How to Create a Proposal in the Backend

🧾 How to Create a Proposal

Proposals can be created in a few different ways:

• Convert an inspection to a proposal, or

• Create a new standalone proposal

You can create proposals for existing customers or even for a building not yet in your instance.

➕ Create a New Proposal

1. From the Proposals tab, click + New Proposal 

2. To convert an inspection to a proposal: Go to the Inspection Detail screen → select + Create → Proposal 

Once you’re on the New Proposal screen, follow the steps on each page to complete your proposal.

📋 Proposal Settings (Page 1)

Below are the details for Page 1 – Proposal Settings.
* Indicates a required field

Once you’ve completed Proposal Settings (Page 1), click Next to move to the Fee Summary page.

💵 Fee Summary (Page 2)

This page is where you’ll add Materials, Services, and Line Items to build your proposal’s pricing.

🧰 Materials & Services

Use this section to add any materials or services that make up the proposal.

Click Add Item, then start typing or scroll to find the material or service you want to add. Once selected, the item will appear in the list.

You can adjust the quantity, apply a markup or discount (either as a percentage or a dollar amount), and modify other details as needed.

Markups and discounts are not visible to customers on the proposal.

If your company uses proposal factors, you’ll see an option to apply these under the Price Factor column. Proposal factors are preset discounts or markups (located in the Price Book settings) — for example, instead of manually adding a 10% markup to each item, you can simply select the predefined factor from the dropdown.

🧾 Line Items

Below Materials & Services is the Line Items section.

Line Items are ideal for adding custom charges or labor descriptions that aren’t saved in your Materials & Services library.

Click Add Item, enter a short description, and add the unit price. Adjust the quantity and toggle the Taxable box if needed.

📊 Summary Line Items

Summary Line Items allow you to present a single combined cost rather than listing each material and service separately.

For example:

Annual Inspection + Deficiency Repairs – $2,500

When adding a Summary Line Item, note that there’s no quantity field. This section is meant for lump-sum pricing only. Any individual items that are grouped into a summary will be hidden from customer view when the proposal is sent.

🧩 Linking Deficiencies (Page 2) 

At the bottom of the Fee Summary page, you’ll see a list of any unresolved deficiencies for the selected building. If you’re creating a proposal to address these, you can link them here.

To add one or more deficiencies, select the checkboxes on the left side. You’ll then see options to Link or Link and Add.

• Link associates the deficiency with the proposal (and, if converted, the future work order). When linked, the deficiency’s status automatically updates through the quoting process (for example: Out for Quote, Quote Accepted, etc.).
• Link and Add does everything above, plus adds the deficiency as a line item on the proposal so you can assign a price to it.
• You can also click the ➕ icon to the right of a deficiency to link individual items one at a time.

If you’d like to include related photos with the selected deficiencies, make sure Include photos of selected deficiencies is checked before linking.

Once all materials, services, line items, and deficiencies have been added, verify the totals and click Next to move to Proposal Details (Page 3).

📝 Proposal Details (Page 3)

On this page, you’ll add the narrative and contractual information that appears on your proposal. You can choose from user-added options created in your Proposal Settings or create one-off entries directly on this page. Any one-off items can also be saved for future use.

This page includes four sections, none of which are required. 

Summaries

This section lets you add general proposal summaries or explanations of the work being quoted.

• Select a Summary from the dropdown (pulled from your user-added summaries in settings), or type a one-off summary directly into the content box.
• If you create a new one-off summary, you can click Save Record to save it for future proposals.
• You may add multiple summaries using + Add Summary.

Summaries typically describe the purpose of the proposal, project background, or high-level explanation of the quoted work.

Scopes of Work

Scopes of Work provide the specific tasks your team will perform if the proposal is accepted.

• Choose a predefined Scope of Work from your settings, or write a custom scope directly in the text editor.
• Use Save Record if you'd like to keep a new one for future proposals.
• Multiple scopes can be added using + Add Scope of Work.
• If a proposal is converted to a work order, the information in this field will map to the work order's Service Description. 

Exclusions

Use this section to call out anything not included in the proposal.

• Select an exclusion from your preset list, or type a custom exclusion.
• Save new exclusions for reuse by selecting Save Record.
• Add additional exclusions using + Add Exclusion.

Common exclusions include labor, permits, specialized equipment, or after-hours work.

Terms and Conditions

Add any contractual language or business terms related to the proposal.

• Choose from your saved Terms & Conditions templates (added via Proposal Settings), or create a custom set of terms directly on this page.
• Click Save Record to store newly created terms for future use.
• Add more using + Add Terms & Conditions.

Terms might include payment terms, scheduling expectations, warranty details, or contract duration.

Once all narrative sections are completed, click Next to move to Photos (Page 4).

📸 Photos (Page 4)

On the Photos page, you can choose which images you want to include with your proposal.

You’ll see two types of photos available:

1. Photos from inspections at this building
   • Any photos previously taken during inspections for the selected building will display here. You can check the photos you’d like to include with the proposal.
2. Photos uploaded from your computer
   • If you want to add additional images (such as site photos, equipment pictures, or documentation), click to upload them directly from your computer.

If any deficiencies were linked on the Fee Summary page and the “Include photos of selected deficiencies” option was checked, those deficiency photos will automatically appear here already selected for inclusion.

Once your photos are selected, click Next to move to Attachments (Page 5).

📎 Attachments (Page 5)

On the Attachments page, you can include any additional documents you want to send along with the proposal.

You’ll have two options for adding attachments:

1. Upload Files From Your Computer
   • Use the Name field to give the attachment a title, then click Choose File to upload a document directly from your device.
   • Click Add Attachment to attach it to the proposal.
   • Uploaded files will appear in the Attachments list, where you can download or delete them as needed.
2. Add Inspection Reports From the Building
   • Below the attachments area, you’ll see a list of generated inspection reports associated with the selected building. 
   • If you'd like to include any of these reports with the proposal, simply click the ➕ icon next to the report. 
   • Once added, the report will immediately appear in the attachment list at the top of the page.

After all attachments are added, click Next to move to Preview (Page 6).

👀 Preview (Page 6)

The Preview page displays the full proposal exactly as your customer will see it. This includes all the information added in the previous pages. Review all information for accuracy before sending.

At the bottom of the page, you’ll have two options:

Save — Saves the proposal in its current state without sending it to the customer. If saved without sending, the proposal status will be Draft.

Save and Send — Saves the proposal and immediately sends it to the customer. When sent, the proposal status updates to Out for Quote.

This completes the proposal creation process.