Proposals and acceptance
Some work should not start until the client has said yes. A proposal holds the whole engagement at the door, and their acceptance is what releases it.
An engagement sent as a proposal does not begin. The client sees what you are proposing, and nothing behind it runs — no document requests, no invoices, no reminders — until they accept.
That is the point of it. Chasing somebody for bank statements for work they have not agreed to is the kind of thing that loses a client before they were one.
What the client does
They open their portal, read the proposal, and choose Accept and get started. Where you have asked for a signature, signing IS the acceptance — there is no separate second step to remember.
They can also say no
A proposal has two answers, not one. Decline this proposal asks them why — Tell us what isn't right and we'll take a look. Your accountant is told either way. — and the reason is optional.
Your side then says so plainly rather than leaving the job sitting at "Sent" forever: This client declined on {date}., with What they said: {reason} when they gave one. Nothing is deleted, and you can talk to them and send a new one.
This matters more than it sounds. A declined proposal that still reads as sent is a dead deal sitting in your live list, quietly making your numbers wrong.
What happens the moment they accept
Acceptance releases the fixed-scope jobs and the work included in the package and add-ons the client selected. Jobs waiting on the client move to To do. Document requests, reminders, and billing follow their saved settings.
Nothing about that is manual, and nothing needs you to be at your desk when it happens.
Accepting for them
Clients agree by phone, in a meeting, or in a reply to an email. You can record that yourself rather than making them go and click a button they have already said yes to.
Recording an acceptance releases the work exactly as if the client had clicked it — requests go out, invoices are raised. Do it when they have genuinely agreed, not to tidy up a list.
Review the jobs and assignments in the proposal before sending it. For the setup sequence, see setting up jobs and task rules.