How to Create and Send a Proposal for Customer Approval
When a job is estimated and ready, you can turn it into a proposal and send it to your customer to approve. This article covers setting up the proposal, previewing it, sending it, and tracking what happens next.
Before you start
Make sure your job is created and its work areas (for example, a patio and a planting area) are finished.
Step 1: Start a new proposal
Open the job.
Click Proposals.
Click Create New Proposal.
Step 2: Set up the proposal
Internal proposal name
This name is only for your team. Customers never see it. Use something that tells you what the proposal contains, such as Version 1 – All Work Areas.
Cover letter (optional)
The cover letter describes the job as a whole, not each work area. Use it to give the customer an overall picture before they see the details.
Simple example: "We plan to beautify your backyard with a patio and plantings."
On a bigger job, you might describe the whole backyard or front yard project in more detail.
Attachments (optional)
You can attach drawings, photos, or videos to the whole job, such as site plans or 3D renderings for a large install.
Upload a file from your computer, or
Attach Existing to pull in files that are already in the job's attachments folder.
Work areas
Pick which work areas to include. For a first proposal you'll usually select all work areas.
For each work area you'll see:
Description: The proposal description you wrote when you built the work area.
Attachments: Any photos you added to that work area, such as inspiration pictures.
Show Items (optional): Lists the individual items in the work area. You choose which items to show and whether to show the class, quantity, and price, in any combination. Many contractors prefer not to show items at all.
Lock this work area: A locked work area is already approved when the customer opens the proposal, so it must be part of the job. Leave it unlocked if the customer should be able to choose whether to include it.
Terms and conditions
These fill in automatically from your Company Settings. You can also add any links you want included.
Payment schedule
Your default payment schedule from Company Settings fills in here, and you can change it for this proposal. For example, you could change an install job to three payments by deleting one of the installments.
Auto-send down payment invoice when the customer approves: When this is on, the customer gets the first installment (down payment) invoice automatically as soon as they approve. When it's off, you handle the down payment yourself, for example by sending the invoice manually or picking up a check.
Payment methods
Turn credit card and/or ACH payments on or off.
Request payment method on file: Asks the customer to save a payment method.
Require payment method on file: The customer can't approve until they add one.
💡 Tip: Keeping a payment method on file is most useful for maintenance jobs, like mowing, where you bill the customer every month after the work is done.
General settings
Include pricing type: Shows whether the price is quoted, per visit, or time and materials.
Estimate sales tax: Lets the customer see that tax will be added to the job total.
Redirect to payment after approval: Takes the customer straight to payment once they approve, with no separate invoice needed.
When everything is set, click Create.
Step 3: Review and preview the draft
The new proposal starts as a Draft. From here you can:
Manage / Edit: Go back and fix anything, like a typo.
Preview: See exactly what the customer will see. That includes your company information and logo, the property address, the cover letter, each work area with its attachments, and the approval section where the customer consents, signs, and confirms.
View PDF: Open a PDF version of the proposal.
Copy Link: Grab the proposal link to text it or send it from your own email. This is the same link the customer gets when you send from SynkedUP.
Proposal timeline
Every proposal keeps a timeline that records each step: Created → Previewed → Sent → Opened → Approved. You can always see where a proposal stands.
Step 4: Send the proposal
Click Send Proposal.
Recipient: Pick from the email addresses on file for the customer.
CC (optional): Copy someone else, such as the customer's spouse.
Reply-to: Set this to the salesperson on the job.
Email message: Use the default email, or pick one of your saved email templates or canned responses.
Extra send settings
Allow customer to download PDF
Notify salesperson on every view: The salesperson gets an email each time the customer opens the proposal, which is useful for timely follow-up.
Show company address on the proposal
Follow-up emails: Choose how often reminders go out, how many are sent, and which email templates they use.
Click Send.
Step 5: Track the proposal
After sending:
The status changes to In Review.
The timeline shows when the customer opens and approves the proposal.
Follow-ups are active. If the customer hasn't acted after the time you set (for example, 3 days), they get a reminder email automatically.
Click Stop Reminders to stop follow-ups by hand. They also stop on their own once the customer approves.
Creating a new version
To change what you're offering, such as sending only the planting work area, create another proposal on the same job.
The earlier proposal is retired, and its link no longer works.
The new proposal gets a new link and starts as a draft, ready to send.
Give each version a clear internal name so you can tell them apart.
This keeps a record of every version you sent and how the offer changed over time.
If you have any questions, please don't forget to use our chat box in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. We will be more than happy to help you.