Proposals and versions

Draft a proposal on a deal, send it for internal review, record the customer’s answer and revise it without changing what they already have.

A proposal is the priced document you send a customer for a deal. You draft it on the opportunity, optionally send it for internal review, send it, and record whether the customer accepted or rejected it. When the offer changes, you make a new version instead of editing the old one, so what the customer already received never changes.

Proposals and quotes are the same document#

A proposal is exactly the same record Commerce calls a quote. Sales sees it on the deal as a proposal; finance sees it in Commerce as a quote. The totals can never disagree between the two because there’s only one document underneath. Each proposal shows its quote number, for example Q-1024.

Who can use it#

Permissions

opportunity.viewopportunity.editfinance.read

Anyone who can view the deal can read its proposals. Drafting, sending, recording the outcome and revising need opportunity.edit. You don’t need finance permissions to work proposals on a deal; finance.read is what shows the same documents in Commerce.

Draft a proposal#

Open the opportunity
Scroll to the Proposals section.
Select Draft a proposal
A short form appears.
Fill in the form
Enter a Title, for example “Platform rollout, phase one”. Optionally describe the First line (it defaults to the title), and enter the Amount in the deal’s currency. Title and Amount are required.
Select Create draft
The proposal appears with a Draft badge. Nobody outside your organization can see a draft.

More than one line

The form creates a proposal with a single priced line. To add more lines, open the same document as a quote in Commerce, which has the full line-item editor.

Review and send#

The buttons under each proposal are exactly the next steps allowed from its current status:

Current status	Buttons
Draft	Send for review, Send to customer, New version
In internal review	Send back to draft, Approve and send, New version
Sent or Viewed	Mark accepted, Mark rejected, Withdraw, New version
Rejected, Withdrawn, Expired, Cancelled	New version
Accepted	None

Internal review#

Review is optional. Use Send for review when someone should check the numbers before the customer sees them. The reviewer then either selects Send back to draft or Approve and send.

Record the outcome#

Mark accepted: the customer agreed. The proposal turns green, and if it’s known who accepted and how (in the app, by email, verbally or by signed document), that’s shown under the title.
Mark rejected: the customer said no.
Withdraw: you pulled the proposal back. This is kept separate from rejected because it’s your decision, not the customer’s.

Recording the outcome of a proposal doesn’t close the deal. Mark the opportunity won or lost as well.

Revise with a new version#

Select New version
It’s available on any proposal that hasn’t been accepted.
Work on the new draft
The proposal, its lines and its totals are copied into a fresh draft with a v2 badge (then v3, and so on). The previous version is marked as replaced and kept exactly as it was.
Look back with History
On any proposal past version 1, select History to list every version with its status, quote number and total. Select it again to hide the list.

The Proposals section only lists the current version of each proposal.

Status reference#

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being prepared. Internal only.
In internal review	Waiting for someone in your organization to approve it.
Sent	With the customer.
Viewed	The customer has opened it.
Accepted	The customer agreed. Final.
Rejected	The customer declined.
Withdrawn	You pulled it back.
Expired	Its expiration date passed before a decision.
Cancelled	Cancelled from the Commerce side.

FAQ#

Why can’t I revise an accepted proposal?

It is what the customer agreed to. Changing it would rewrite the agreement. Draft a new proposal instead.

Why can’t I edit a proposal after making a new version?

There would be two live versions of one document and no way to tell which is current. The old version stays exactly as the customer saw it; work on the new one.

What is the difference between withdrawn and rejected?

Rejected is the customer’s decision; withdrawn is yours. They are different facts about the deal and are recorded separately.

How do I attach the actual PDF?

Upload it to Files. The file store applies the same permissions, scanning and retention to it as to every other file.

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