Proposals

A proposal is scope, price and agreement in one link. Your client reads it, accepts, signs and can pay, all on the same page.

Proposals is under Studio.

Build a proposal

Choose New proposal in Proposals and pick the client, or start one from a lead so it already knows who it is for.

1. Who it's for: their name and email.
2. The pitch: a Title, the Currency (GBP, USD or EUR), an optional Open until date, and an optional Intro and Scope. Both take light formatting.
3. Pricing: choose a style.
   • Simple — one fixed price: list your line items.
   • Packages — the client picks: offer up to 8 packages and up to 12 add-ons, and choose which one is preselected.
4. Payment schedule: optional. Split the total into up to 12 instalments. Each one becomes a real invoice when it falls due.
5. Gentle reminders: on unless you switch them off.
6. The agreement: optional. Pick a Contract template. See Contracts.

Choose Save draft at any point. A proposal can be given one of four looks: Your brand, Editorial, Minimal or Bold.

Payment schedules

Each instalment is due On acceptance, On a set date or a number of Days after acceptance.

For package proposals, instalments are percentages, with three starting points: Full, Deposit + balance (30% on acceptance, 70% thirty days after) and 3 payments.

If you leave the schedule empty, accepting the proposal does not raise an invoice. You invoice the work yourself.

Send it

1. Choose Send proposal.
2. Confirm with Send it.

Your client gets an email with the link. The proposal then locks: it can't be edited after sending. If it has an agreement, the contract text is filled in and frozen at that moment.

A proposal needs at least one priced line item or package before it can be sent.

What your client does

On the proposal page they can:

• Accept, or Accept and sign if there is an agreement. To sign, they type their full name. It must match the name they gave exactly.
• Decline, with an optional reason.

After accepting they see Accepted and signed., a link to download it as a PDF, and, when the first payment is due on acceptance, a link to view and pay the invoice.

What acceptance does

• The signature is recorded: their name, email, typed signature, the time, and the IP address and browser it came from.
• They become a client, or are linked to the client you already have with that email. A lead moves to Won.
• Instalments due on acceptance become invoices straight away. They are emailed to the client if you have Stripe connected, and left as drafts for you if you have not.
• Later instalments are raised when they fall due.
• You get an email to say it was accepted, and the client gets their signed copy.

Statuses

Draft, Sent, Viewed, Accepted, Declined and Expired. A proposal becomes Viewed the first time the client opens it, and Expired once its Open until date passes without an answer.

Reminders and nudges

With Gentle reminders on, Forge nudges the recipient once 3 days after you send it and once the day before it expires. Two at most. You can switch them off for a proposal after sending.

In the list, Nudge appears on a proposal that has been waiting 5 days, so you can follow up yourself.

On the Free plan

Free holds up to 3 open proposals at a time, counting those that are Sent or Viewed. Paid plans are not limited. See Plans and billing.