Proposal Templates

Build reusable proposal documents visually — stack blocks, pick a theme, and drop in variables that automatically populate project data, equipment lists, and cost summaries.

Overview

The visual proposal builder lets you assemble professional proposal documents from blocks:

• Cover page, executive summary, and rich text sections
• Equipment blocks for individual rooms or all rooms combined (cards or table layout), with an optional Include add alternates switch that prints your optional rooms as marked boxes
• Investment summary with customizable splits and tax lines, plus an optional Add alternates table and Acceptance checklist
• Images and side-by-side column layouts
• Terms & acceptance with optional signature, print name and title lines

Getting Started

1. Go to Settings > Proposal Templates
2. Click New for a blank template, or New from gallery to start from a themed design
3. In the builder, click blocks in the Add Block palette to stack them, and drag to reorder
4. Select a block to configure it; long text (Rich Text, Terms, Executive Summary fallback) opens in the wide content workspace below the block stack
5. Insert variables from the searchable browser next to the editor — the live preview fills them with sample data
6. Design the cover page (hero image, headline, logos) back on the Proposal Templates page
7. Save, then choose the template when generating a proposal from a project

Add Alternates

A proposal can show your optional rooms as add alternates, extras the client may accept on top of the base price. A room becomes optional through Mark optional (right-click it in the rooms list), and optional rooms join one alternate through Create Group in the Detailed Summary. See Rooms → Add/Alt Groups for the steps.

Every optional (Add Alt) room counts. A group prints as one alternate, and an optional room that is in no group prints as an alternate of its own. Alternates are numbered in the order they print: groups first, then the ungrouped rooms. An alternate with no lines and a total of zero does not print. With Show prices off, a priced alternate with no lines is skipped and its number is not reused.

Alternates print only when you turn them on in the block settings. The switches are off by default.

• Room Equipment and All Equipment blocks: the Include add alternates checkbox
• Investment Summary block, in the Add alternates group: the Add alternates table and Acceptance checklist checkboxes

With a switch on, the proposal prints:

• Include add alternates — each alternate as a dashed box after the base rooms. The box is headed "OPTIONAL · ADD ALTERNATE 1" (then 2, 3 and so on), carries the note "Not included in base total", and ends with an "ADD TO BASE" line that shows the alternate's total including tax when prices are shown.
• Add alternates table — an "Add Alternates" table under the Investment Summary, with one row per alternate, the summary's own money columns and an "Add" column.
• Acceptance checklist — an "ACCEPTANCE" box under the Investment Summary. It starts with "Base Proposal only" at the System Total, then has one line per alternate.

The base total never includes alternates.

The {'{'}all.equipment.addalt{'}'} variable is unchanged and still prints its plain equipment table. See the Add Alt Total Variables heading below for the matching totals.

Alternates that replace a room

The steps are in Rooms → Add/Alt Groups → Linked alternates. In short, to offer a substitute for a room, duplicate it as an alternate. The alternate then prints as a difference from the room it replaces. Its amount carries a sign: a plus for an add and a minus for a deduct. The base total still never includes it.

• Box eyebrow and closing line — a Deduct alternate costs less than the room it replaces. Its box is headed "OPTIONAL · DEDUCT ALTERNATE 2" and ends with "DEDUCT FROM BASE" and a minus amount, such as "DEDUCT FROM BASE - $1,100.00". An alternate that costs more is headed "OPTIONAL · ADD ALTERNATE 2" and ends with "ADD TO BASE" and a plus amount. When the two cost the same there is No change: the box is headed "OPTIONAL · ALTERNATE 2" and ends with "NO CHANGE TO BASE $0.00".
• In lieu of — the note of a box reads "In lieu of Boardroom · Not included in base total". In a group box the note stays "Not included in base total", and each linked room carries "(in lieu of Boardroom)" after its name.
• Alternates table — when any alternate deducts or changes nothing, the table is titled "Alternates", its sub-line reads "Optional. Add or deduct any alternate from the base total." and its last column is headed "Add / Deduct". When every alternate adds, the table keeps the title "Add Alternates" and the column "Add". The amounts of linked alternates carry their sign.
• Acceptance checklist — a linked alternate reads "Deduct Alt 2: Boardroom (Alt) · in lieu of Boardroom", "Add Alt 2: …" or "Alt 2 (no change): …". When two or more alternates replace the same room, a note after the last of them reads "Alternates 2 and 3 both replace Boardroom. Choose one."

An alternate with a broken link prints at full price as an add alternate, the same as an optional room that replaces nothing.

With one flat freight charge for the project, freight is not part of a Deduct or Add, because swapping rooms does not change it; the two room boxes therefore differ by more than the Deduct.

The Sales Summary PDF, the Financial Report, the Tables Only output and the project.addAlt.* variables do not use the links. They show every optional room at its full price, linked or not.

Variable Reference

Variables are placeholders that get replaced with actual project data. Insert them from the variable browser in the content workspace, or type them directly using the {'{'}variable.name{'}'} syntax inside Rich Text, Terms, and Executive Summary blocks.

Project Variables

Client Variables

Date Variables

Equipment Tables

Equipment tables display product information for rooms. You can use default columns or specify custom columns.

All Equipment (All Rooms)

Available Equipment Columns

• Description - Product description
• Make - Manufacturer name
• Model - Product model number
• Notes - Line item notes
• Qty - Quantity
• Rate - Unit sell price
• Extended - Extended price (Qty x Rate)

Combined Cost Tables

Combined cost tables provide a room-by-room financial summary, showing equipment costs, non-equipment costs, taxes, and totals.

Combined Cost Variables

Available Combined Cost Columns

Example Usage

<h3>Cost Summary</h3>
<div style="font-size: 14px;">
{'{'}project.combinedCost:RoomName,Qty,SystemCost,SystemCostWithTax{'}'}
</div>

Add Alt Total Variables

Display totals for Add Alt (optional/alternative) rooms as simple values (not tables). These follow the same naming convention as the project totals:

Example Usage

<h3>Optional Items</h3>
{'{'}project.addAlt.combinedCost:RoomName,Qty,SystemCostWithTax{'}'}
<p><strong>Add Alt Total:</strong> {'{'}project.addAlt.totalWithTax{'}'}</p>

Text Wrapping Control

Control how text wraps in table columns by adding :wrap or :nowrap after any column name.

Syntax

Smart Defaults

Most columns have sensible defaults, so you only need to add modifiers when overriding:

Examples

<!-- Equipment table with Description that doesn't wrap -->
{'{'}room.equipment:Description:nowrap,Make,Model,Qty{'}'}

<!-- Cost table with RoomName that wraps -->
{'{'}project.combinedCost:RoomName:wrap,Qty,SystemCost,SystemCostWithTax{'}'}

Room Loops

Use loops to repeat content for each room in the project.

Regular Room Loop

{'{'}#foreach room{'}'}
<h3>{'{'}room.name{'}'}</h3>
<p>Quantity: {'{'}room.quantity{'}'}</p>
<p>Room Total: {'{'}room.total{'}'}</p>
{'{'}room.equipment{'}'}
{'{'}room.summary{'}'}
{'{'}'/'}foreach{'}'}

Add Alt Room Loop

Use {'{'}#foreach addalt{'}'} to loop through Add Alt (optional/alternative) rooms only:

{'{'}#foreach addalt{'}'}
<h3>Optional: {'{'}room.name{'}'}</h3>
{'{'}room.equipment:Description,Qty,Extended{'}'}
{'{'}'/'}foreach{'}'}

Room Loop Variables

Best Practices

Correct Table Wrapper

<!-- CORRECT: Use div for table variables -->
<div style="font-size: 14px;">
{'{'}project.combinedCost:RoomName,Qty,SystemCost,SystemCostWithTax{'}'}
</div>

<!-- WRONG: Don't use span -->
<span style="font-size: 14px;">{'{'}project.combinedCost{'}'}</span>

Correct Heading Usage

<!-- CORRECT: Heading separate from table -->
<h3>Equipment List</h3>
{'{'}room.equipment{'}'}

<!-- WRONG: Table inside heading -->
<h3>{'{'}room.equipment{'}'}</h3>

Other Variables

Room Lists

Specific Room Access

Access a specific room by name (remove spaces from room name):