where it is needed.

Apply proposal templates

Once you’ve created a template, you can use it to speed up the process of making new proposals. Here’s how:

1. Create a new proposal either by clicking New at the top left and selecting Proposal or by selecting one or more recipients in your Accounts list and then clicking on Send Proposal.

2. Click in the Template field, then select a proposal from the pull-down menu.

3. Go through the proposal steps and make edits, if needed, then send.

   

   Note

   Changes you make to the proposal don’t alter the selected template.

Edit proposal templates

To make changes to a proposal template, follow these steps:

1. Go to Templates > Firm templates from the left menu bar, open the Proposals & ELs tab, then either click on the proposal template’s name or click three dots to the far right of the name and select Edit.

2.  Go through the proposal steps, make edits and save.

Note

The changes you make to a proposal template are not reflected in the proposals already created with that template.

Duplicate proposal templates

Create new proposal templates based on existing ones: click three dots to the far right of the proposal template’s name, then select Duplicate. The template’s copy will be saved with the appropriate suffix (e.g., Proposal (2)).

Delete proposal templates

To remove a proposal template completely, go to Templates > Firm templates from the sidebar menu, then open the Proposals & ELs tab. Click three dots to the far right of the proposal template’s name, click Delete, then confirm deletion.

Your proposal templates list

TaxDome lets you easily track and manage your proposal templates. To view them, navigate to Templates > Firm templates from the sidebar, then select Proposals & ELs.

The Proposals & ELs page can be customized to suit your needs. Available columns include:

• Template name: The internal name of the proposal template that you see when selecting it. This name is not visible to clients.
• Used in pipelines: Shows whether this template is used in pipelines. Click the checkmark to view all related pipelines.
• Proposal name: The title clients see on the proposal document.
• Has a deposit(s): Indicates whether the template is set to request a deposit upon proposal acceptance.
• Controls: Lets you open the three-dot menu with options to Edit, Duplicate, or Delete the template.

The proposal template list is available to the firm owner, admin, or any team member with permission to manage templates . Otherwise, this page will not be available.

Customize proposal template list

You can customize the proposal template list to fit your workflow. To sort templates, click the up/down arrow next to the column header you want to sort by.

To configure which columns appear, click the gear icon at the top right of the table. From there, you can enable, disable, or reorder columns to your preference. Click Apply to save your changes or Reset to restore all default columns.

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