Creating a proposal
A good proposal answers your client's questions before they ask: what they're getting, when, where, and what it costs.
Every plan can create, duplicate, edit and save proposal drafts. Sending and sharing need Plus or Pro. See CoreHue plans.
Starting a proposal
- Use the plus beside Proposals in the sidebar, choose New proposal on the proposals list, or start from an inquiry or a contact.
- Work through the sections in the editor: Details, Items, Contract, Payment and Create a booking.
- Choose Save draft at the bottom. On a proposal you've saved before, the button reads Save changes.
Starting from an inquiry is usually best, because the person and what they asked for are already there. See Turning an inquiry into a booking.
Details
- Related to is either Contact or Inquiry, then you pick the record. On the contact picker, Add contact creates a new one without leaving the page.
- Service links the proposal to one of your services. It sets the currency and fills in a fixed location if the service has one. It doesn't add priced lines: the items are yours to write.
- Currency follows the service when there is one. Changing it converts nothing. Each line keeps its numbers and is read in the new currency, and CoreHue asks you to confirm.
- Service date, with End date (optional), Start time and End time, or All day. It's required when Create a booking is on. Leave it blank otherwise and your client reads "Date to be decided".
- Expiry date is the last day your client can accept, sign and pay. It runs to the end of that day in your business time zone. Leave it as No expiry to keep the proposal open.
- Location and Notes. Notes appear on your client's page under a Notes heading, so write them for your client.
After a proposal is sent you can't change who it's for. To send the same offer to someone else, duplicate it.
Items
The Items section ("Set what's included and what the client can choose.") has three kinds of line: Included item, Add-on and Client choices. The kind decides what your client can change. See Offering options and add-ons for how each works.
Each line opens a small editor with Item, Description, Quantity, Price and Tax. Pick a saved item or type a one-off name. Descriptions are plain text, and line breaks are kept.
Write for the person reading. "Eight hours of coverage, two photographers, all edited images delivered online" tells your client what they're buying.
Contract and payment
Turn on Contract ("The client signs after accepting the proposal.") and choose Add contract to write it or start from a template. Turn on Payment ("Let the client pay after accepting.") to take a full payment or a deposit and schedule. Both are covered in Adding a contract and payment schedule to a proposal.
Create a booking
Off by default. Turn it on to "automatically create a booking after acceptance, signing, and payment." Leave it off for work with no session to schedule, like a print order.
With it on, the proposal needs a service date before it can be sent. Proposal bookings go on your calendar without an availability check, because you've priced and dated this job yourself.
Saving and coming back
A draft can be saved half-finished. When you're ready, the proposal page tells you anything still missing before it lets you send, under Not ready to send. See Sending a proposal.
To reuse a past proposal, open it and choose Duplicate. It opens a fresh draft filled in from the original. Nothing is created until you save, and the original stays as it was.
Frequently asked questions
Can I start a proposal from a template?
No. CoreHue doesn't have proposal templates, but Duplicate on an existing proposal does the same job. Keep a well-written proposal for each type of work and duplicate it for each new client. Contracts inside proposals can start from your contract templates.
Do I have to set a service date?
A proposal only needs a service date if Create a booking is on. Otherwise you can leave it blank and your client sees "Date to be decided".
Can I change the currency after adding items?
Yes, but changing a proposal's currency converts nothing. Each line keeps its numbers and is read in the new currency, so check your prices. Invoicing in other currencies needs Pro. See Invoicing in more than one currency.
Can I save a proposal before it's finished?
Yes. Save draft keeps the unfinished proposal in your list with nothing sent to your client. CoreHue only checks for missing details when you go to send.