Set up services and payments in proposals

When creating proposals, you have extensive customization options to tailor them to your needs. In this guide, we’ll explain the available configuration options and how to set them up.

The setup process centers around two key decisions: how to present your services to clients and what payment policy to apply.

Note

Setting up services, payments and packages in proposals is possible either when you are working on the proposals template or preparing a proposal for your client, so please make sure you are on the Services step of the proposal/template creation.

Step 1. Choose how to present your services

The way you present your services can impact how clients make decisions. You can either offer tiered packages that guide clients toward different service levels or present a single list of services.

• Tiered packages work well when you want to offer different levels of service or help clients choose between multiple options. This approach is commonly used for service level differentiation (basic, standard, and premium tiers) or scope-based packages (structuring tiers around the breadth of services included).

• List of services works best when the scope is already agreed upon or for one-off projects with clear deliverables.

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

Step 1.1. Set up package

Once you’ve chosen the Tiered packages option on the Services step of the proposal/template creation, you will need to add packages. Click Set up package.

Fill in the package details . On the right, you can see a preview of how the package will be presented to the client.

Add more packages

You should add at least two packages. Adding only one package works like a fixed-price proposal. You can create all packages from scratch or duplicate the existing ones and edit the copy. To add a new package, click Add another package and choose one of the options.

Once you’ve added two or more packages, you can reorder them by dragging and dropping.

Step 2. Choose your payment policy and fill out details

After deciding how to present your services, choose your payment approach. TaxDome offers four options based on common use cases and billing needs:

• Send a price list only
• Issue an invoice along with proposal
• Request a deposit, invoice later
• Request a deposit with scheduled invoice

Once you’ve finished setting up the Services step, you can continue your proposal preparation. Learn more in the dedicated article .

Send a price-list only proposal

If you don’t want to collect payment from the client immediately within the proposal, you can send a price list only. This works with both tiered packages and fixed-price proposals. This option is ideal for engagement letters with new leads where you want to outline the scope and pricing, but will invoice later based on actual work performed.

How to set up

1. Go to the Services step of your proposal or template.
2. Select either Tiered packages or List of services. If using tiered packages, add up to 3 packages .
3. In the Payment section, choose a payment strategy:

• For Deposit requirement: select No – don’t collect deposit.
• For Issue invoice for balance: select No – don’t issue invoice.

4. Add line items and review the summary.
5. Click Save (when configuring a package) or just proceed to the next step if there’s a single service list.

Include invoice in proposals

Including invoices in proposals keeps your billing organized by connecting payments directly to the services clients agree to. You can either collect payment immediately when the proposal is signed or issue an invoice for later payment. Common scenarios include:

• Subscription-based services: Include recurring invoice with auto-pay for monthly bookkeeping or ongoing compliance.
• Discounted pricing: Add a discount to a one-time invoice with manual payment for loyalty offers.
• Milestone-based projects: Issue multiple one-time invoices at different stages.
• Hourly or variable-scope work: Use one-time invoice with manual payment for pay-as-you-go engagements.

How to set up

1. Go to the Services step of your proposal or template.
2. Select either Tiered packages or List of services. If using tiered packages, add up to 3 packages .
3. In the Payment section, choose a payment strategy:

• For Deposit requirement: select No – don’t collect deposit.
• For Issue invoice for balance: select Yes – issue invoice.

4. Set up an invoice requirements.
5. Add line items .
6. Click Save (when configuring a package) or just proceed to the next step if there’s a single service list.

7. Go to the Send step:

   • For Allowed payment methods, select credit card, bank debit, or both. This controls how clients can pay the invoices linked to the proposal.
   • Turn on Automatic invoice payment so the invoice is charged automatically using the payment details the client saves at signing — no additional authorization required.

Request a deposit, invoice later

You can collect a deposit when the client signs the proposal. The deposit goes to the client’s credit balance, and you create the invoice from the signed proposal with one click when you’re ready to bill . This ensures you receive payment before starting work on tax returns, audits, or advisory projects.

How to set up

1. Go to the Services step of your proposal or template.
2. Select either Tiered packages or List of services. If using tiered packages, add up to 3 packages .
3. In the Payment section, choose a payment strategy:

• For Deposit requirement: select Yes – collect deposit.
• For Issue invoice for balance: select No – don’t issue invoice.

4. Add line items .

5. Set up a deposit .

6. Click Save (when configuring a package) or just proceed to the next step if there’s a single service list.

Request a deposit with scheduled invoice

Collect a deposit when the client signs and have an invoice for the remaining balance issued automatically on a date you set. The deposit goes to the client’s credit balance at signing; on the invoice’s scheduled date, the credit is applied — automatically if the proposal has Automatic invoice payment on, or by the client at checkout if it’s off.

Common scenarios include:

• Engagement with an upfront commitment and a scheduled bill: collect a deposit on signing, post the balance invoice on a specific date
• Recurring engagement with an upfront commitment: collect a deposit and bill the rest as a recurring invoice
• Multi-invoice project: collect a deposit on signing and split the remaining work across several one-time or recurring invoices

How to set up

1. Go to the Services step of your proposal or template.

2. Select either Tiered packages or List of services. If using tiered packages, add up to 3 packages .

3. In the Payment section, choose a payment strategy:

   • For Deposit requirement, select Yes – collect deposit.
   • For Issue invoice for balance, select Yes – issue invoice.

4. Set up the invoice . When combined with a deposit, invoice could be issued only on a specific date (no On acceptance option).

5. Set up the deposit .

6. Click Save (when configuring a package) or proceed to the next step if there’s a single service list.

7. Go to the Send step:

   • For Allowed payment methods, select credit card, bank debit, or both. This controls how clients pay both the deposit at signing and the scheduled invoice.
   • Turn on Automatic invoice payment if you want the scheduled invoice to be charged automatically on its issue date, using the payment details the client saves at signing. With this off, the client pays the invoice manually from their portal, where the Apply credits option is on by default.

Note

When the proposal contains multiple invoices (one-time, recurring, or both), the deposit appears in the summary of every invoice. A percentage deposit on a recurring invoice is calculated from the total of all recurrences.

For field-level details on the Services screen — packages, invoice, line items, and deposit fields — see Proposal field reference .

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