What are Proposals?

Sales proposals allow your sales team to create quotes that customers can review, approve, and pay for at their convenience. Unlike sales orders which immediately create invoices and enrolments, proposals don't create any commitments until the customer explicitly approves and completes payment.

Sales proposals are particularly useful for:

• Complex quotes requiring customer review and approval before processing
• Situations where the customer wants to see full details before accepting
• Multi-stakeholder decision processes where several people need to review
• Presenting options for the customer to consider
• Early-stage discussions where terms may still change

Proposals give customers control over the final approval step, ensuring they're fully informed before any commitments are made.

Note: to create and manage proposals, you must have access to the Sales or Sales Admin role. 

This is managed via the user profile, under the Finance & Sales tab. For more information, visit our help article on Managing Sales and Finance Permissions. 

Understanding Purchase Types

Academy supports three ways to process purchases, each suited to different sales scenarios:

Self-Serve Purchases

Customers browse your programs and purchase directly through the standard checkout process. They select programs, add participants, choose payment methods, and complete payment immediately. These are common for individual learners or small teams buying single seats without sales team involvement.

Sales Orders

Created by your sales team and confirmed internally before being sent to customers. Sales orders are used when:

• You want to create a quote and send an invoice for pay-later
• The sale is straightforward and doesn't require customer approval before invoicing
• You're processing a transaction on behalf of a customer who has already agreed to the purchase

Once a sales order is sent, an invoice is issued immediately and participants are enrolled (with access blocked until payment is received).

Sales Proposals

Created by your sales team and sent to customers for review, confirmation, and payment. Proposals are used when:

• You need the customer to review and approve terms before any commitments are made
• The customer wants to see full details before accepting
• Multiple stakeholders need to review before approval
• You're presenting options for the customer to consider

Proposals don't create enrolments or invoices until the customer reviews, approves, and completes payment. This gives customers control over the final approval step.

Creating a New Proposal

Navigate to Sales & Finance > Sales Orders & Proposals, then select New Proposals.

Note: to create and manage orders and proposals, you must have access to Sales. 

This is managed via the user profile, under the Finance & Sales tab. 

Select the Purchaser

Search for an existing customer or create a new one. If the customer doesn't have an Academy account yet, you can create one as part of the proposal process. They'll receive an invitation email to set up their account and access the proposal.

Customer Message

Write a personalised introduction message for your customer. This message will appear at the top of their proposal review and should explain what they need to do next.

Use this to:

• Explain what you're proposing and why
• Highlight key benefits or special considerations
• Provide contact information for questions
• Provide information about next steps

The system displays the programs included in the proposal below your message.

Important: Enrolments are not secured until this proposal has been accepted and the invoice has been issued.

Add Programs

Search for and select the programs you want to include in the proposal. You can add multiple programs in a single proposal. If a program has multiple purchase plans, you will be prompted to select which one applies to the program in this proposal.

Add Learners

For each program in the proposal, add participant details:

• If the purchaser is also a participant, click Enrol Purchaser
• If purchasing for others, add each participant's name and email
• Participants will receive invitation emails to set up their Academy accounts

For team enrolments, you can add multiple participants to a single program within the proposal by clicking Add Learner.

Apply Discounts

If applicable, enter discount codes or apply manual discounts to the proposal. The system automatically applies team discounts based on the number of participants if your purchase plans include team pricing.

Add Billing Details

Add billing details, including the organisation details and billing address. The invoice and receipt will be sent to the purchaser, but you can add additional recipients at the bottom of the screen. 

Terms

This screen explains the purchase terms that apply to the proposal. If there are any special conditions that apply to the proposal, you can add these by toggling on Add Special Conditions.

Save the proposal as a draft to review internally or refine details before sending to the customer. Draft proposals aren't visible to customers and don't create any transactions or enrolments.

Review and Send

Review the proposal details before sending. Select which payment methods the customer can use when they approve the proposal:

• Pay Now by Credit Card - Customer pays immediately when they approve
• Pay Later by Credit Card - Customer can approve now and pay by credit card later
• Pay Later by EFT - Customer can approve now and pay by bank transfer later

Set an expiry date for the proposal. If the customer hasn't approved by this date, the proposal moves to "Recently Expired" status.

Click Send for Review & Payment to send the proposal to the customer.

Customer Review

Once you send the proposal, the customer receives an email prompting them to log into Academy to review their proposal. 

• If Customer Accepts: They're prompted to complete payment based on the payment methods you enabled. Once payment is received, participants are enrolled with access, and an invoice and receipt are issued. The proposal moves to "Sales" status.
• If Customer Declines: The proposal moves to "Cancelled Proposals" status and you're notified of the decline. You can follow up to understand why or create a revised proposal.
• If Customer Doesn't Respond: The proposal remains in "Proposals In Review" until the expiry date, then moves to "Recently Expired". You can follow up or create a new proposal with updated terms.

Managing Proposals

You can view the status of all orders via the Order Management screen.

Navigate to Sales & Finance > Sales Orders & Proposals to access your order management dashboard and view all orders and proposals by status.