Templates and past proposals

Once you have a proposal you like, you don't have to set it up again. Save it as your template, or copy it for the next job.

Save a proposal as your template

A template is the starting point for new proposals. It keeps the pages and the wording, and leaves out the client’s name, address and date.

  1. Open the proposal

    Open the proposal from its project, not the editor. Click More and then Save as a template.

  2. Choose what to keep

    The Save as a template dialog with a name, the kind of job, a tick box to leave this job's lines and prices out, and a tick box to start new proposals from it
    1. 1Give it a name you’ll recognise.
    2. 2Leave this ticked to keep this job’s lines, prices and payment schedule out of the template. The group names stay, so the next estimate you import files into them.
    3. 3Tick this to start every new proposal from this template.

    Click Save template. From then on, the last option on the New document page says Start from your template. If you have more than one template, you pick which one under Which template?

Copy a past proposal

For a revised price on the same job, or a job much like one you’ve done, copy the old proposal instead of starting over.

  1. Choose the proposal to copy

    In the new project, click Create the proposal, then Copy a past document. Pick the proposal from the list and click Next.

  2. Decide what happens to the prices

    The money screen of the copy: bring this job's estimate, start the prices over, or keep these prices
    • Bring this job’s estimate reads the new estimate into the copied pages. This is usually the right choice for a new job.
    • Start the prices over keeps every line and blanks each price for you to fill in.
    • Keep these prices copies every line and price as it was. Use it for a revision of the same job.
  3. Check the words

    Most of the wording carries over. This screen lists anything that was about the old job, like pages that still name the old client, so you can deal with it.

    The words screen: the old proposal's list of what's not included differs from your standard, with a choice of which to use

    If the old proposal’s What’s not included list is different from your standard list on the Company page, you choose which one to start from. Pick the old proposal’s list if you tidied it there and want to keep it. You can also make it your new standard.

  4. Pick the pages and build it

    The last screen of the copy: the pages the new proposal will have, each with a tick box

    Untick any pages you don’t want, then click Make the proposal. Nothing is created until you do, and Start over at the top takes you back to the beginning.