This guide is primarily for Productive users sending proposals. It explains how to generate public links, configure link security, and track acceptance or decline with Audit PDFs.
However, some sections also show what clients will see when accepting, signing, or declining proposals.
Generating a Public Proposal Link
Once a proposal is created in the Proposals tab, you can generate a public link for acceptance and signing:
Click Enable e-signature in the proposal document.
A secure link is generated, which you can copy and share with your client.
You can open the link yourself to see the proposal live.
If necessary, click Disable e-signature to deactivate the link.
Generating a public proposal link automatically updates the status to Sent. Disabling the link does not revert it to Draft; you can update the status manually if needed.
📌 Only proposals with an active public link can be accepted, signed, or declined online. Draft proposals cannot be accessed via a link.
Additional Link Options
When you enable e-signature, you can also toggle on additional security and access options for the link:
Verify Signer Email – Requires the client to confirm their email before the proposal is marked as accepted.
Set Proposal Link to Expire – Sets the link to expire automatically after a defined period.
Secure Sharing – Adds password protection to the link.
Disclaimer – Requires the client to accept a disclaimer text before signing.
Including the Proposal Link in Emails
If you're sending the proposal directly from Productive, you can automatically include the public link in the email by checking the Enable e-signature option in the email modal.
This allows clients to review, sign, or decline the proposal directly from the email.
📌 The Review & Sign Proposal visual only appears in the email if your Email Format (Settings > General) is set to HTML. If it's set to plain text, the proposal link is still included, but without the visual.
Client View: Accepting, Signing, and Declining the Proposal
Clients review and approve the proposal via the public link you shared, either manually or by email from Productive.
Standard Acceptance
1) The client opens the proposal link.
📌 If Secure Sharing is enabled, the client sees a password screen first and must enter the password to view the document.
2) The client reviews the proposal and clicks Accept Proposal.
3) In the Accept Proposal modal, the client fills in:
Full Name
Email Address
Signature
Type: Enter your name, rendered in a signature font.
Draw: Sign directly using a mouse or touch screen.
Upload: Add an image of your signature.
The disclaimer checkbox, if Disclaimer is enabled
The client clicks Accept and Sign to finalize acceptance.
4) Acceptance is logged automatically, and notifications are sent to:
All email recipients included in the proposal (To, CC, BCC)
The email used to send the proposal
The email entered on the acceptance form
The email of the person who prepared the proposal
📌 Who can sign the proposal? Anyone with the link.
📌 If Set Proposal Link to Expire is enabled and the expiration period has passed, the client sees an error message instead of the proposal and can't accept, sign, or decline.
Acceptance with Email Verification
If Verify Signer Email is enabled on the link, the flow includes an extra confirmation step:
The client clicks Accept Proposal, fills in the modal, and clicks Accept and sign.
Instead of an immediate confirmation, they see a "Check your email" message.
The client opens their email and clicks the confirmation link.
The proposal status updates to Accepted.
Failure cases:
Expired confirmation link – The client sees an error modal and must request a new confirmation.
Proposal already accepted – The client sees an info modal letting them know the proposal has already been accepted.
Declining the Proposal
Clients can also decline a proposal directly from the public link, without needing to contact you first.
1) The client opens the proposal link and clicks Decline Proposal.
2) A modal opens where they enter:
Name
Email
Reason
They click Decline proposal to confirm.
A confirmation modal appears, letting them know their response was recorded.
Audit PDF: Tracking Acceptance and Signatures
Once a proposal has been accepted and signed, recipients receive an Audit PDF attached to the Proposal Accepted confirmation email.
The Audit PDF itself contains the original proposal, followed by a detailed audit log on the next page. It includes:
Signer's full name and email
Disclaimer accepted (true/false), if applicable
IP address and user agent
Accepted PDF fingerprint
Acceptance timestamp
Signature method and signature itself
This provides a complete, verifiable record of proposal acceptance and signing, with legal traceability and a full audit trail.
Proposal Status: Accepted and Declined
Once a proposal is accepted, its status automatically updates to Accepted. A green Accepted banner appears at the top of the proposal, for example:
"This proposal is signed by Alex Taylor (alex.taylor.acme@gmail.com) on Jul 30 13:56"
📌 Signed proposals cannot be edited.
📌 Users with the standalone Delete signed proposals permission (available to admins) can delete signed proposals if necessary.
When a client declines a proposal via the public link, its status automatically updates to Declined. A banner appears at the top of the proposal showing the decline details the client provided.
You can also mark a proposal as Declined manually in Productive, without client action.
📌 Once declined, a proposal no longer accepts signatures, even if the link has been shared.
Internal Visibility
When a proposal is declined:
The proposal's status updates to Declined.
A banner on the proposal shows the decline details.
The Feed tab logs the decline as an event, so your team has a record of when and how it happened.
👉 See Proposal Tabs: Document, Feed, and Analytics for more on the Feed.
Downloading the Proposal
After a proposal has been signed, you can download either the original proposal or the signed version for your records. Both options are available from the upper-right menu in the proposal view.
The original proposal includes all proposal content as it was sent, while the signed version additionally shows the client's signature and the Audit PDF, providing a complete, verifiable record of acceptance and signing.
