ServiceM8 form
How do you build a good, better, best proposal in ServiceM8?
ServiceM8 does not have a feature called Proposals. A good, better, best proposal is a quote: a cover page added to your quote Word template, produced three times as separate Quote Options, so the customer opens one link online and picks the tier they want. ServiceM8 then moves the job to a work order and restores the billable items of whichever option was accepted.
Last checked 25 Sep 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this page.
Free form
Good, better, best proposal form for all trades
A cover paged quote PDF produced three times as separate Quote Options, opened and accepted by the customer online, which then restores the accepted tier's billable items to the job.
The form: 12 questions
| Section | Question | Type | Req. | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cover page | Proposal title | Static text | Yes | Type directly into the template. For example: Proposal for [job type] at [site address]. |
| Cover page | Client name | Merge field job.billing_contact_first / job.billing_contact_last | Yes | |
| Cover page | Site address | Merge field job.job_address | Yes | |
| Cover page | Proposal reference | Merge field job.generated_job_id | Yes | |
| Cover page | Summary paragraph | Static text | Yes | Two or three sentences on the problem and what the three options below have in common. Written once per job, not per option. |
| Cover page | Validity period | Static text | For example: this proposal is valid for 30 days from the date above. | |
| Pricing (per option) | Option name | Static text | Yes | Set per Quote Version, for example Option A, Essential. Repeat this whole pricing block for each of the three tiers. |
| Pricing (per option) | Line items | Merge field in bookmarked row jobMaterial.name / jobMaterial.description / jobMaterial.total_price | Yes | Row between bookmarks blockStart_jobMaterial and blockEnd_jobMaterial. |
| Pricing (per option) | Subtotal and total | Merge field job.subtotal_price / job.total_price | Yes | |
| Pricing (per option) | What is not included | Static text | Written per option where the exclusions differ, for example Best only includes the extended warranty. | |
| Acceptance | Online view and accept link | Merge field {document} | Yes | Must also be in the email or SMS template that sends the proposal. |
| Acceptance | Customer signature | Merge field image_customer_signature / customer_signature_date |
Set it up in ServiceM8
- Duplicate your existing quote Word template as a new file for proposals.
- Add the cover page fields above the pricing table using Insert > Quick Parts > Field, category Mail Merge, field name MergeField.
- Confirm the material line row still sits between the blockStart_jobMaterial and blockEnd_jobMaterial bookmarks so each option's items repeat correctly.
- Add image_customer_signature and customer_signature_date if you want the accepted option signed online.
- Upload the file from Settings > Document Templates > Quote > Upload Custom Quote Template.
- On the job, build three billable item sets (Good, Better, Best) and produce the quote template once per set, renaming each Quote Version to the option name.
- Put {document} in the email or SMS template used to send it, and send all three options from the job diary.
- Test the full path on a dummy job: send, open the link as if you were the customer, accept one option, and confirm the job moves to Work Order with the right items restored.
There is no Proposals button. There is Quote Options.
Search ServiceM8's own help centre for "proposal" and you land back on Quotes. The feature that produces a good, better, best document with three prices a customer can choose between is Quote Options: every time you produce a quote template on the job, ServiceM8 takes a snapshot of the price, materials and work description as a new version, and versions built to be shown together become the customer's Options. There is nothing wrong with calling the finished document a proposal when you hand it over. There is no separate template type, workflow or add-on behind that word in ServiceM8, so do not go looking for one before you build this.
That matters for how you plan the page count and the fields. A proposal cover page, an executive summary paragraph and three pricing pages are all just one quote Word template, produced three times against three sets of billable items on the same job.
Building the cover page and the three tiers
Start from your quote template and add a cover page above the pricing table: a title (Proposal, not Quote, if that is the tone you want), the client's name and site address, the date, and a short paragraph in plain language summarising the problem and what the three options below have in common. Keep this page free of merge fields except job.generated_job_id, job.billing_contact_first and job.job_address, so it prints cleanly regardless of which option a given PDF represents.
Then build the pricing itself as three separate billable item sets on the job (Good: base scope; Better: base plus the first upsell; Best: everything), and produce the quote template once per set. Naming each version something a customer will recognise, for example "Option A, Essential", keeps them straight in the job diary, because ServiceM8 shows saved versions as separate PDFs under that name.
Sending it, and what happens when they pick one
Your email and SMS templates already carry the {document} merge field on a quote send, which becomes a unique link to view the quote online. When a customer accepts an option through that link, ServiceM8 changes the job from Quote to Work Order, restores the billable items, price and work description of the version they accepted, and adds a note in the job diary saying which option was chosen. You can also apply an accepted option to the job by hand from the same screen. Add the image_customer_signature field to the template as well, and the accepted proposal comes back signed, not just clicked.
Reach for a straight quote template, not this three tier build, when there is only one sensible way to do the job: a proposal with three options is worth the extra setup on discretionary or upsell heavy work, not on a single fixed price repair.
What this form will not do
- There is no ServiceM8 feature named Proposals. This page describes building the same result from quote templates and Quote Options, which is a naming difference worth knowing before you go looking for a setting that is not there.
- The cover page and summary are static text you write once per job. ServiceM8 does not merge a different summary paragraph per option automatically.
- Producing three Quote Versions from one job means three separate PDFs in the diary. There is no single combined PDF showing all three options side by side.
- Word features such as floating images and unusual tab stops can break ServiceM8's PDF output, so keep the cover page in tables, the same as the pricing pages.
Sources
- A ServiceM8 quote template produces a snapshot (a Quote Version) of the price, materials and Work Completed description each time it is produced on a job; versions can be renamed to display as separate PDFs, and restoring a version reverts the job's pricing and description to it. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 documents multiple priced options for a client as Quote Options, built from separate quote versions; it does not use the term Proposals for this feature. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- Clients view and accept Quote Options online through a link created by the {document} merge field in the email or SMS template; accepting an option online updates the job status from Quote to Work Order, restores the billable items, price and Work Completed description of the accepted version, and adds a note to the job diary naming the accepted option. Accepted options can also be applied to the job manually. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- ServiceM8 invoice and quote template fields include job.generated_job_id, job.billing_contact_first, job.job_address, job.subtotal_price and job.total_price. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.
- To capture a customer signature on a ServiceM8 quote, add the image_customer_signature merge field (and optionally customer_signature_date) to the Word template and upload it. ServiceM8 Help Center, checked 25 Sep 2026.