Updated on 29 September 2026 by the Proposal Expert editorial team
Three samples you can adapt, a fill-in template and a checklist for proposals and bids
An executive summary is the one-page opening of a proposal or report that tells a busy reader the problem, your solution, the result, the cost and the next step. In a proposal it is the page the decision-maker reads first, and often the only one they read closely. Below are the five parts every proposal summary needs, three complete examples (a consulting proposal, a software project and a construction bid), a fill-in-the-blanks template, guidance on length and placement, what changes in a tender or RFP, and a checklist. All names and figures in the examples are fictional.
A proposal summary answers five questions, in this order. A reader who sees that you understand the problem reads on, and one who sees a clear price and next step can act the same day. Add one line of proof if it helps, such as a comparable project or a guarantee, but leave company history for the back of the proposal.
Harlow Foods ships around 1,200 orders a week from its Leeds warehouse, and since January one order in twelve has gone out late. Each late order costs you a credit note, and your sales director tells us that two regular customers now split their orders with a competitor. You asked for a way back to on-time delivery before the Christmas peak. We propose a six-week operations review. In weeks one and two we follow orders from sales to the loading bay and measure where time is lost. In weeks three to five we test two changes on the night shift: a fixed picking sequence and a daily cut-off for same-day orders. In week six we hand over a plan with costs, owners and dates. Our target is fewer than one late order in fifty by the end of November. The fixed fee is £18,400 excluding VAT, paid in two equal instalments. If you approve this proposal by 10 October, we start on 20 October with a half-day kick-off at your Leeds site.
Whitlock & Reyes CPA keeps every client file on one office server that is seven years old. When it failed for two days in March, your team lost access to client files during the busiest weeks of tax season, and there is no tested backup if it fails again. We propose to move your client files and practice software to a managed cloud setup over three weekends, so no working day is lost. Every user gets multi-factor sign-in, files are backed up daily to a second location, and we test a full restore before the old server is switched off. After the move, your staff can work from the office or from home, and a single hardware failure no longer stops the firm. The one-off project fee is $14,900. Ongoing support and backups cost $1,150 a month on a 12-month term. All prices exclude any applicable sales tax. To finish before your next filing deadline, we need your signed approval by November 15, followed by a one-hour planning call with your office manager.
Pinecrest Property Management invited bids to replace the flat roof of the Oak Street retail building before winter. The roof now leaks in three places, and two tenants have reported water damage to stock this year. Our bid covers removal of the existing roof down to the deck, replacement of damaged decking, new tapered insulation to improve drainage, and a single-ply TPO membrane with new flashing and gutters. We work in two phases so that every store stays open, and noisy work finishes by 10 a.m. each day. You get a watertight roof, backed by the manufacturer's membrane warranty and our own five-year workmanship warranty. The fixed price is $186,500, including materials, disposal and permits. Decking replacement beyond 200 square feet is charged at the unit rate in the attached price schedule. This bid is valid for 30 days. If you award the contract by October 31, we can start on November 10 and finish within four weeks, weather permitting.
Copy these lines into the first page of your proposal and replace everything in square brackets. Write one or two sentences per line, then merge lines until it reads like a letter to one person rather than a form. Drop lines that do not apply, but always keep the price and the next step. If you write proposals in Proposal Expert, its AI can draft a first version from your briefing and score each section, including the summary. Check every figure yourself.
Keep it to one page. The writing guide of the University of Maryland Global Campus suggests about 10 percent of the length of the full proposal, so a ten-page proposal gets a summary of one page or less. For most small-business proposals that means 150 to 400 words. If an RFP or tender sets a page or word limit, that limit wins. Place the summary at the front, after the cover page and any cover letter, and before scope, timeline, pricing and terms. For the format, use short paragraphs or the five parts as bold lead-ins, one small table at most, and no references to appendices. The same guide stresses that the summary must work as a stand-alone document, so assume the person who signs reads this page and the pricing table and nothing else.
In a competitive bid, the buyer scores every response against criteria it publishes in advance. For US federal contracts, the Federal Acquisition Regulation requires the solicitation to state clearly all factors and significant subfactors that will affect the award, and their relative importance (FAR 15.304(d)). In the UK, section 23 of the Procurement Act 2023 requires a contracting authority to describe how tenders will be assessed against its award criteria and to indicate their relative importance, for example with percentage weightings. Private buyers often do the same. The words differ: US buyers usually issue a request for proposal (RFP), while UK public buyers more often issue an invitation to tender (ITT). Whatever it is called, build your summary on the published criteria.
Most weak summaries fail in one of six ways. They open with the supplier's history instead of the client's problem. They describe the document ("section 3 covers our approach") instead of making the case. They hide the price, so the budget holder has to hunt for it. They quote a figure that no longer matches the pricing table. They lean on jargon and on claims like world-class without proof. And they end without a next step, or with a vague one such as "let us know your thoughts". Run this checklist before you send.
An executive summary condenses the whole document, including your recommendation or offer, so a reader can decide without reading further. An introduction only prepares the reader for what follows. The Oxford Brookes University guide notes that business reports usually have an executive summary instead of an abstract, its academic counterpart, and that the executive summary usually includes specific recommendations.
The US Small Business Administration advises you to tell the reader briefly what your company is and why it will be successful, with your mission statement, your product or service, and basic information about your leadership team, employees and location. If you are asking for financing, the SBA also advises adding financial information and high-level growth plans.
No. A one-page quote for a small job is short enough to be its own summary, and a friendly cover note does the rest. Add an executive summary once a proposal runs to three pages or more, when several people take the decision, or whenever an RFP or tender asks for one.
Both, in a sense. Write a two-sentence version first to fix your central message, then write the real summary last, once scope, timeline and price are final. Writing it last prevents the most damaging error in this section: a figure that no longer matches the pricing table after a late change.
In a proposal, yes. Address the client as you and your business as we, because the summary is a direct offer to a named reader. Either way, keep the client at the centre of most sentences: your deadline, your team, your costs.