Note: Proposals works with ConnectWise PSA only. Turning it on and setting it up needs the Administrator or Manager role. Creating, linking and marking Proposals Internal needs the Administrator, Manager, Builder or Editor role.
The Proposals module brings your ConnectWise PSA opportunities into Strategy Overview, so the person who leads each client can see the opportunities you have with them next to the Initiatives behind them. Each Proposal links to the Initiatives and Plan items it delivers, and the Proposals Part puts a client's Proposals in their Report.
Turning on Proposals
The Proposals module and the opportunities sync are switched on separately, and an Administrator or Manager does both:
Go to Settings > System > Modules and tick Active on Proposals.
Go to Settings > System > Integrations, open your ConnectWise PSA integration and go to its Opportunities tab.
Tick Enable Opportunities Integration.
On the Opportunity Selection tab, tick the Opportunity Types to bring in and pick an Entered Date window. The window is Last 12 months out of the box.
Click Import Opportunities.
Opportunities only come in for companies mapped on the integration's Companies tab. Your ConnectWise API member needs the Sales > Opportunities permission, which ConnectWise PSA Integration lists with the others. As with any module, each user's Modules setting decides who sees Proposals: see Set Up Your Team.
The standard opportunity fields always sync. To bring in ConnectWise custom fields as well, tick them under Fields to download on the Field Selection tab. A custom field you add starts hidden from clients, and stays hidden until you untick it under Internal Fields.
How ConnectWise statuses map to Proposals
Every Proposal gets one of three statuses, worked out from the ticks on its ConnectWise opportunity status rather than from the status's name:
Accepted: the ConnectWise status has Won ticked.
Declined: the ConnectWise status has Lost ticked.
Open: the ConnectWise status has neither ticked.
Hover a Proposal's status to see its status name in ConnectWise and whether it's closed there. ConnectWise's Closed tick doesn't change a Proposal's status.
To see where each of your ConnectWise statuses lands, open the Status Mapping tab on the integration's Opportunities tab. The mapping is read-only: to change where a status lands, change its Won or Lost tick in ConnectWise.
Working in the Proposals module
The Proposals module lists the Proposals for every client in List or Card view, and Group By groups them by company, status or stage. Click a Proposal to see its details and its products. The ConnectWise icon beside a Proposal's name opens the opportunity in ConnectWise.
Opportunities that are closed in ConnectWise are left out of the list by default. To see them, click Filters and clear Closed.
Proposals are read-only in Strategy Overview, apart from the Internal mark and links. To change a name, amount, stage or anything else, change it in ConnectWise and it comes through on the next sync. Administrators and Managers can click Sync at the top of the Proposals module to bring changes in now.
Linking Proposals to Initiatives and Plan items
Link a Proposal to the Initiatives and Plan items it delivers, and the link shows on both sides. You can link from any of the three:
From an Initiative: open the Initiative, scroll to its Proposals list and click Link. The picker lists every Proposal for the Initiative's company.
From a Plan item: click Link in the item's Proposals section.
From a Proposal: in the Proposals module, click the Relationships icon on its row, then Link under Initiatives or Plan.
Linking changes nothing on the Proposal or on what it's linked to, and no amount carries over. From Findings to Initiatives covers an Initiative's other links.
Creating a Proposal from Strategy Overview
New Proposal creates the opportunity in ConnectWise PSA, and the new Proposal shows in Strategy Overview straight away. Start it where the work is:
From an Initiative or a Plan item: click Link in its Proposals list, then New Proposal. The company is set, the name starts as the Initiative's or the item's name, and the new Proposal is linked to it for you.
From the Proposals module: click New Proposal and pick the Company.
Then fill in the form:
Check the Name, and pick the Contact and Sales Rep. Sales Rep starts as your own ConnectWise member, matched by your email.
Set the Expected Close date.
Click Create Proposal.
Important: Amount goes to ConnectWise as a note on the opportunity, not as its amount. Fill in the figures in ConnectWise.
Status, Stage and Type start from your account's defaults. Administrators and Managers can change them on the form, and the change becomes the default for every new Proposal created from Strategy Overview. Everyone else sees the defaults as they are.
Hiding Proposals from your clients
The Internal mark hides a Proposal from client users: people with an External Client role don't see it in the Proposals module or in their Reports. A Proposal is hidden when the Proposal itself, its status or its stage is marked Internal. The mark stays in Strategy Overview and isn't sent to ConnectWise.
One Proposal: tick Internal on its row in List view, or in its details.
Several Proposals: in List view, tick their rows, then use Internal in the bar that appears above the list.
A whole status or stage: an Administrator or Manager goes to Settings > Data > Proposals and ticks Internal on the status (Statuses tab) or the stage (Stages tab). Every Proposal in it is hidden, including ones that sync later.
Note: Internal only hides Proposals from client users who sign in to Strategy Overview. When you present a client's Report from your own login, Internal Proposals still show in Present and Display, so check the Proposals Part before the meeting.
Adding the Proposals Part to your Reports
The Proposals Part shows one client's Proposals in their Report. Every Report template has a Proposals Part, switched off. An Administrator, Manager or Builder turns it on:
Go to Settings > Templates > Strategy, open your template and go to its Parts tab.
Tick Build, Presentation and Display on the Proposals Part.
Click Apply Part Settings To All Drafts, so your Open Reports get it too.
While a Report is Open, the Proposals Part shows the client's Proposals as they are now. When the Report is Completed, the Part keeps the Proposals as they were at that moment and can't be changed. Configure the Report covers Parts and the three modes.
Good to know
A Proposal that stops matching your Opportunity Selection, or whose company is no longer mapped, is hidden rather than deleted. If it matches again, it comes back with its Internal mark and links. An opportunity deleted in ConnectWise is removed from Strategy Overview.
Unticking Enable Opportunities Integration hides every synced Proposal until you tick it again, and removes the custom fields you picked, along with their values.
Proposals don't add to a client's Budget or Roadmap. How Your Budget Comes Together lists what does.
Read Only users can view Proposals but not change them. Billing users don't see Proposals.
Common questions
Why don't I see Proposals for some of my clients?
Proposals only come in for companies mapped on the ConnectWise integration's Companies tab, for the Opportunity Types you ticked, and for opportunities entered within your Entered Date window. The list also leaves out closed opportunities until you clear the Closed filter.
Why do won opportunities still show in Proposals?
A won opportunity shows as Accepted until its ConnectWise status is also Closed. The Proposals list leaves out closed opportunities by default, so closing the opportunity in ConnectWise takes it off the list.
Does Proposals work with Autotask, Halo or another PSA?
Proposals syncs opportunities from ConnectWise PSA only. With any other PSA, the Proposals module has nothing to show.
Next: From Findings to Initiatives