Consulting Proposal Template: A Copyable Example, AI Drafting Prompt, and Client Sharing Checklist
A consulting proposal should let a client answer four questions: what work are you recommending, what will they receive, what will it cost, and what happens next? Start with the copyable structure below. Then check the draft against your discovery notes before sharing it.
This is a drafting aid, not a legal agreement. The worked example is fictional. It does not describe a customer result, recommended market price, or guaranteed outcome.
Copy this consulting proposal template
Replace every bracketed field. Remove anything that does not apply. If you cannot confirm a detail, mark it as an open question rather than letting an AI assistant fill it in.
CONSULTING PROPOSAL Prepared for: [Client / decision maker] Prepared by: [Your name / business] Project: [Specific project name] Date: [Date] | Proposed decision date: [Agreed date] 1. SUMMARY You want to [client's confirmed objective]. I recommend [approach] to help you decide or accomplish [intended outcome, not a guarantee]. 2. DELIVERABLES You will receive: - [Deliverable, format, quantity and completion criteria] - [Deliverable, format, quantity and completion criteria] Included review rounds: [Number and what each round covers]. 3. APPROACH AND TIMING [Phase]: [Work] → [Output] → [Estimated timing] [Phase]: [Work] → [Output] → [Estimated timing] Timing depends on: [Access, feedback and other dependencies]. 4. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES Please provide [inputs / access / decisions] by [agreed milestone]. Your review contact is [name or role]. 5. FEES AND PAYMENT Fee: [Amount, currency and billing basis]. Payment schedule: [Agreed milestones / due dates]. Expenses and applicable taxes: [Agreed treatment]. 6. ASSUMPTIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND CHANGES This proposal assumes [material assumptions]. It does not include [specific excluded work]. We will agree the effect of additional work on scope, timing and fees before that work begins. 7. APPROVAL AND NEXT STEP To proceed, [actual agreed approval or contracting process]. Questions or requested changes: [contact route]. Any separate agreement governing this work: [accurate reference]. Open questions to resolve before approval: [list or none].
Fictional example: four weeks of customer research
Suppose a small software business wants evidence about why recently onboarded customers struggle with setup. A consultant proposes a focused research assignment. Here is how the template could become specific:
| Section | Illustrative proposal wording |
|---|---|
| Objective | Understand reported setup difficulties and give the client evidence for prioritizing its next onboarding changes. |
| Deliverables | One interview guide, six customer interviews, a findings report and one readout meeting. One consolidated review of the draft report is included. |
| Timing | Week 1: agree participant criteria and guide. Weeks 2–3: interviews. Week 4: synthesis, draft review and readout. |
| Client inputs | The client recruits and schedules participants, provides relevant existing material and consolidates feedback. Delayed access may move the schedule. |
| Fee | [Insert the agreed fee, currency and payment schedule.] No price is implied by this example. |
| Exclusions | Participant recruitment, product implementation and a further research round are excluded. Additional work needs agreement first. |
The consultant promises defined work products, not a retention increase or a complete explanation of every customer's behavior. Six interviews and four weeks are fictional scope choices, not a research standard or a recommendation for every project.
For a strategy engagement, replace interviews with the actual workshops and decision brief you will deliver. For an operations project, specify the processes you will examine and the outputs the client receives. Reuse the structure, not another engagement's commitments.
Use this AI drafting prompt
Enter only notes you are permitted to share with your chosen AI service. Remove unrelated conversation material and confidential details that are unnecessary for the task.
Draft a consulting proposal from the verified notes below using these sections: summary, deliverables, approach and timing, client inputs, fees, assumptions and exclusions, and approval / next step. Use only supplied facts. Mark missing terms [CONFIRM]. Do not invent prices, dates, credentials, client statements, results or legal clauses. Separate promised deliverables from intended business outcomes. After the proposal, list all unresolved questions. Verified notes: [Paste selected project details here.] Actual approval process: [Describe it, or mark CONFIRM.]
Check every amount, date, quantity and commitment against the notes. Resolve all [CONFIRM] markers. Fluent writing does not establish that the scope is correct or that the client has agreed to it.
Turn the reviewed draft into a client-facing link
If SharedBrief is connected to your AI assistant, you can ask:
Save only the proposal above as a SharedBrief private draft. Give me the owner preview link. Do not publish it or change reader access yet.
Follow the SharedBrief connection guide for your account. Review the actual document before publishing. Choose anyone-with-the-link access for material you are comfortable allowing a forwarded-link holder to open; use verified-reader or specific-email access when that fits your requirements. Restricted readers must sign in with a verified address.
After review, publish and send the reader link, not the owner preview. Updates to published content retain the same reader URL. For the full handoff and its limitations, see sharing a proposal and interpreting reader activity.
Before sending: a five-point check
- Client, approver, scope, quantities, fee and timing match your source notes.
- Assumptions, client inputs, exclusions and review rounds are explicit.
- No placeholders, unsupported claims or private internal notes remain.
- The intended reader can open the link under the chosen access settings.
- Your message states the actual next step and agreed review date.
Reader activity can support a considerate follow-up. It is not proof of comprehension, agreement or buying intent. Anonymous readers remain unidentified, and no tracked views does not prove nobody saw a copy. Use the approval or signing process you actually agreed with the client; a recorded view does not replace it.