A proposal usually gets written twice: once when the work is estimated, and again when the estimate is moved into a document that can be sent. Between the two, assumptions, open questions and hours someone added "just in case" get lost. Here the proposal is built from the same specification, sent through a personal link, and the client's answer is kept together with the document exactly as they saw it.
Three ways to build a proposal
From a specification with text: the system breaks it into modules and estimates each one, and the provider gets a draft. From a file: Excel, Word or PDF, up to 20 MB, in one upload. From Excel and Word the title, background, a table of stages and the terms are extracted, and the table headers are recognized in Hebrew, English and Russian. A PDF is kept as it is and sent to the client as a file. Lines can be added by hand to any draft.
A draft from the specification, not a number out of thin air
Every module has a name, a work type, an assumption and hours. Extra hours are possible only with a reason and a reference to the place in the specification, and the provider accepts them with one click or does not. Whatever the specification leaves open enters the proposal as a line with no hours, so the client sees what has not been agreed yet. Each work type has a coefficient the provider sets for the project, and the proposal keeps the coefficients as they were when it was built. The cost of the run is shown before it starts and has a cap. A module whose estimate failed is marked as such and does not get an averaged number.
Hours or money
A proposal can show hours only: then it has no price, rate, VAT or currency anywhere, not on the page, not in the PDF and not in the email. A money proposal has a rate, a currency, VAT added on top or already included in the price, a discount, a total and an "up to X" line that explains which extra work is possible and why. The currency, rate and VAT come from the project card and are frozen into the proposal.
Sent through a personal link
Every recipient gets a link of their own, and access is by a six-digit code sent only to their address. "Sign out on all devices" and revoking the link close the access. The client never sees a draft. Once a proposal is sent it is frozen: no line can be changed and the totals cannot be recalculated. Every sending, including a failed one, is logged with the recipient, the language and the time.
What the client does
The client sees the proposal as a document and can download a PDF. They can accept, decline with a reason, or ask a question. Accepting requires ticking "I approve this proposal and its terms, for a total of X". The client also sees the proposals sent to them in the portal: the owner of the organization makes the decision, and staff can ask questions.
The answer is kept with the document
A proposal has one answer, and the first answer is final. Who answered, when, from where, the reason if there is one, and a snapshot of the document exactly as the client saw it are all kept. For a proposal uploaded as a file, the file's fingerprint is kept too. The provider gets an email about every acceptance, decline or question. A provider who got the answer on the phone can record it themselves, and it is marked "recorded by us".
Validity, and what got stuck
Every proposal has a valid-until date, 30 days by default. An expired proposal is marked as such on every page of the PDF and cannot be accepted, but the client can ask for an updated one. A proposal sent and left without an answer for 14 days, and a proposal whose validity ends within a week, appear on the provider's list of what got stuck and in the digest that arrives by email.
The proposal remembers which specification it was built on
A proposal built from a specification remembers the specification version and the prototype version. When a new version of either comes out, the provider sees on the proposal card that it was built on material that has since changed.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an electronic signature?
What happens after the client accepts?
Can a proposal be sent in hours, without amounts?
In which language?
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