RunwayDue lets you write a proposal with priced line items and tax, or upload one you already have as a PDF, and send it as a link your client accepts or declines without logging in. Each sent proposal carries a win probability and an expected close date that only you see, so the forecast counts its weighted value in the month you expect to close. When the client accepts, one button turns it into a contract with a billing schedule, with nothing retyped.
Writing a proposal in the editor
A proposal needs a client first, and the clients you bill set the currency it starts in. The written part has five sections: summary, scope, deliverables, timeline and terms, each taking Markdown headings and bullets. The client reads them with the prices set out in an "Investment" table.
Pricing is line by line: a description with a line of detail under it, a quantity, a unit (hour, day, week, month, project and a few more), a rate and a discount percentage. A discount is printed under the rate it applies to and again above the subtotal, so the client can check the arithmetic. One tax rate covers the whole proposal. In an Indian GST workspace the editor names CGST and SGST or IGST, and flags a quoted rate the invoices will not use.
Dates, numbers and defaults:
- Valid until defaults to 30 days after the issue date, and a proposal whose date has passed cannot be sent.
- Numbering runs in its own series, PRO-0001 by default, with the prefix and next number set in Settings.
- Default proposal terms, also in Settings, fill the terms section of every proposal you start in the editor.
- Currency can be the client's rather than yours. You enter the exchange rate, and the pipeline converts at it.
Or upload the PDF you already have
A deck, a scope document, something your lawyer drafted: upload the PDF and it is a proposal. You enter its value before tax, the tax rate, the date it is open until and your chance of winning. Once sent it counts towards your pipeline, and it converts into a contract like one written in the editor. It can also be sent for signature. RunwayDue offers no editor for an uploaded proposal, so its value, tax rate, dates and chance of winning stay as you entered them.
Sending it, and what your client sees
There are three ways out: email it from RunwayDue with a note and a CC, press "Save and mark sent" in the editor, or mark it sent without emailing and paste the link yourself. The link only works once the proposal is sent, so an unsent price is never readable.
On the link your client reads the proposal, can print it or save it as a PDF, and either accepts or declines, typing their name either way (email optional, and a reason optional on a decline). The page tells them that accepting is their written agreement to the scope and price. You see who answered and when, and when the link was first opened. If a link reaches the wrong person, reissue it and the old one stops working.
Letting a client pick optional items is one of the places PandaDoc is ahead, as RunwayDue and PandaDoc side by side sets out.
Heard yes on a call? Record it with "They accepted", or "Mark as lost" with a line on why. The proposals list keeps a win rate across everything decided.
Weighted by the odds you set
Every proposal carries a chance of winning, set in steps of 5 and starting at 50%. One written in the editor also takes an expected close date; an uploaded one uses the date it is open until as its close date.
Only sent proposals count, each at its value before tax multiplied by its chance of winning. It lands in the forecast month of its expected close date, or of its valid-until date if the close date is blank. The forecast covers the month you are in and the five after it, so a close date outside that window still counts in the weighted total but sits in no month. The day after its valid-until date, a proposal drops out of the pipeline. The dashboard's "What needs attention" list picks up open proposals that lapse within 14 days.
The "Pipeline, weighted" tile on the dashboard shows the weighted figure with the unweighted total beneath it. The reasoning is in the four-layer forecast, explained.
When you win: from proposal to contract
Accepting creates nothing else; the proposal simply leaves the pipeline. On an accepted proposal, "Create the contract" asks how you will bill it (one time, monthly retainer, quarterly or milestones), when it starts (the date you expected work to start, if you gave one) and how many months it runs.
The proposal's subtotal, before tax and without the optional lines, is spread across the term. Monthly and quarterly instalments are one figure, the last carrying the rounding, so they add up exactly to that subtotal. A generated schedule stops at 36 instalments, so a longer monthly term has its whole subtotal spread across those 36, each larger than a month's fee. With milestones, you enter each date and amount yourself. The contract keeps the proposal's currency, exchange rate and tax rate. A proposal written in the editor becomes a six-section agreement with its scope, deliverables and terms in place; an uploaded one carries its PDF across.
The contract starts as a draft for you to check and send. Its instalments count as contracted revenue once it is signed, and nothing bills itself: an instalment becomes an invoice when somebody presses "Bill it". The rest is in turning an agreement into dated instalments and what happens once an instalment is invoiced.
Revising, and the Free plan
Duplicate, on a proposal written in the editor, copies its lines, sections, tax and currency into a fresh draft with its own number, valid for 30 days. A copy of a won or lost proposal goes back to a 50% chance. There is no template library; default terms and Duplicate are how a proposal is reused.
On Free, a proposal counts against the allowance when it is sent, not while it is a draft: three proposals or contracts a month between them, 36 a year, and each also counts towards Free's overall cap of eight documents a month. Every proposal needs a client, even one for a prospect, and Free covers 3 clients; archiving one you no longer bill frees a place. Pro, at $15 a month billed yearly or $17 month to month, gives 250 documents a month to spend however you like, for up to 25 clients, as the allowance on each plan shows.
Frequently asked questions
Can my client pick the optional items on a proposal?
No. Optional items appear under "Available if you want it, not included above" with their prices, but there is nothing for the client to tick. They stay out of the total, the pipeline and any contract made from the proposal. If the client wants one, edit the proposal before they accept and make it a normal line.
Does my client ever see the win probability or expected close date?
No. The proposal document, the client's link and the email that sends it show the title, number, total and valid-until date, never your chance of winning or when you expect to close.
What happens if I edit a proposal my client is already reading?
Until the client decides, a sent proposal written in the editor can still be changed, and their link shows the change at once, price included. The editor warns you first, and the history records any change to the total. Once accepted or declined it is locked, and a revision goes out as a duplicate with its own number.
What happens after my client accepts a proposal?
It is marked accepted with the name they typed and leaves the weighted pipeline. No contract, invoice or deposit request is created. When you are ready, "Create the contract" builds a draft contract valued at the proposal's subtotal, before tax.
What happens to a proposal when its valid-until date passes?
From the next day it shows as expired, drops out of the pipeline and the forecast, and the client's link stops taking an answer and asks them to get in touch. For a proposal written in the editor, move the date on and it counts again, or duplicate it and send a fresh one.
Can a client sign a proposal instead of clicking accept?
Yes, for a proposal uploaded as a PDF: send it for signature from the proposal's page. Signing is included on Pro and above; on Free each request uses one signature document bought in a pack, $2 for one or $1 each in a pack of 25. Sending the request marks a draft proposal as sent. When the last signer finishes, the proposal is marked accepted in the first signer's name, and the signed PDF carries a certificate of completion. What a signer sees, from the consent screen to the certificate covers the rest.