Updated on 21 September 2026 by the Proposal Expert editorial team
A complete business proposal with a worked example you can copy
A general business proposal template for services and projects, with the seven sections a buyer expects, a worked example from a real-looking client and a price table that does the VAT for you. Free as a Word download or ready to send from Proposal Expert.
A business proposal is a written offer from a seller to a prospective buyer that describes what will be delivered, at what price and under which conditions, and why that is the right answer to the buyer's situation. You use one when a company has named a problem or a need and expects a reasoned plan with a price attached, whether that is a service, a project or a supply agreement. This template gives you the seven sections that structure almost every winning proposal, background, objective, approach and scope, timeline, investment, terms and next step, and shows them filled in for a fictional but realistic client, so you see the level of detail that works before you write your own.
The template opens with the client's background in their own words and numbers, because that paragraph decides whether the rest is read. It then states one measurable objective, works the approach out in phases or components with a named deliverable each, sets a timeline with dates rather than durations, and presents the investment as a split table with a subtotal, VAT and a total. The terms cover validity, payment, revisions or variations, intellectual property and how to stop; the next step tells the reader exactly what to do. The worked example below applies all seven to a facilities services contract.
Anyone who sells a service, a project or a recurring agreement to another business and does not have an industry-specific template on this site: facilities and cleaning companies, training providers, recruitment agencies, logistics providers, maintenance contractors, accountants and legal firms. The reader is a manager or owner who compares two or three offers and has to defend the choice internally, so the proposal must be easy to forward and easy to summarise in three lines.
Start with the background: replace the example with what the client told you, using their figures. Then set the objective as one number the client already tracks. Rewrite the approach as what you deliver, not what you do, and keep out-of-scope items in a sentence of their own. Adjust the price table: one line per thing the client can recognise, recurring items in their own table, VAT rate to your country. Check the terms for validity, payment schedule and how changes are priced. Finally, make the next step a single action with a date.
This business proposal example shows how a facilities services company proposes a cleaning and maintenance contract for three sites to a regional retailer. It is deliberately general: no industry jargon, seven sections, a one-off start-up and a monthly fee listed apart, and terms a procurement officer can approve without a lawyer. The background repeats what the client said in the meeting, the objective is one number the client already reports on, and every price line names something the client can walk through the building and check.
This proposal can be downloaded as a Word document (.docx) on this page.
From: Brightside Facilities Services, Lyon
To: Larkin Home & Garden, Lyon
Date: 18 September 2026
Reference: PRO-2026-402
Valid until: 18 October 2026
Larkin Home & Garden runs three stores of 1,800 to 2,600 square metres around Lyon and currently uses two cleaning companies and a handyman on call. In our site visits on 8 and 9 September you showed us the inspection reports of the past year, with 23 complaints about the sanitary areas and the entrances, and you said that store managers spend about three hours a week chasing suppliers. You want one partner, one monthly invoice and one contact who solves things before a customer notices.
From 1 December 2026 one contract for daily cleaning, periodic deep cleaning and small maintenance in all three stores, with fewer than five cleanliness complaints per quarter in your own inspection reports, a response to maintenance requests within four working hours and no more than 30 minutes a week of supplier coordination per store manager.
Daily cleaning before opening in all three stores, six days a week, by a fixed team per store with a team leader who checks a 22-point list and signs it in your logbook. Periodic work on a published schedule: floor machine cleaning monthly, window cleaning inside and out every two months, deep cleaning of the sanitary areas quarterly. Small maintenance through one contact number: lamps, door closers, taps, shelving repairs and minor painting, with materials up to 60 euro per job included and larger jobs quoted within two days. A monthly quality walk with each store manager and a written report. Garden centre outdoor areas in winter, pest control and lift maintenance are outside this proposal.
After your approval we recruit and train the three teams in October and November, including a site induction in each store. Start-up week from 23 to 28 November with our operations manager present in every store. Contract start on 1 December. First quality walk in the week of 4 January 2027, first quarterly report on 1 March.
The start-up is a one-off amount, listed in the first table and excluding 20 percent VAT, invoiced on approval. The contract is a monthly fee per store, listed in the second table, invoiced monthly in advance as one invoice for the three stores, with 30-day payment terms. Materials above 60 euro per maintenance job and consumables such as soap and paper are invoiced at cost with the monthly invoice.
This proposal is valid until 18 October 2026. The contract runs twelve months from 1 December and renews yearly unless cancelled with three months notice. If the quarterly complaint count exceeds five in two consecutive quarters, you may end the contract with one month's notice. Our staff are employed by us, insured and vetted; we hold liability insurance of 5 million euro. Our general terms apply.
Sign at the bottom of this document to confirm. We will then start recruitment for the three teams, agree the site induction dates with your store managers and send you the 22-point checklist and the periodic schedule for your comments before 15 October.
| One-off costs | Amount |
|---|---|
| Start-up: recruitment, training, inductions and start-up week | €6,800.00 |
| Cleaning materials, machines and logbooks for three stores | €4,200.00 |
| Subtotal excl. VAT | €11,000.00 |
| VAT 20% | €2,200.00 |
| One-off total incl. VAT | €13,200.00 |
| Recurring costs | Amount excl. VAT |
|---|---|
| Daily cleaning, periodic work and maintenance contact, Lyon Centre, per month | €4,950.00 |
| Daily cleaning, periodic work and maintenance contact, Lyon Est, per month | €4,350.00 |
| Daily cleaning, periodic work and maintenance contact, Villeurbanne, per month | €5,600.00 |
Agreed on behalf of Larkin Home & Garden
Seven, in the order a buyer reads: background, objective, approach and scope, timeline, investment, terms and next step. The background repeats the client's situation in their words, the objective states one measurable result, the approach says what you deliver and what you do not, the timeline uses dates, the investment is a split table, the terms cover validity, payment, changes and rights, and the next step is one action. Cover letters, team pages and case studies are optional and belong after these seven, not instead of them.
As long as the decision needs and no longer. For a service contract or a project of tens of thousands of euro, two to four pages of text plus a price table is the norm; the example runs to about 900 words. A proposal that has to be forwarded to a director should be readable in five minutes. Put detail the buyer may need, such as checklists, schedules or acceptance criteria, in appendices the proposal refers to.
A quote states what something costs; a proposal explains why that is the right answer to the buyer's situation. A quote is a price table with terms, often one page, and works for known products. A proposal adds the background, the objective and the approach, and is what you send when the buyer compares approaches as well as prices. Most service businesses need both: the proposal for the first agreement and quotes for additions along the way.