Creating Proposal Templates

Creating Proposal Templates

Megan Sullivan

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Save any standard language or verbiage you like on proposals, agreements, and contracts to your proposal template library.

WHERE TO START

Proposal templates live in your template library -- Templates > Proposals

HOW

From an existing project proposal...

  1. Within the project, select Proposals
  2. Find the ellipse icon ("...") at the far right of the proposal you'd like to save to your template library
  3. Select to "Create Template"
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From the template library...

  1. Select Templates from the top, then Proposals to see your full library list
  2. "+ New" to create a new one from scratch OR make a copy of an existing template using the ellipse menu ("...")
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PARTS & PIECES

Title - Name the document!  Perhaps for your business you have clients sign off on a fuller construction contract or even just a preliminary design agreement.  Build out as many types of templates as you need to represent different agreements.

Select to include what parts make sense from the options presented:

Introduction - Provide an introduction to the proposal.  Include such details as your company logo, general project information, and other opening remarks.  Customize this information to fit your style and business using the formatting toolbar.

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You can even insert important project data fields using the "Insert Project Data" option (shown above).  Select from inserting the project's name, address, starting price, clients, and more.  See these data points pull in once the proposal is on a project.  Learn more about inserting and customizing project data HERE!

Estimate - Select to include the estimate and specs/selections on the proposal document.  Name this section to reflect what the scope of work and price mean for you and this type of proposal.  Then choose what to include and show.  Set what defaults make sense for the template to save additional clicks down the road.

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What to Include?

  1. Specifications and Selections = Allow you to include all items from the Estimate and Specs & Selections pages on the proposal.
    Learn More: What are Specification and Selection Items?
  2. Specifications and Only Selections with Allowances = For FIXED PRICE projects, this allows you to show specification items as well as any selection items where you've indicated an allowance is given.
  3. Specifications = If only Specification items should be displayed on the proposal document.

What Options Should Show?

  1. Show Category Subtotals = Allows you to display a breakdown of price at the CATEGORY level of detail while still showing the cost of allowances and choices.
  2. Show Spec/Selection Subtotals = Provides an additional layer of pricing detail at the ITEM level.
  3. Hide $0.00 Subtotals = Option to hide pricing for any Category, Item, or Cost Line that might not have any costs associated with them.  These will appear without any numbers.
  4. Show Cost Lines = Select to show the description, quantity, and unit type of the cost lines associated with each item.
  5. Show Cost Line Subtotals = Decide to further show the price allotted to each cost line.  
  6. Show Client Information = Decide if you'll show the Client Information scope of work text from the Item Details view of an item.  This field often contains instructions or directions specific to clients about the various areas of work and choice making process.
    Learn More: Difference between Specification, Client, & Trade Partner Info Boxes
  7. Show Choices Made by Clients = If your clients have already started making decisions, this option allows you to indicate those chosen pieces.  The Proposal will mark the selected choices in bold and provide you a total of decided selections at the bottom of the proposal.
  8. Show Tax Separately = If you have a tax defaulted in your estimate configuration settings, this check box will allow you to line item the total amount of tax calculated on a project separately at the bottom of the estimate section.

Selection Schedule - Include a section detailing the deadlines for selections to your clients.  Name this section whatever makes sense to your business and process knowing it will auto populate with a list of the selections on a project and the corresponding deadlines you've indicated.

Learn How: Setting Up Selection Deadlines

Allowance Summary - Provide your clients with a concise list of all the allowances you've set up on this project plus their dollar amounts.  Give this section a title that suits your business and process.
NOTE: This section will appear on Fixed Price projects.

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Closing - Finish out your proposal with any final contractual or agreement language you might need the client to agree to.  Just like with the introduction text at the beginning, you can format this to suit your needs.  Have contractual language already formatted in another document?  Simply copy and paste relevant text into CoConstruct to get everything in one place.

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Signature Lines - Decide for this particular template which signatures you'd like to capture.  Choose if all clients on a project and who from your team might need to sign the document to save steps when creating these on projects.  Select if an electronic signature is required for approval from these parties.  If you know based on your business processes who generally needs to sign these proposals and contracts, set up the basics in the template library to make creating proposals a snap!

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FINALIZING THE PROPOSAL TEMPLATE

Once you've gotten the desired text and details together, Save & Preview the proposal to get a good look at the potential end result.  This template will now be ready to go anytime you need it!

Note: This enhanced proposal function is only available on CoConstruct Core, Standard, and Plus plans.