A Proposal is the client-facing version of a project: a polished, branded page that lists the work you plan to do, the price, optional add-ons the client can pick, your terms, and a place to sign — electronically, from any device, with no login. GO builds the proposal directly from the project's tasks, so there is nothing to re-type: what you estimated is what the client sees.
This article walks through building a proposal from a project, controlling what the client sees, sending it, the public e-signing page, and downloading PDFs.
Where to find Proposals
Navigation: in the left sidebar, click Projects, then right-click the project's row and choose Generate Proposal. The proposal builder opens for that project.
A proposal always belongs to one project. There is no separate proposals list — you reach a proposal through its project.
The proposal builder
The builder shows you exactly what the client will see, with an Admin Controls sidebar on the right for shaping it. Use Hide Controls / Show Controls in the top-right to collapse or reopen the sidebar, and Back to Projects to leave.
What the proposal shows
From top to bottom, the proposal page contains:
Header — your company logo and name, "Project Proposal", and a running Your Total badge that updates as options are selected.
Project card — the project name and description, plus Client, Project Manager, Location, and Timeline.
Included Services — the required tasks, each with its description and price.
Optional Enhancements — tasks you marked optional. The client clicks a card to add or remove it, and the totals recalculate live.
Project Documents — a card listing files attached to the proposal (photos, drawings, spec sheets). Click Manage Files to add project-level or per-task files while you work and control which ones display on this screen.
Terms and Conditions — GO includes a standard set of contractor terms (payment terms, timeline, warranties, scope changes, site conditions, final acceptance). You can edit the text right on the page while reviewing.
Additional Comments — a free-text box for questions or special requests. Each task card also has its own Add comment link.
Project Summary — Included Services total, selected Optional total, and the Total Investment.
Electronic Signature — where the client types their full legal name, checks the consent box, and signs.
Controlling what the client sees — task states
The heart of the builder is the Task States list in the Admin Controls sidebar. Every task on the project appears there with a dropdown that controls how (and whether) it shows on the proposal:
State | What the client sees |
|---|---|
Standard | The task name, description, and price. One clean line. This is the default. |
Detail | Standard, plus a breakdown table of the resources (labor, materials, equipment) inside the task. |
Detail Hide Pricing | The detail breakdown, but with the line-item prices hidden — clients see what goes into the job without the unit costs. |
Brackets | The bracket ladder (see below). Offered only on tasks that have brackets. |
Optional Standard / Optional Detail / Optional Detail Hide Pricing | Same as the three above, but the task moves to the Optional Enhancements section, where the client chooses whether to add it. |
Hidden | The task does not appear on the proposal at all (and its amount is excluded from the total). |
Above the list, a Hide All Pricing checkbox blanks out every price on the proposal at once — useful when you want the client focused on scope, not numbers. The bottom of the sidebar keeps a running tally of Required, Optional, Hidden, and the Total.
The bracket ladder
Some work is not priced as one number — snow plowing is the classic case: you charge one price for a 2–4" event, another for 4–6", and so on. Tasks like that carry brackets, and when you set the task's state to Brackets (or a Detail state), the proposal shows a bracket ladder instead of a single total: a small table with one row per bracket and its price. Brackets with an overage rate also show the per-unit charge (for example, "+ $45.00/unit" beyond the top bracket).
Because the client is billed one bracket per event at the certified depth, the ladder deliberately replaces the task's summed total — a single added-up number would be misleading for per-event work.
Managing proposal files
Click Manage Files on the Project Documents card to open the file manager, where you can add files at the project level or attach them to individual tasks, and toggle each file's visibility on the proposal. Task attachments that already exist on the project's tasks also display on their task cards.
Sending the proposal to the client
When the proposal looks right, use the three buttons at the bottom of the Admin Controls sidebar:
Export PDF — opens a PDF version of the proposal in a new tab, ready to save or print.
Preview as Client — opens the exact public page the client will receive, in a new tab. This is the same tokenized link the email uses, so what you see is precisely what they get.
Send to Client — opens the email dialog.
The email dialog
To — pre-filled with the client account's primary contact. Search to add other contacts or staff, or type any full email address to add it directly. CC and BCC work the same way.
Subject — pre-filled as "Project Proposal: project name". Edit freely.
Message — a friendly pre-written note addressed to the client, signed with the Project Manager's name. Edit freely.
Click Send Proposal.
The email carries a secure share link to the public proposal page. The link needs no login — the link itself is the key — and it stays valid for 30 days. Re-sending the proposal keeps the same link (so a bookmarked link keeps working); a fresh link is only created if the old one has expired.
The client's view — e-signing
When the client opens the link, they see the proposal as a clean public page with your company branding — no GO login, no sidebar, nothing else of your system.
The client can:
Review the included services and prices.
Add or remove Optional Enhancements and watch the total update.
Read the Terms and Conditions.
Sign: type their Full Legal Name and Email Address, check the consent box ("I agree to sign this proposal electronically…"), and click Sign Proposal. The button stays disabled — with a note explaining what is missing — until all three are done.
When the signature is submitted, GO records the signer's name, email, the consent text they agreed to, and the time. The client immediately sees a confirmation card — "Proposal Signed" — with the amount, signer, and timestamp, plus a Download signed PDF button so they can keep a copy for their records. Anyone reopening the link after signing sees the same confirmation instead of a signable proposal.
Where proposals appear elsewhere
Projects — the proposal is reached from, and built entirely on, its project; the project's tasks and prices are the proposal's content. See Projects.
Tasks — every line on the proposal is a task on the project; change the task and the proposal follows. See Tasks.
Sales Pipeline — sending and signing proposals is the bridge between an estimate and a sold job. See Sales Pipeline.
Project workflow — a project whose proposal has gone out typically sits in the Proposed state, moving to Sold once signed. See Workflows.
Permissions
Proposal access rides on project permissions: anyone who can view the project can open its proposal builder, generate the share link, and send the proposal. The client needs no account or permission at all — the emailed link is their access, and it only ever shows that one proposal.
Tips & best practices
Always Preview as Client before sending. It opens the real client link — one click tells you exactly what will land in their inbox.
Use Optional states to upsell. A proposal with two or three well-priced optional enhancements routinely sells more than the base scope — and the client does the adding themselves.
Use Detail Hide Pricing for scope-sensitive clients. Showing the full material and labor breakdown builds trust; hiding the unit prices keeps the negotiation on the total.
Hide, don't delete. If a task should not appear on the proposal (internal work, contingency), set its state to Hidden — the task stays on the project untouched.
Read the standard terms before your first send. The built-in terms are a generic starting point (deposits, warranties, site conditions). Make sure they match — or don't contradict — your actual contract terms before a client signs against them.
Send within your window. Share links expire after 30 days. If a client sits on a proposal longer than that, just send it again — GO will issue a fresh link.
Common questions
Does the client need a login? No. The emailed link is the access. It shows only that one proposal and expires after 30 days.
The client says the link doesn't work. The link has most likely expired (30 days). Open the project's proposal and send it again — a new link is issued automatically when the old one has lapsed.
Can I change the proposal after sending it? The public page is built from the project's current tasks, so updates to the project are reflected when the client next opens the link. If you have changed pricing materially, re-send so the client knows to look again.
Why can't the client decline on the page? The public page currently offers signing only. If the client wants changes or wants to pass, that conversation happens directly with you — the Decline button you see in the builder is part of the staff preview, not the client page.
Where is the signed copy? The client can download the signed PDF from their confirmation screen (and by reopening their link). On your side, use Export PDF in the builder for a current copy of the proposal.
Why does a snow task show a price table instead of one price? That task is priced in brackets — one price per event depending on conditions (for example, snowfall depth). The ladder shows the client the real pricing model instead of a misleading single total.
Related topics
Projects — Where proposals are generated from (right-click → Generate Proposal).
Tasks — The project tasks that become the proposal's line items.
Sales Pipeline — Tracking deals from estimate to sold.
Workflows — The Proposed → Sold project states around a proposal.
Assets — The other Projects-page companion article.