The accounting world can be pretty competitive. To win new clients and stand out from the crowd, you need to refine the way you communicate your offer. This is where proposal software can help.
In this article, we’ll explain:
- What proposal software is
- How it can help you win clients
- The best proposal tools for accountants
What is proposal software?
Before a new customer decides to work with you, they probably have a lot of questions they need answering. For example, they might need to know:
- Who you are
- What accounting services you offer
- How you work
- Your estimated timelines and costs
- What differentiates you from other accounting firms
The information you provide in this context is critical, but so is how you provide it. If you want to impress prospects, you’ll need to do more than send them a Word doc. You need a business proposal that’s carefully crafted, custom-branded, and professional.
You also need a way of systematising and standardising the proposal process, allowing you to communicate effectively with clients at scale. This is where proposal software comes in.
Proposal software streamlines and automates the processes involved in creating, managing, and signing client proposals. It allows you to do more with less, improving the chances of you impressing prospective clients while saving you valuable time.
What benefits does proposal software bring to accounting professionals?
Accountants are too busy to spend hours crafting individual sales proposals. As your firm grows, you need a dedicated system for managing the proposal process. With the right proposal software, you can:
- Create impressive online proposals at scale
- Track progress and statuses
- Customise proposals to suit individual client needs
- Streamline the sales process
- Increase the likelihood of clients saying yes
- Understand key metrics around the effectiveness of your proposals
Our top eight proposal software for accountants
With so many proposal software options to choose from, it can be hard to know where to start. So to help you, we’ve narrowed down the field to our favourite ten. In no particular order, here are our top picks.
1. PandaDoc
G2 rating: 4.7 (out of 5)
Pricing: Free option available, with paid plans starting at $19 per month per user
Free trial: Yes, PandaDoc offers a 14-day free trial
PandaDoc is a cloud-based document management platform. It’s designed to help businesses create, manage, and sign online documents with ease, including proposals and contracts. Here’s what it offers:
- Over 750 free templates
- Customisable proposals with drag-and-drop functionality
- Real-time approvals, comments, and version tracking
- Integration with CRMs and other key systems
- Built-in e-signatures
One of the best things about PandaDoc is its simplicity and ease of use, as evidenced by its excellent customer reviews. There’s also a free version that offers unlimited e-signatures and document uploads, making it a great choice for businesses of all sizes.
2. Qwilr
G2 rating: 4.5
Pricing: Starting at $35 per month per user
Free trial: Yes
Another cloud-based proposal software, Qwilr helps businesses create beautiful proposals and quotes. It’s primarily aimed at salespeople, but accountants will find its powerful features and automation useful in winning new clients. Its key features include:
- Interactive, multimedia proposals that prospects will love
- Re-usable, drag-and-drop proposal content
- Legally compliant e-signatures
- Stripe integration for instant payments
- Buyer engagement and action tracking
We love the way Qwilr proposals work. You can share them via a URL rather than as an attachment, and they look more like an interactive webpage than a traditional document. That said, it’s not the cheapest option on the market.
3. Ignition
G2 rating: 4.6
Pricing: Three levels: Starter ($79 per month), Professional ($169 pm), and Scale ($399 pm)
Free trial: Yes, Ignition offers a free 14-day trial
Ignition is a proposal software platform that allows businesses to sell, bill, and get paid for their services in one place. Unlike most of the options on this list, Ignition is designed specifically for accountants, bookkeepers, and other professional services firms. Here’s what it offers:
- Custom-branded professional proposals
- Embedded video content in proposals
- Ready-made business proposal templates
- Automated engagement letters and contracts
- Built-in e-signatures
- Automated invoices and payments
Ignition also offers seamless integrations with your existing tech stack, including popular accounting software such as QuickBooks and Xero.
4. QuoteWerks
G2 rating: 4.3
Pricing: Starting at $15 per month per user
Free trial: Yes
QuoteWerks is a proposal and quoting software that leverages your existing tech stack to drive automated workflows and quote creation. It’s designed to bridge the gap between your CRM and accounting software. Here are some of its key features:
- Use the data in your CRM to create quotes
- Quote approvals and peer reviews
- Branded templates
- E-signatures and payments
- Notifications for when quotes are viewed and signed
QuoteWerks excels when it comes to integrations. It seamlessly connects to all your current systems and tools, bringing together all your sales and financial data in one place.
5. HoneyBook
G2 rating: 4.4
Pricing: $19 per month for one user, $39 pm for two users, $79 pm for unlimited users
Free trial: Yes, HoneyBook offers a free 7-day trial
Described as “mission control for your business,” HoneyBook is a complete system for managing new customers, from first contact to first payment. Its features span invoicing, contracts, process automation, and client onboarding. In terms of proposals, here’s what it offers:
- Proposals that combine invoice, contract, and payment in a single file
- Ready-made proposal templates
- Custom proposal designs
- E-signatures
By packaging proposals up as a bundle containing an invoice, contract, and payment option, HoneyBook aims to reduce back-and-forth and get customers signed up faster. It’s an interesting and fairly unique approach.
7. FreshBooks
G2 rating: 4.5
Pricing: Starting at $6.80 per month for up to five clients, with three higher pricing tiers
Free trial: Yes, FreshBooks offers a free 30-day trial
FreshBooks will be a familiar name to most accounting professionals. It’s a popular accounting and invoicing platform that covers expenses, payments, time tracking, and reporting. It also offers proposal functionality, including:
- Custom proposals, complete with images and attachments
- Prospects can comment on proposals in-app
- Online approvals and e-signatures
- Real-time proposal statuses and updates
- Automatically convert proposals to invoices
FreshBooks is a solid choice for accountants looking for an all-in-one tool spanning everything from bookkeeping and invoicing to proposals and payments. But if you are already happy using an alternative accounting platform, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
8. Proposify
G2 rating: 4.7
Pricing: Starting at $49 per month per user
Free trial: No, but you can book a free demo
Proposify is a popular cloud-based proposal software that helps businesses streamline the creation and management of proposal documents. Ultimately, it’s designed to help you close more deals faster.
Although Proposify is focused more on traditional sales teams, with the majority of their customers being in the marketing and advertising space, there are tons of features that top accounting firms will find useful, including:
- Content management tools ensure that proposals remain consistent and on-brand
- Insights into process efficiency, proposal success, and prospect interactions
- Integrates and syncs with your CRM
- Interactive pricing that allows prospects to upsell themselves
- Built-in e-signatures
In terms of customer ratings, Proposify has one of the highest rankings on this list. On the flip side, however, it’s also one of the most expensive, which might put some smaller businesses off.
Nail your client onboarding with Content Snare
Proposal software is a great way to win new clients. But once those deals are closed, how do you ensure a smooth onboarding experience? The answer is with Content Snare.
From custom-branded forms to automated reminders, Content Snare is packed full of features to help you gather client information and streamline the onboarding process. Ready to give it a try?
