Here’s What You Need to Know About Proposals in FreshBooks

Please note: Proposals are only available to those on Plus and Premium plans.

Let’s say you’ve just been asked to submit a proposal for a client you’d love to land—but you have a million other things on the go. Whether you’re breaking ground at a construction site or working on final revisions for stakeholders, it can sometimes be hard to get out from under your workload long enough to give a proposal the attention it deserves.

That’s where FreshBooks Proposals come in. They allow you to create a professional-grade pitch as easily as you whip up invoices and estimates—all within FreshBooks.

What Are Proposals?

Proposals are more detailed Estimates that allow you to add rich text content and images to showcase the unique value that you can offer prospective clients. Without leaving FreshBooks, you can create and customize professional Proposals that help you clearly outline a project’s scope, timeline and deliverables.

Why Should I Use Proposals?

Proposals help you convey the value of your services to clients upfront. Whether it’s a follow-up to a great meeting, a response to an RFP (request for proposal), or a cold pitch to new clients, Proposals help secure new business.

How Do I Create a Proposal?

It’s easy! To create a Proposal in FreshBooks:

1. Log into your account.
2. Go to the Estimates section.
3. Click on the Create New… button and select Proposals.
4. Fill in each section of your New Proposal. That’s it!

Here’s what it looks like in-app:

What Can I Include In Proposals?

Proposals in FreshBooks allow you to add:

• Your company logo
• Custom sections like Overview, Scope of Work and Timeline
• Pricing (using the same format as Estimates and Invoices)
• Detailed notes
• Terms for business
• E-Signatures (which allow you to get clients to sign-off on Proposals quickly and securely)

Here’s a look at the various sections you can add to Proposals (including rich text content and images):

If you want to learn more about the ins and outs of how to customize a Proposal in FreshBooks, read more here.

What Are the Benefits of Using Proposals in FreshBooks?

Proposals offer business owners a number of advantages:

EASY TO USE

Built right into FreshBooks, Proposals are as easy to use as the Invoicing and Estimates features in your FreshBooks account. While creating proposals with Word or Google offers flexibility, it also means spending more time with spacing, margins, fonts, colors and other formatting. With the Proposals feature in FreshBooks, that’s all taken care of.

CONSISTENT & PROFESSIONAL

The same letterhead and color scheme you use for Invoices and Estimates in FreshBooks will appear in Proposals for a clear and streamlined look. You can even add images or graphics to your proposal for extra visual appeal and/or to showcase your work.

QUICK TO SET UP

Creating a Proposal in FreshBooks is a cinch. No more PDFs and email threads. Plus, your client can accept your proposal and seal the deal quickly with an e-signature directly in FreshBooks. And, when the time comes, you can easily convert your proposal to an invoice. Plus, each proposal you create in FreshBooks will be saved and easy to find. Now you don’t have to start each proposal from scratch or comb through your files looking for templates every time you want to create a new proposal

CUSTOMIZABLE

Add or remove sections to tailor your proposal in FreshBooks for each project and client. You can also add your own new sections, complete with images and formatted text to suit your unique proposals.

IMPROVES CLIENT COMMUNICATION

No more wondering if a client has seen your proposal. FreshBooks will notify you when they open a proposal and if they add comments to it. That way, you know exactly when and how to follow up.

KEEPS EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE

It’s handy to have all of your business records (invoices, estimates, expenses and proposals) in one place for easy reference. With all the information at your fingertips, you’ll have a good sense of your business activity and can make informed, big-picture decisions all from within FreshBooks. Plus, it makes filling in a proposal that much faster.

Need Help Getting Started?

If you have any questions about using Proposals in FreshBooks, a team of Support Rockstars is ready to help you out. Contact them here.

This post was updated in March 2021.