Proposals

Define the work.
Win with clarity.

Build detailed scope and pricing, send a professional PDF, collect a customer response, and hand approved work into operations.

13 min readProposal workflow
PRO-000128 · Revision 2Kitchen Renovation
Pending
Customer
Harbor & Field
Total
$18,750.00
Next step
Awaiting response
View Proposal
On this page

A BuildFlox proposal is the commercial definition of a project. It combines customer-visible scope, quantities, pricing, dates, payment expectations, and legal terms in a versioned record whose totals are recalculated and saved by the server.

01 · Proposal list

Find and Review Proposals

Open Proposals to review proposals for the current company.

SearchFind a proposal by title, number, customer, or project
StatusFilter the list to the proposal stage that needs attention
TotalReview the current saved proposal value on each card
DraftPendingApprovedRejectedExpiredConverted

Available card actions depend on status and permissions and may include Preview, Print, Update, Revise, Approve, Reject, Create Work Order, Email PDF, or Delete.

02 · Starting point

Create a Proposal from a Project

Open a project and select Create Proposal. Every proposal stays linked to that project and its customer. Choose a starting point and enter the proposal title.

Create manually

Start with a blank proposal and add your own sections and items.

Create from template

Copy the selected company template’s structure, items, and defaults into a new draft.

The proposal number is automatic.

BuildFlox assigns the next company proposal number and opens the new draft in the editor.

03 · AI-assisted creation

Create Proposal Drafts with AI

Eligible accounts can choose Create with AI. Select the customer and project, describe the work, and generate one or more editable proposal previews.

  1. Review the proposed title, scope, template match, and questions.
  2. Check every quantity, unit, price, exclusion, permit, and assumption.
  3. Edit, reorder, add, or remove permitted items.
  4. Select the proposals you want and choose Save Drafts.
AI output is a draft, not a quote.

Nothing is saved until you review it. Confirm the scope and all commercial values before sending anything to a customer.

04 · Editor

Use the Proposal Editor

The editor shows the proposal number, current save state, estimated total, and the controls used to save or send the draft.

Proposal titleExpiration dateScheduled startScheduled completionSectionsPricingTermsNotes

The scheduled start is a committed date shown on the proposal. The scheduled completion date is also carried forward when the approved proposal becomes a work order.

Watch the save indicator.

It shows Saving, Saved, Unsaved, or Save failed. Use Save Draft before leaving when changes remain.

05 · Scope

Build Sections and Line Items

Use sections to organize the proposal into readable phases or areas of work. Within each section, add:

Catalog ItemCustom Item

Line items can carry a description, type, quantity, unit, price, and operational flags. Depending on the item, you can control whether it is selected, optional, taxable, or customer-visible.

  • Move sections up or down
  • Reorder line items
  • Edit quantity and unit price
  • Remove an unnecessary item

Customer-visible content appears in the customer proposal. Selected line items flow into converted work, including internal operational detail when applicable.

06 · Commercial values

Review Pricing and Totals

BuildFlox calculates line totals from selected quantities and unit prices. The pricing area also provides:

Adjust Proposal Prices ByDiscount amountTax rate %Required deposit %

The editor displays a provisional total while you work. After every save, the server recalculates and stores the authoritative subtotal, discount, tax, deposit, and total.

Review before sending.

Check every selected item and the saved total, especially after applying a bulk price adjustment, discount, or tax rate.

07 · Terms and billing plan

Add Terms, Notes, and a Payment Schedule

Customer contentTerms and conditions, payment terms, legal terms, and customer-facing notes
Internal notesPrivate context for your team that is not intended for the customer PDF

Select an active company payment schedule or customize the stages for this proposal. Each stage has a label, percentage, and optional description.

Stages must total exactly 100%.

BuildFlox allocates each stage amount from the saved proposal total and displays the schedule to the customer.

Legal terms are placed on a dedicated final PDF page when present, keeping them separate from scope, pricing, signatures, and commercial terms.

08 · Customer view

Preview, Print, or Download the PDF

Select Preview to inspect the customer-facing proposal. Confirm the company and customer information, project, dates, visible scope, pricing, payment schedule, terms, and total.

Proposal actionPrint / Download PDF

Print or download generates the saved proposal PDF without emailing the customer, creating a review link, or changing proposal status.

09 · Delivery

Email the Proposal PDF

Use Save and Send in the editor or Email PDF from an eligible proposal. Confirm the customer’s primary email before sending.

  • Generates the saved customer-visible PDF
  • Sends it as an email attachment
  • Adds an expiring customer review link
  • Records the delivery result and recipient

A successfully emailed Draft becomes Pending. Pending means BuildFlox is waiting for a response.

Primary email required.

If the customer has no primary email, BuildFlox saves the draft but cannot send it.

10 · Review and decision

Collect a Customer Response

The review link lets the customer see the current revision, scope, visible pricing, schedule, terms, and totals without signing in.

Approve

The customer enters their full name and may add optional approval notes.

Reject

The customer enters their full name and a required reason for rejection.

Authorized team members can also record an approval or rejection on a Pending proposal inside BuildFlox. The response, signer, timestamp, notes, and status history are retained.

Review links are token-protected, expire, and accept only the permitted response for the active revision.

11 · Changes after delivery

Revise a Pending Proposal

When delivered scope or pricing must change, select Revise rather than editing the delivered revision in place.

  1. BuildFlox snapshots the delivered revision and revokes its review link.
  2. The revision number increases and status returns to Draft.
  3. Edit and review the new version in the normal proposal editor.
  4. Email the updated PDF to return it to Pending with a new review link.

The proposal detail and public review show the latest revision number and a summary of customer-visible items that were added, removed, or changed.

12 · Operational handoff

Convert an Approved Proposal

After approval, an authorized user can select Create Work Order. BuildFlox creates one work order from the proposal and changes the proposal to Converted.

Conversion is protected from duplication.

Selected proposal sections and line items are copied into the connected work order, along with the relevant project and schedule context.

13 · Removal

Remove an Unconverted Proposal

The Delete action asks for confirmation and archives an eligible proposal. Converted proposals cannot be removed this way.

Archiving preserves proposal and status history instead of silently erasing the commercial record.

14 · Access

Proposal Permissions

Separate permissions control each important proposal action:

  • View proposals
  • Create and manage drafts
  • Send proposal PDFs
  • Approve or reject
  • Generate with AI
  • Convert to a work order

If an action is absent, the proposal status, your role, the company plan, or the connected customer information may not permit it.

15 · Troubleshooting

When Something Does Not Look Right

Proposal cannot send

Check the customer’s primary email, the proposal status, your send permission, and whether email delivery is configured.

Total looks outdated

Save the proposal and review the server-calculated total before previewing or sending.

Old review link fails

A revision, expiration, or completed response can invalidate an older link. Use the newest proposal email.

Work order action is missing

The proposal must be Approved, and your role must be allowed to manage work orders.