How to write a freelance proposal (with an example)

A freelance proposal is a short document that gets a client to say yes to one piece of work at one price. A good one covers seven things: the client's problem in their own words, what you'll deliver, what isn't included, the timeline, the price as two or three options, the deposit and payment terms, and one clear next step.

Each part is below, with a worked example from a UK web designer.

What a proposal is for

A proposal usually follows a call or an email thread where the client explained what they need. Your portfolio got you that conversation. The proposal has a narrower job: pin down exactly what they're buying and what it costs.

So leave out the company history, the list of tools and the wall of past client logos. If the client wants proof, one link to a similar project does it. Two pages is plenty for most freelance jobs.

A quick test: could the client forward it to whoever signs off the budget, and would they understand what's being bought without ringing you?

The seven parts of a freelance proposal

Use these as your template, in this order.

1. The problem, in their words. Open with what the client told you, quoted or close to it. "New patients can't book online and the phone rings all day" lands harder than "a modern digital presence", and everything below gets measured against it.
2. What you'll deliver. Name what they'll have at the end: five pages, two logo concepts, eight blog posts. Say how many rounds of changes are included.
3. What isn't included. If copywriting, photography or hosting are out, say so, and say extras are quoted before any work starts. You'll point to this line when the job starts to grow.
4. Timeline. A start date and the main milestones. If the job waits on content or feedback from the client, put those dates in too.
5. Price. Two or three options, covered below. If you're VAT registered, say whether the prices include VAT.
6. Deposit and payment terms. How much up front, when the rest is due, and how many days they have to pay each invoice.
7. The next step. One action: accept an option, and the contract follows. Add a valid-until date so the price doesn't stay open for ever.

A worked example

Here's a short proposal from a freelance web designer to a physiotherapy clinic in Bristol. The names and figures are made up.

The problem. "Half our calls are people trying to book, and the website still lists a physio who left two years ago." You want patients to book online, and your staff to keep the site up to date without help.

What you'll get. A five-page website (home, treatments, team, prices, contact) with your existing booking system on every page. Your staff can edit the team and prices pages themselves. A 30-minute training call at handover.

Not included. Writing the page copy from scratch, new photography, hosting, and the booking system's own subscription. Extra pages are quoted separately.

Timeline. Design ready for sign-off at the end of week two, site live by the end of week five. Your copy and photos are due by the end of week two.

Deposit and payment. 50% to book the start date, the balance on launch. Each invoice is due within 14 days. Prices are fixed, and no VAT is added.

Next step. Accept the option you'd like and the contract follows the same day. This proposal is valid for 30 days.

The price sits between the timeline and the deposit:

Under it, one line on why the middle option is the pick: "Recommended, because your current copy needs tightening and two rounds of changes gives the partners room to weigh in."

Pricing options without the tricks

Two or three options let the client choose how much to buy, and show what each step up gets them. Build every price from your day rate: estimate the days, multiply, and add a margin for what you can't see yet. Our guide to pricing freelance work and the day rate calculator help with the sum.

The order matters. The first price someone reads tends to become the reference for the rest, which is called anchoring. Lead with the biggest option and the middle one looks sensible next to it. That's fair, as long as it stays honest:

• Every option is one you'd be glad to deliver at that price. No decoy priced to be ignored.
• Each step up adds something the client would notice, tied to the problem they told you about.
• You say which option you recommend, and why, in one line.
• No invented deadline discounts. The valid-until date already does that job, for a real reason: your diary and prices change.

Some jobs suit a single price. Then list optional add-ons underneath, each priced on its own and left out of the total.

Deposit and payment terms

Put the deposit in the proposal, not in a later email. That way it's agreed by the time they say yes, and the first invoice surprises nobody. Our guide to asking for a deposit covers how much and when to skip it. On a longer job, split the balance into stages tied to your milestones, so you're never far ahead of what's been paid.

Name the number of days the client has to pay each invoice, too. With a business client, if no date is agreed, gov.uk says the payment is late 30 days after they get your invoice or you provide the service, whichever is later. Agreeing your own date means you're not relying on that default.

When to follow up

Send the proposal within a day or two of the call. On the call, ask when they expect to decide and whether anyone else needs to see it. Then a follow-up after that date is one they're expecting.

No answer by that date? Send one short note:

"Checking the proposal for the new website reached you. Happy to talk through the three options on a 15-minute call this week if that's easier."

If a week later there's still nothing, send a final note that mentions the valid-until date, then stop chasing. If they come back later, send a fresh proposal at your prices then.

If you send proposals from HelloNoa, you can see when the client has opened it, so you know whether a quiet client hasn't looked yet or is thinking it over.

From yes to contract and deposit invoice

A yes settles the scope and the price. The contract carries both, and adds the terms that matter if something goes wrong: who owns the work, a cap on your liability, and how either side ends it early. Our guide to whether you need a contract explains what an accepted proposal already counts for, and what it leaves out.

If your client is a private individual rather than a business, and you agree the work by email or online, they usually have 14 days to cancel. You have to tell them about that right before they're bound, so with a private client, put it in the proposal as well as the contract.

Send the deposit invoice as soon as the contract is signed, and confirm the start date once it's paid.

The bottom line

Write the proposal for the person deciding. Start with their problem in their words, say what's in and what's out, and offer two or three honest options with one recommended. Put the deposit in from the start, follow up twice at most, and get the contract signed and the deposit invoice out before any work begins.