❑The Proposals option on the Receivables sub-menu of the Prospect Options Menu on the Prospects Form's Navigation Menu opens the Proposals Form
•To enter a Proposal, on the Prospect Form, Locate (F2 Prospect Search) the appropriate Prospect for whom a Proposal is to be created.
•Click the Proposals option on the Receivables sub-menu of the Prospect Options Menu on the Prospects Form's Navigation Menu to open the Proposals Form
✓The most recent Proposal (if any) that was created for this Prospect will be displayed.
❑Understanding the Proposals Form:
•When a new Proposal is started, there will only be one tab displayed on the Proposal Form - the Proposal Items Tab.
View of a new Proposal Form record - Proposal Items tab (No separate Billing Address)
•The Proposal Form's Ribbon Menu - This Menu may (based on the Proposal's content) display the following options:
Proposal Form - Navigation and Actions Icons
✓Navigation Icons:
▪Record Movement - First, Prior, Next, Last
▪Insert - Click to start a new Proposal.
▪Delete - Click to remove the currently displayed Proposal.
▪Save - Click to save any new or modified information on the currently displayed Proposal.
▪Cancel - Click to abandon any new or modified information (cancel all changes) on the currently displayed Proposal.
✓Action Icons (and options):
▪List - Click this Icon to display a Grid View listing of all the Proposals that were previously created for this Prospect.
▪Contacts - Click this Contacts option to open the Contacts Form to identify anyone who should be associated with this Prospect.
▪Packages - Add a predefined Proposal Package to this Proposal.
▪Templates - Use another Proposal as a sample to create this Proposal.
▪Documents - Add and/or Remove Documents as attachments to this Proposal record.
▪Print - Create a printed copy of this Proposal. (opens the Print Proposals dialog populated with this Proposal's information)
▪Discount - This option is used to Discount the Net Total Amount of this Proposal from its total originally calculated price whether for a Sales Promotion or some other compensation situation (see the Proposal Items Tab chapter for more information).
▪View Estimate Info - To view the Proposal Estimate information for the selected Proposal, Click the Estimate field's Down-Arrow
▪View Package Info - When using the Commission Tracking System and a predefined Proposal Package has been added to the Proposal, the Commission Points associated with that Proposal Package may be displayed.
oClick the View Package Info Drop-Down Info Box arrow to view this Commissions related information.
oSelected Package, Assigned Points and Earned Points, and the earned Package Points fields will be populated, as appropriate.
•List option - Click this Icon to view a list of all Proposals that were created previously for this Prospect.
✓If previously created Proposal(s) exist for this Prospect, those Proposals will be ordered by the Proposal Number in the left column.
Proposals Form - List option with Data Grid shown
✓Double-Click a Proposal Number ("Proposal #") to have that Proposal displayed in the Proposal Items Tab.
✓The Proposals are initially listed in Proposal Date order (from the oldest to the newest)
✓Sorting the Previous Proposals List - Click a column's Header Name to change the sorted order to that column, with the sorted order automatically set from lowest to highest (a-z or 1 - 9).
▪To change this newly selected column's sorted order from highest to lowest, Click that column's Header Name again.
▪An Arrow next to the Header Name indicates the column that is determining the sorted order of the Grid Data.
o~ indicates lowest to highest (a-z or 1 - 9)
o€ indicates highest to lowest (z-a or 9-1).
Proposals Form - List option Data Grid with Custom Order applied
✓Custom Grid Filters - The Proposals listed in the Data Grid may be filtered - as needed - to refine which Proposals are displayed.
•If a separate Billing Address has been defined for the Prospect:
✓Billing Address Icon - You may Click the Billing Address Icon (as shown in the illustration below) to include it on the Proposals Form.
Proposal Form that has a Billing Address selected (see Billing Address mouse pointer and the selected Billing Address circled) with Proposal Items Tab populated
❑Proposal Form's Tabs
View of the Proposal Form showing its four tabs
•Most Users will only be charging a Sales Tax with up to Two Decimal Places (as illustrated above).
✓However, for those Prospects and Subscribers who have Sales Taxing Authorities which have implemented Sales Tax Percentage Rates with up to three (3) Decimal Places, three Company Settings may be re-set to support Charging and Collecting this type of Sales Tax which may exclude individual line item totals (on Proposals and Invoices), but include a Summary Totals box displayed at the bottom of the Proposal (as illustrated below).
Subscriber's Proposal Form - special Three (3) Digit Sales Tax format - with no Detail Line Item Totals - but with a Summary Totals box added
❖See the Sample Results of these Sales Tax related Company Settings Options discussion in the Company Settings for Accounts Receivable chapter for Invoice Detail Line Item illustrations.
•Once a Proposal is entered and saved for a Prospect, there will be four (4) tabs available (see mouse pointers in image above).
The purpose and/or function for these 4 tabs are listed and illustrated below:
1.Proposal Items - To enter the Detail Line Items of the Proposal.
2.Recurring Items - To enter the proposed Recurring Revenue based Services (ex: Monitoring, Service Contract, Open/Close Reporting, etc.).
3.Job Tasks - To define the Job Tasks that would be required to complete this installation if the Proposal is accepted.
4.Options - To define additional Options that the Prospect/Subscriber may Choose to add once they accept the Proposal Items on the Proposal.
•Deleting a Proposal - Unfortunately, they don't always buy what your selling.
✓Sometimes the Prospect will request a modification to an existing Proposal - which is easy to do by simply adding or removing Detail Line Items, or changing Quantities or Prices for those items.
✓However, sometimes a Prospect (or Subscriber) just doesn't want what you're offering - but will remain a Prospect (or Subscriber) for other products or services - so Deleting the Proposal is the appropriate option. To do so:
▪Open the appropriate Prospect (or Subscriber) Form and Locate the appropriate record.
▪Open the Proposal Form and Locate the appropriate Proposal.
▪Press the Delete 
Icon.
Are you certain you wish to delete this proposal?
▪Confirm that this is what is wanted by Clicking on the Yes button.
▪The selected Proposal will be removed from the Proposal Form.
➢Note: See the Review Deleted Entries chapter for more information about recovering deleted records.
Proposal Form - Proposal Items tab with 5 Detail Line Items
•Click the Insert 
Icon
System, Mandatory, and Optional Proposal Form fields
•Service Address - The name and address of this Prospect (or Subscriber) will be entered automatically by the system.
•Billing Address - The name and address is entered automatically by the system, or the (selected) Billing Address for this Prospect.
•Number - The Proposal Number is Inserted automatically by the system.
•Creation Date - Confirm the Creation Date (by default Today).
✓If you do not want Today as the Creation Date, reset this date using the Drop-Down Calendar/Date Entry field provided.
•Expiration Date - By default, it will be 30 Days from Today.
✓If you do not want the default Expiration Date, you may reset this date using the Drop-Down Calendar/Date Entry field provided.
a)Click on the Date field and type the desired Date using a MM/DD/YYYY format; or
b)Use the Drop-Down Calendar/Date Entry field provided to Choose the desired Date
•Inside Sale - The purpose of this field is to determine if a Proposal was created for an existing, but unassigned Subscriber (the Sales Person would enter their name in the Salesman field and Check this Inside Sale box when creating the Proposal); or a new or existing Prospect (the field will be left unchecked).
✓The Converted Proposals and Proposals (Grid) reports will include the "Inside Sale" field and allow the User to filter that Inside Sale field in those reports' Grids by "True" or "False"
•Demoed - Check this box when the Proposal has been presented and/or demonstrated to the Prospect.
•Demoed By - Use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose the appropriate Salesperson.
•Active? - This box, by default, will be Checked to indicate that this is an Active Proposal;
✓You may Un-check this box if the Proposal becomes Inactive.
•Salesperson - Inserted automatically by the system based on the Salesman entered on the Prospects (or Subscribers) Form.
✓An alternate Salesman may be entered by using the Drop-Down Selection List provided.
✓When assigning a Salesperson to a Proposal: only those Employees whose Employee Type is identified as either Sales or All will be available (in the Drop-Down Selection List list) for populating the Salesman (or Commission To) fields.
•Job Number - If this Proposal is associated with a specific Job, that Job's Number will be inserted here by the system.
•Job Type - Optionally, particularly if you using the Service Tracking System or the Inventory Tracking & Job Costing System, use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose a Job Type for this Proposal.
•Group - You may enter a Group Code for this Proposal.
✓Group Codes are optional, free-form, user created codes which any User may assign to any Proposal.
✓This Group Code may also be used to "filter" the Proposals included in the Proposals Printing dialog so only those that were assigned a specified Group Code will be included.
✓Group Codes are internally converted to UPPERCASE Letters so "Apples33", and "applES33", and "AppLeS33" all represent "APPLES33" to the system.
▪Letters, Numbers, Spaces and normal punctuation marks may be used.
▪The length may not exceed 15 characters and/or spaces.
✓There is no "Maintenance" Form to predefine these Group Codes and no restrictions as to how many may ultimately be used.
•Title - Enter a Title for this Proposal which will appear in the List of Proposals (see the "List option" description, above) to help you identify a specific one.
•WO Number - If this Proposal is associated with a specific Work Order, that Work Order's Number will be inserted here by the system.
•Status - Initially the Default Proposal Status will be inserted but you may use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose a different Proposal Status for this Proposal.
•Confidence % - Initially 100% will be inserted but you may enter any value from 0 to 100, as appropriate (see the "Understanding and Using the Confidence % field" discussion immediately below)
•Proposal Lost? - If the Prospect (or Subscriber) has notified you or your Company that they will no longer consider this Proposal, Check this box and enter that Date and Reason this determination was made.
✓Date - The Date, by default will be Today
▪If you do not want Today as the Proposal Lost Date, reset this date using the Drop-Down Calendar/Date Entry field provided.
✓Reason - Enter the Proposal Lost Reason using the Drop-Down Selection List provided.
✓These Date and/or Reason entries may be removed if the Prospect (or Subscriber) changes their mind (again) and is reconsidering this purchase. To do so:
▪Select each field one at a time, swipe across the entry, then Press the Delete key.
▪Then, remove the Check Mark from the Proposal Lost box.
❑Understanding and Using the Confidence % field in the Header section of the Proposals Form, and the Confidence $ field on certain Reports as a Potential Sales Prediction Tool:
•The Confidence % field on the Proposal Form requires that the Salesperson (or their Sales Manager) rates how likely each Proposal will "Close" (i.e., the customer will purchase the proposed items) on a scale from 0% ("ain't gonna happen") to 100% ("you can bank on it")
✓Once a Confidence Percentage Level for a Proposal has been established, the system - using the Gross Value of the Proposal - multiplies that Proposal's Value by the Confidence % assigned to the Proposal to calculate a Potential Dollar Value.
•That Potential Dollar Value is reported as the Confidence $ Value on certain reports (e.g., Proposal Grid, Pipeline Analysis Report, Proposal Loss Report) - which allows the Company (Sales Manager, Salesperson, General Manager) to estimate the Potential Dollar Value of the Sales which may be Closed in the near future.
❑Header and Footer Options for Proposals - Create a custom Header and/or Footer for this Proposal or use a predefined Header and/or Footer, if appropriate.
Header & Footer Buttons on Proposal Form
•To assign a predefined Header and/or Footer to a Proposal, Click either the Header and/or Footer button, as needed (see circled buttons in the illustration above).
•Header - A Header Page for this Proposal may be added using a Predefined Proposal Paragraph, or created specifically for this Proposal using the Proposal Header's Rich Text Editor (see the instructions below).
Proposal Form - Header option - Rich Text Editor - Search Header Icon - Search Proposal Headers dialog
✓A Header Proposal Paragraph is actually a Cover Page for a Proposal - and may include any number of paragraphs, special formatting. multiple fonts, and text and background colors.
✓It stands alone and is used generally as an introductory dialog preceding the Proposal itself.
✓It only appears on the first page of the Proposal and no sales items are on that page with it.
•Footer - A Footer Page for this Proposal may be added using a Predefined Proposal Paragraph, or created specifically for this Proposal using the Proposal Footer's Rich Text Editor (see the instructions above).
✓A Footer Proposal Paragraph is generally inserted as a "wrap-up" commentary.
✓It appears only on the last page of the Proposal.
✓It also may include any number of paragraphs, special formatting. multiple fonts, and text and background colors.
✓You may create a custom document for this specific Proposal by simply entering what you want, or Click the Search Icon (see illustration above) to locate the appropriate Proposal Paragraphs.
Search Proposal Footers dialog
▪Search By - Use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose either the ID or Short Description to Search By.
▪Search Value - Enter the appropriate numbers, characters, or value to locate the desired document.
▪Select - Click on the desired document.
▪Click OK to save this selections and return to the Proposal Header (or Footer) Form.
✓When you have finished your entry, or have selected the desired Header or Footer, Click File and Select Save and Exit (or Press Ctrl + S) to record the entry and close the Form.
▪Although no other indication is presented to show the saved Header or Footer, when you View or Print the Proposal you will see what you've selected.
▪If you want to change or edit the selected Header or Footer, just Click on the Header or Footer button to re-open the Rich Text Editor.
➢Note: If the ConfirmHeaderFooter option is set to True ("T") in the Company Settings dialog accessible within the Company tab of the User Options Form, when a Header (and/or a Footer) has not been created for a Proposal, upon exiting the Proposal, you will be asked if you want to do so before exiting the Proposal Form.
▪Answer Yes and the appropriate Rich Text Editor dialog will be displayed.
❑Other Notes and Comments fields:
View of a new Proposal Form record - with Detail Line Item Note entry, Comments field, & Internal Notes field with F-9 Time Stamp feature
1.Detail Line Item: To enter any additional information that will help the Prospect/Subscriber better understand the sale items on this Proposal,
a.Use the Note fields in the Detail Line Items will be printed on the actual Proposal. and are Rich Text Editor capable
b.As noted above, use the Proposal Headers and/or Footers (see the Proposal Paragraphs and Proposal chapters for additional information).
2.Comments - This field should only be used to record "Internal" notes and/or comments and will not be printed on the actual Proposal. but it is Rich Text Editor capable.
3.Internal Notes Press (F9) for timestamped entry - This field is also used to record "Internal" notes and/or comments, has a Time Stamp (F9) feature, and will not be printed on the actual Proposal.
✓It is not Rich Text Editor capable.
❑Proposal Items Tab - Entering the Detail Line Items for a Proposal
•Click the Insert Icon on the Ribbon Menu located on the bottom of the Proposal Items tab to start the entry of the Detail Line Items for the Proposal and:
✓Even when you used a Template (see Copy from Template below), or a Proposal Package (see Proposal Package below), you may need to modify some of the line items or add additional Proposal Items.
✓See Proposal Items Tab chapter for complete information on entering Detail Line Items within the Proposal Items tab.
Proposals Form - 3 Detail Line Items added
✓If you have too many Sale-Purchase Items defined to easily make your selection, Press Alternate and F2 at the same time (Alt+F2) to activate the Advanced Sale Item Lookup.
Advanced Sale Item Look-up dialog
❖See the Advanced Sale Item Look-up chapter for more information about this feature.
❑Proposal Creation Shortcuts: Using the Packages and Templates Icons to speed the Proposal's Creation.
•Proposal Package - If this is a Proposal that conforms to a predefined Proposal Package,
✓Select this Packages option at the top of the Proposal Form (see mouse pointer in the illustration above).
✓Using the Search Proposal Package dialog (shown below), Choose the appropriate Proposal Package.
Search Proposal Package dialog
▪Search By - Use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose either the Package ID, its Description or a Price to Search By.
▪Search Value - Enter the appropriate numbers, characters, or value to locate the desired Proposal Package.
▪Select - Click on the desired package..
▪Click OK when you have located the correct package.
✓The Detail Line Items for the selected Proposal Package will be automatically inserted into the Proposal Form's Proposal Items tab (see immediately below).
•Copy From Template - If this is a Proposal which substantially matches a previously created Proposal for any Prospect or Subscriber, you can use that previously created Proposal as a Template for this Proposal.
✓Select the Templates option at the top of the Proposal Form (see mouse pointer in the illustration above).
✓Using the Proposal Search dialog (shown below), Choose the appropriate Proposal.
Proposal Search dialog
▪Search By - Use the Drop-Down Selection List to Choose either the Proposal Number, Creation Date or Title to Search By.
▪Search Value - Enter the appropriate numbers, or date to locate the desired Proposal Template.
▪Select - Click on the desired template.
▪Click the OK button when you have located the correct template.
➢The Detail Line Items of the selected Proposal Template will be inserted into this Proposal, automatically.
➢Important Tax Considerations: When importing the Detail Line Items for a new Proposal by using an existing Proposal as a Template, if a Detail Line Item in the selected Template is Taxable (e.g., Tax Code is Y, 1, 2, 3) then:
a)If the Proposal is for a Subscriber the Tax Code and Tax Rate will be pulled from the Receivables section of the Edit View of the current Subscriber,
b)If the Proposal is for a Prospect the Tax Code and Tax Rate will be pulled from the Tax Information section of the current Prospect (as appropriate).
▪However, If any Detail Line Item in the selected Template is Non Taxable (Tax Code is N or E), the system will use that same Tax Code from the selected Template's Detail Line Item (therefore the Tax Code will be N or E), regardless of the current Subscriber's or Prospect's tax status!
▪If any of those Detail Line Items should be taxed, the Tax Code and Tax Rate must be changed manually.
•Documents - Select this option to open the Documents dialog from which a Document may be attached to the currently selected Proposal.
•Print - Select this option to open the Print Proposals dialog which will be pre-populated to print the currently selected Proposal.
Print Proposals dialog - chosen from a Proposal Form
✓Also see the Print Proposals chapter for additional information.
❑Recurring Items tab - Entering the proposed Recurring Items to (optionally) be included on the Proposal when it is printed.
•Click the Recurring Items tab on the Proposals Form.
•This tab provides a means to define the Recurring Revenue Items - both for Recurring Revenue charges and for Recurring Service obligations - that may be included with this Proposal.
•See the Recurring Items tab chapter for complete information on entering Recurring Revenue Items.
•When you Print Proposals, you will be offered the option to include this Recurring Information on the Proposal.
Recurring Items tab - Revenue sub-tab
❑Job Tasks tab - Entering the Job Tasks to (optionally) be included in a Job Costing record and/or to create a Work Order for the installation.
•If this Proposal is converted to a Job in the Job Costing System, these tasks will be inserted in the Job Tasks tab on the Job Costing Form.
✓See the Job Tasks tab chapter for complete information about this feature.
Job Tasks tab on the Proposal Form
•If the Proposal is converted to an Invoice, this Job Task information is not used - it will simply be here for reference.
❑Options tab - Entering the proposed Proposal Options to be included on the Proposal when it is printed.
•Click the Options tab on the Proposals Form.
✓This tab provides a means to define any optional features the Prospect may select to include in their system.
•When printing the Proposal, you will be offered the option to include an Additional Option Sheet with the Proposal.
✓See the Options tab chapter for complete information abut this feature.
Options tab on the Proposal Form
❑Printing the Proposal - Once the Proposal has been entered, you will need to print it for the Prospect.
•Open a Prospect or Subscribers Form and locate (F2 Search) the desired record.
Print Proposals dialog opened from Proposal Form
✓On the Prospect Form's Receivable menu, or the Subscribers Form's Receivable menu, Select Proposals.
✓Using the List Icon on the Proposals Form, locate and Double-Click on the Proposal number you want to Print.
✓That Proposal record will be displayed on the Proposals Form
✓Click the Print Icon on the Proposals Form to make a printed copy of the Proposal.
▪If an Alternate Address was selected for a Subscriber's Proposal, that will be the address printed on the Proposal.
▪Also see Custom Report Formats for information about how to change the default Proposal format.
✓Click the Email Icon when Previewing a Proposal to send the Proposal as an attachment via the Web (see E-mail the Proposal).