How do I send a design proposal for my client to sign in MONA?

Quick answer: click Proposals in the sidebar, then New proposal, add your lines, and click Send to client. Your client gets an email with their own link, reviews every item, and clicks Approve & sign to sign electronically through MONA Contracts. No account is needed. You get a signed PDF, and the proposal moves to approved in your list.

A proposal in MONA is the priced offer for a job: furniture and FF&E from your schedule, services, freight, sales tax and a deposit, on one page your client can act on. If you want a broader view of everything clients can approve, see Can my clients review and approve designs directly?.

Who can use this

• Every seat on a studio can create and open proposals. Proposals is in the sidebar, under Finance as a tab, and on every project as the Proposals tab.
• If your studio set a role so that seat needs approval before sending to clients, the button reads Request review instead of Send to client. The owner and admins are notified and send it when they approve. See Custom roles and permissions.
• Only owners and admins can change how clients approve proposals, in Settings, then Finance.

How do I create a proposal?

1. Click Proposals in the sidebar, then New proposal.
2. In Who is this for?, choose one of two tabs:
   • Contact: address it to someone in your pipeline. The project is created when they accept, so you do not set one up for a lead who has not said yes.
   • Add to a project: put it on a job you already have.
3. Or work from inside a project: open the Proposals tab, click New proposal, and under Start from pick From schedule (pick lines, rooms or the whole project), Blank, or Ask MONA (describe it and MONA drafts it). You can set a Default markup %, a Deposit (Percent or Fixed), a Client name and a Client email here.
4. Add lines with Add from schedule, Add from Products, Add service, Add from inventory, or Add line. Add from schedule appears once the proposal is on a project. If you started from a contact, Add to project puts it on one while it is still a draft.
5. Click any cost, markup or quantity on a draft line to change it. A line that came from your FF&E schedule (also called a spec sheet or product schedule) stays in sync with its schedule row in both directions, so the proposal and schedule never disagree. See FF&E schedules.
6. Fill in Quote # and Description if you number your quotes, type payment terms in Terms (or Insert saved terms), and choose whether to Show item photos to client and Group by room.

How do I give my client options to choose from?

1. On a line, click + Make an option and type an option set name, such as "Sofa".
2. Give the alternative lines the same option set name.
3. Lines in a set are alternatives. The builder marks the one in the total Option, counted and the rest Option, not counted. Until the client picks, the first one counts.
4. Your client sees a Choose button on each option and the total follows their choice. If they try to approve before picking, the page asks them to review the options first.

How do I check the proposal before sending?

Click Preview as client. It opens the exact client page in a new tab, draft included. You can try every control the client has (remove items, choose options, add notes) and watch the total change, but nothing is saved and signing is turned off. Save as PDF files a designed PDF copy in your Library.

How do I send the proposal?

1. Click Send to client.
2. In Send proposal, tick the clients on the project who should get it. Each person gets their own tracked link.
3. If you tick more than one, answer When is this proposal approved?: Everyone must approve or Any one can approve.
4. Edit the email if you like. You can change To, CC, BCC, Subject and Message, and tick Send me a copy.
5. Click Send to client. When you picked several people, the button names the count, for example Send to 2 people. MONA also copies the client link to your clipboard, so keep it for follow-ups.

If a client has no email on file, sending publishes the link without emailing anyone, and you can share it yourself.

How does my client sign the proposal?

What your client sees on their link:

• The proposal title, Quote # if you set one, your name, and a Download PDF link.
• Every item, grouped by room, with Keep and Remove, Reselect to ask you for something else, Add a note, and Choose on options. Cost and markup never appear.
• Sales tax, Freight, the Total, You save when you turned retail savings on, and Deposit due now when you set a deposit.
• Your Terms, then a box titled Approve and sign.

With the default E-signature (Contracts) setting, the client clicks Approve & sign. MONA builds a PDF of exactly the items they kept, with a signature page, and opens the Contracts signing page. They tick the consent box, adopt a signature (Choose a style or Draw), click Adopt and sign, then Finish. The page confirms "Proposal approved. Your designer has been notified." and offers Back to proposal.

Once anyone signs, the items lock so nobody can sign a different version. A client can also click Decline instead, add an optional reason, and click Decline proposal.

How do I choose between e-signature and an Approve button?

1. Go to Settings, then Finance, and find Client acceptance.
2. Under Proposals, pick:
   • E-signature (Contracts): the default. Clients review the proposal, then sign it the same way they sign a contract. You get a signed PDF.
   • Approve button: one click to approve, no signature. The client sees Approve proposal.
3. The style is locked in when you send, so changing it never changes a proposal your client already has.

Proposals sent before e-signature became the default on October 14, 2026 keep the approval they were sent with. On those, the client types their full name and clicks Sign proposal. A studio still set to that older flow sees it listed as Typed name (legacy) and can switch away from it.

How do I track where each proposal stands?

The Proposals page lists every proposal across your studio. Filter by status with All, Draft, Sent, Signed, Declined and Void, by pipeline stage, by project or by vendor, and switch between List and Cards.

• Draft: not sent yet.
• Sent: emailed, not opened yet.
• Viewed: the client opened their link.
• Approved: signed or approved by the client.
• Declined and Void: closed.

While signing is under way, a chip reads Signing with a count, such as 1 of 2. Once complete, a Signed contract link opens the signed document on your Contracts page. For a proposal sent to several people, the Recipients panel shows Not opened, Opened, Approved or Declined for each person, with Copy link and Rotate to issue a fresh link.

Click the status chip for manual changes: Mark as sent (you sent it outside MONA), Mark approved for the client (they agreed by phone, email or in person; logged as your entry, not an e-signature), Mark declined for the client, and Convert to invoice.

What happens after my client signs?

• You get an email.
• The items they kept move to Approved on the schedule.
• If the project has no draft invoice yet, MONA drafts the invoice from the proposal. If one already exists, MONA leaves it alone and tells you. See Invoices and purchase orders.
• If the proposal was addressed to a contact with no project, the project is created on acceptance.

How do I change or cancel a sent proposal?

• Unlock to revise puts it back to a draft as the next version. The client’s link closes and their answers are cleared, so send it again when you are done.
• Void stops the client link from working.
• Delete removes a draft, void or declined proposal. A sent proposal must be voided first, and a signed one cannot be deleted.

What it does not do (yet)

• Proposals do not send automatic follow-up reminders. Follow up with the link MONA copied when you sent it, or use Copy link in the Recipients panel when it went to several people. Standalone contracts on the Contracts page do have automatic reminders.
• The design services agreement is not bundled into the proposal’s signing. Send it as its own contract. See How do I send a contract for e-signature in MONA?.
• You cannot sign your own proposal from Preview as client.

Want a hand?

If you want to set up your first proposal together, book a 30-minute setup call with the founder at calendly.com/mona-justin/30min.

Related articles

• How do I send a contract for e-signature in MONA?
• Can my clients review and approve designs directly?
• FF&E schedules
• Invoices and purchase orders
• Client portal
• Get paid online and payouts

Frequently asked questions

Does my client need a MONA account to sign a proposal?

No. Your client opens the proposal from the link in the email, reviews the items, and signs in any browser. They do not need a client portal or a MONA account.

Is the proposal signature legally binding?

In the default E-signature (Contracts) mode, the client adopts a drawn or typed signature, ticks a consent box agreeing that it is the legal equivalent of a handwritten signature, and MONA records the time, IP address and browser for each signer. You get a signed PDF of exactly what they agreed to. That is the same kind of evidence record mainstream e-signature tools keep.

Can my client remove items or ask for changes before signing?

Yes. Each item has Keep and Remove, plus Reselect to ask you for something else, and Add a note for comments. Removed items come off the total and are not invoiced. Once anyone has signed, the items lock.

Can I send one proposal to two clients, like a couple?

Yes. In Send proposal, tick every client on the project. Each person gets their own tracked link. Choose Everyone must approve so it is signed only when all of them sign, or Any one can approve so the first approval closes it.

How do I know if my client opened the proposal?

The status on the Proposals list changes from Sent to Viewed when the client opens their link. For a proposal sent to several people, the Recipients panel shows Not opened, Opened, Approved or Declined for each person.

Can I skip the signature and just have clients click Approve?

Yes. Go to Settings, then Finance, then Client acceptance, and under Proposals choose Approve button. Clients then see an Approve proposal button instead of signing.

What happens after my client signs?

You get an email, the items they kept move to Approved on the schedule, and MONA drafts the invoice from the proposal when the project has no draft invoice yet. The signed contract is linked from the proposal and listed on your Contracts page.

My client agreed by phone. Can I record that?

Yes. Click the status chip on the proposal and choose Mark approved for the client, then say how they approved. MONA logs it as your entry, not an e-signature.

Does MONA send automatic reminders on proposals?

Not yet. Proposals do not send automatic follow-up emails. MONA copies the client link to your clipboard when you send, so you can follow up with it yourself, and for a proposal sent to several people the Recipients panel has Copy link for each person. Standalone contracts on the Contracts page do have automatic reminders.