I used to lose freelance bids because I would just email: "Yeah, I can build that website for $1,000."
It looked amateur. I realized that clients trust PDFs more than emails. A formal document signals "I am a real business."
I added a Quotation Generator to SmoothLedger today to fix this workflow.
The Workflow:
Create Quote: Itemize the scope (Research, Design, Dev).
Add Terms: Set a "Valid Until" date (creates urgency) and "50% Deposit" terms.
Send PDF: Look professional instantly.
Convert: Once they say yes, you can just change the title from "QUOTE" to "INVOICE" and get paid.
Try it here: https://smoothledger.com/quotation-generator
It’s 100% free, runs locally in your browser, and leaves no watermarks.
Feedback welcome on the layout! Does it cover the fields you usually need for a proposal?