Winning a job is rarely a one-shot deal. You and your client usually go back and forth on scope, swap a few ideas, and only then land on something everyone’s happy with. Asking a client to e-sign a binding contract before you’ve settled all that can feel like proposing on the first date.
That’s what the Send Proposal option is for. It lets you send a client a proposal they can review and give a thumbs-up to — without locking either of you into a signed contract. Once you’ve nailed down the details, you send the real, signable contract. Think of it as a soft handshake before the formal agreement.
Proposal vs. final contract — what’s the difference?
A proposal is non-binding. Your client opens it, reviews the scope, and approves it with a click. There’s no signature and no commitment — it’s their way of saying “yes, this is the direction I want to go.” You can keep refining the scope afterward.
A final contract is the real thing. Your client e-signs it, you countersign, and the project officially begins. This is the same Finalize Quote and send-to-sign flow you already know.
You don’t have to use proposals at all — if you’re ready to send a signable contract right away, nothing changes. The proposal step is there for the times you want a soft approval first.
Heads up: Sending an initial proposal is available on the Pro plan and above. If you’re on a plan below Pro, you’ll only see the option to send the final quote.
Sending a proposal
Open the opportunity and build out your scope just like you normally would.
When you’re ready to share it, head to the quote editor. Over on the right, alongside the usual send button, you’ll see a Send Proposal button.
Before you send, decide whether you want your client to see pricing (more on that below).
Click Send Proposal. Your client gets an email and a text letting them know a proposal is ready to review.
You’ll see a confirmation that the proposal went out, and the client can now review and approve it from their messages.
One thing to know: a proposal can only be sent once. After it’s out, the Send Proposal button is disabled — from there you keep the conversation going and, when you’re ready, send the final contract. (You can always tweak the scope in between.)
Hiding pricing on a proposal
Sometimes you want a client to sign off on the direction before you show them numbers. You can do exactly that.
In the Display Options panel in the quote editor, turn off the Price toggle before you send the proposal. With Price hidden, your client sees the scope and what you’re proposing to do, but not the dollar figures — not on screen and not in the PDF.
When you’re ready to talk money, turn Price back on and send the final quote with everything visible.
Once you’ve sent the final quote, a visible price can no longer be hidden — at that stage the client is reviewing real, signable numbers, so the Price toggle locks on.
What your client sees
When a proposal lands, your client opens it to a clear “Approve Initial Proposal” prompt that reads: “Please review the initial proposal and approve it to keep your project moving forward.” They can look over the full proposal and approve it with a single click. There’s no signature step and nothing binding — it’s purely their way of giving you the green light.
The moment they approve, you’re notified by email and text so you know it’s time to move toward the final contract.
Keeping track of where things stand
Eano keeps the proposal status front and center so you never have to guess.
In the quote editor, just under the send buttons, you’ll see timestamps as things happen:
Initial proposal sent — the date and time it went out.
Initial proposal approved — the date and time your client signed off.
In your opportunity pipeline, there’s a dedicated Proposal Sent stage. Your opportunities flow through New → Qualifying → Estimating → Proposal Sent → Contract Sent → Closed (Won), so a glance at the board tells you exactly who’s reviewing a proposal versus who’s ready for a contract. (The Proposal Sent column appears for Pro teams once you’ve sent your first proposal.)
Notifications at a glance
When you send a proposal, your client gets:
An email with the subject “[Your company] sent you a proposal to review for [project].”
A text along the lines of “Hi from [your company], a proposal for your project [project] at [address] is ready for you to review,” with a link.
When your client approves, you and your team get:
An email with the subject “[Client] has approved your initial proposal for [project].”
A text letting you know “[Client] has approved your initial proposal for [project] at [address],” with a link.
Then comes the final contract
Once the scope is settled and your client has given their soft approval, you send the binding contract exactly as you always have: Finalize Quote, preview as your client if you’d like, and send it off for e-signature. Your client signs, you countersign, and the fully-executed contract lands in the project’s Files area as the opportunity becomes a project.
The proposal step doesn’t replace any of that — it just gives you a friendlier, lower-pressure way to get to “yes” first.