Stop sending Word docs. Use this JSON proposal standard.

Source: Dev.to

The Problem with “Document-First” Proposals

We’ve been sending proposals the same way for 20 years: Word docs exported to PDFs. As developers and agency owners, we know this is a broken workflow:

• Zero Data Portability – You can’t easily sync a PDF back to your CRM or project‑management tool.
• Version Hell – “Proposal_v2_final_FINAL_v3.pdf” is a real thing.
• No Interactivity – Clients can’t toggle an optional “Add‑on” and see the price change in real time.
• Consistency Issues – Keeping branding and pricing consistent across a team is a nightmare.

What if we treated proposals like we treat our software? A single source of truth—structured data—that can be rendered into a beautiful, interactive web view.

Imagine a proposal that looks like this under the hood:

{
  "proposalId": "PRP-2026-001",
  "client": "Acme Corp",
  "items": [
    { "desc": "API Integration", "price": 2500, "required": true },
    { "desc": "Custom Dashboard", "price": 1200, "required": false }
  ],
  "terms": "Net-30"
}

SwiftPropose

I built SwiftPropose to bridge the gap between “Stupid Documents” and “Smart Data”.

• Build Proposals Visually – Use a clean UI to define your scope and pricing.
• Export to JSON/PDF – Keep your data portable while giving the client the format they expect.
• Live Links – Send a link where clients can review, toggle options, and approve instantly.
• Faster Payments – Integrated flow to go from “Approved” to “Invoice Paid”.

By using a structured format (JSON), you can automate your entire sales funnel. Hook it up to Zapier, sync it with GitHub issues, or auto‑generate invoices.

Stop wasting time fighting with margins in Word. Focus on the value you’re providing.

Check out the MVP