Have your AI write the proposal in sections, then send one PDF

#The situation

You had a good call with a new client. They told you what's broken, what they want, when they want it, and roughly what they'll pay. You took notes fast: half sentences, a price list, a date with a question mark next to it.

Now you have to turn those notes into a proposal, and send it while the client still remembers the call. That's an evening of copying last year's proposal, deleting the old client's name in eleven places, and hoping the total on page one still matches the table on page four.

An AI assistant can write the first draft in a minute. The trick is to ask for it in the right shape. A proposal written as one long reply is hard to revise: when the client says "can we start with just the order form?", the whole thing gets rewritten, and something you'd already fixed changes again. Written as one file per section, each part can change on its own, and the terms you wrote once go into the next proposal untouched.

The client still gets one document. The sections are only separate while you work on them.

#Ask the AI

Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any assistant, and replace the notes at the end with your own.

I'm writing a project proposal for a client. My notes are below. Turn them into a proposal I'll send as one PDF, but write it as separate Markdown files, one per section, so I can revise one section later without touching the others.

The files, with these names:
- 01-summary.md: the client's problem in their own words, what I propose, the total price and the start date. Half a page at most. Someone who reads only this page should know what they're saying yes to.
- 02-scope.md: the deliverables as a checklist, then "## Not included" with everything my notes rule out.
- 03-timeline.md: a table of phases with weeks and dates, and what the client has to give me before each phase can start.
- 04-price.md: a table of line items that adds up to the total, the payment schedule with amounts, and what extra work costs.
- 05-terms.md: revisions, payment, cancellation, and who owns what and when. Don't mention this client or project anywhere in this file, so I can reuse it in my next proposal.
- 06-next-steps.md: how to say yes, and what happens in the first week.

Rules:
- Every file starts with frontmatter: title, client, date, version: 1. Then a # heading with the section title.
- Plain, confident language. No "thrilled", no "excited to partner", no "leverage".
- Use only facts and numbers from my notes. If something is missing, write [TBC: what's missing] in its place. Don't guess.
- If my notes contradict each other or leave a decision open, don't settle it yourself. Write [DECIDE: the options] where it matters.
- Check the arithmetic: the line items in 04 add up to the total in 01, and the payments add up to the total.

Reply with each file as its filename on its own line, then the file in a ```markdown fence. Nothing else.

My notes:
client: Casa Lima, bakery, 3 shops in Porto. talked to Rui (owner) and Inês (runs orders) on 8 Oct.
problem: cake orders come by phone + instagram DMs, Inês copies them into a notebook, 2-3 mistakes a month (wrong date, wrong name on the cake). saturdays the phone never stops. "we lose orders because nobody can pick up". site is from 2017, not mobile, they can't edit it.
proposal: new site (home, about, 3 shops w/ hours + map, menu) + custom cake order form -> orders go to an email inbox + the google sheet Inês already uses. they want a deposit online, stripe, 30%?
not doing: online shop for daily bread, delivery, POS integration, photography (they have a photographer, Marco), english version (PT only for now, maybe EN later).
they want to edit hours/menu themselves. webflow or squarespace - I'd do webflow, they liked squarespace templates. decide in discovery.
price: discovery workshop 600, design 2,400, build 3,600, order form + stripe 1,200, training 300. total 8,100 EUR.
payment 40% on signing, 30% after design approval, 30% at launch.
extra changes 75/h. 2 rounds of design revisions included.
timeline: start 3 Nov if they sign by 24 Oct. discovery wk1, design wk2-4, build wk5-7, test + training wk8. they want it live before the christmas cake orders, said 1 Dec ideally. 8 wks from 3 Nov is end of dec. maybe launch the order form first?
need from them: photos from Marco by end of wk3, menu + prices, access to the domain (Rui has the login, PT registrar), stripe account in their name.
hosting not included, they pay webflow/squarespace directly, roughly 25-35/month.
me: Ana Ribeiro, freelance web designer, ana@anaribeiro.pt

Four lines in it do most of the work.

The numbered filenames. 01- to 06- aren't decoration. Sorted by name, the files fall into reading order, and that order is the one your client will read them in. Two digits keep 10-appendix.md after 09-, if the proposal ever grows that far.

"Someone who reads only this page should know what they're saying yes to." Many clients read the first page and the price. This line makes the summary carry the decision: the problem, the offer, the total, the start date.

[TBC] and [DECIDE]. Notes from a call are full of gaps, and an AI fills gaps with something plausible. A plausible cancellation clause in a proposal is a promise you never made. With these two markers, every gap comes back as a visible placeholder, and every open choice comes back as options, not as a choice the AI made for you.

"Check the arithmetic." It's the error a client spots first, and the one that makes them doubt everything else on the page.

#What comes back

We gave this prompt and these notes to Claude, with no other context. It replied with six files. Four of them are below, as they came back except that long lines are wrapped for the page; 02-scope.md (a checklist of eleven deliverables and six exclusions) and 06-next-steps.md are cut for length.

---
title: Summary
client: Casa Lima
date: 2026-10-12
version: 1
---

# Summary

**The problem.** Casa Lima takes cake orders by phone and Instagram DMs.
Inês copies them into a notebook by hand, which leads to 2-3 mistakes a
month (wrong date, wrong name on the cake). On Saturdays the phone never
stops, and in your words: "we lose orders because nobody can pick up." The
current website dates from 2017, is not built for mobile, and you can't edit
it yourself.

**What I propose.** A new Portuguese website (home, about, the 3 shops with
hours and map, and the menu). It comes with a custom cake order form. Orders
from the form go to an email inbox and to the Google Sheet Inês already
uses. Customers can pay a deposit online through Stripe. You will be able to
edit your hours and menu yourselves.

**Price.** 8,100 EUR in total, paid 40% on signing, 30% after design
approval and 30% at launch. [TBC: whether prices include VAT]

**Start.** 3 November 2026, if the proposal is signed by 24 October 2026.
The work takes 8 weeks.

**Launch date.** [DECIDE: you would like the site live by 1 December, before
the Christmas cake orders, but 8 weeks from 3 November ends on 28 December.
Options: launch the order form first, or another plan. See Timeline.]

**Not included.** Hosting fees, an online shop for daily bread, delivery,
POS integration, photography and an English version. Details are in the
Scope section.

---
title: Timeline
client: Casa Lima
date: 2026-10-12
version: 1
---

# Timeline

The start date of 3 November 2026 holds if the proposal is signed by
24 October 2026. Weeks are counted in 7-day blocks from 3 November.

| Phase | Weeks | Dates | What I need from you before it starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery workshop | Week 1 | 3-9 Nov 2026 | Signed proposal and first payment. Workshop date and attendees: [TBC] |
| Design | Weeks 2-4 | 10-30 Nov 2026 | Menu and prices [TBC: deadline]. Photos from Marco by the end of week 3 (23 Nov 2026) |
| Build | Weeks 5-7 | 1-21 Dec 2026 | Approved design. Photos from Marco (due end of week 3). Menu and prices. Stripe account in Casa Lima's name [TBC: needed by which week] |
| Test and training | Week 8 | 22-28 Dec 2026 | Access to the domain: Rui holds the login at the Portuguese registrar [TBC: needed by which week] |

## Launch date

[DECIDE: The team would like the site live by 1 December, before the
Christmas cake orders. The plan above finishes on 28 December, since 8 weeks
from 3 November ends at the end of December. Options:
(a) launch the order form first, ahead of the full site, with the date to be
agreed; (b) keep the full 8 weeks and launch on 28 December; (c) another
plan.]

---
title: Price
client: Casa Lima
date: 2026-10-12
version: 1
---

# Price

All amounts in EUR. [TBC: whether prices include VAT]

## Line items

| Item | Price (EUR) |
|---|---|
| Discovery workshop | 600 |
| Design | 2,400 |
| Build | 3,600 |
| Order form and Stripe | 1,200 |
| Training | 300 |
| **Total** | **8,100** |

## Payment schedule

| When | Share | Amount (EUR) |
|---|---|---|
| On signing | 40% | 3,240 |
| After design approval | 30% | 2,430 |
| At launch | 30% | 2,430 |
| **Total** | **100%** | **8,100** |

## Extra work

Changes beyond what is included cost 75 EUR per hour. Two rounds of design
revisions are included in the design price.

## Not in the total

Hosting is paid by you directly to the website platform, roughly 25-35 EUR
per month.

---
title: Terms
client: "[Client name]"
date: 2026-10-12
version: 1
---

# Terms

## Revisions

- Two rounds of design revisions are included in the design price.
  [TBC: what counts as one round]
- Corrections to the build after design approval: [TBC: how many are
  included]
- Any other change is extra work, charged at 75 EUR per hour.

## Payment

- The price is paid in three instalments: 40% on signing, 30% after design
  approval and 30% at launch. The amounts are in the price section.
- Invoices are due within [TBC: number of days].
- Late payment: [TBC: what happens]
- Hosting and platform fees are billed to the Client directly by the
  platform provider and are not part of the price.

## Cancellation

- Cancellation by the Client: [TBC: notice required, and which payments are
  refundable]
- Cancellation by the designer: [TBC: notice required, and what is refunded]
- Work completed up to the cancellation date: [TBC: how it is billed]

## Ownership

- The payment and stripe accounts used for online payments are opened in
  the Client's name.
- Ownership of the design, the website and its content passes to the
  Client: [DECIDE: on final payment / at launch]
- Materials supplied by the Client, such as photos and text, and who may use
  the finished work in the designer's portfolio: [TBC]

This is a proposal you could send after an hour's work, and most of that hour is answering its questions. The summary does what it was asked: a client who reads only that page knows the problem, the offer, the price and the date. Both tables add up. And the hardest moment in the notes, the client wanting 1 December when the plan ends on 28 December, isn't hidden. The AI didn't quietly squeeze eight weeks into four. It put the conflict on page one, with options, where you'll see it before Rui does.

The terms file is where the questions pile up, and that's right: the notes said almost nothing about cancellation or late payment, so the AI wrote nothing about them. Those are the clauses you write once, carefully, and then never again.

One file still needs a careful look. 05-terms.md was meant to work for any client, and it nearly does. But it kept two things from this project: the 40/30/30 split, and a line about Stripe accounts, which only makes sense for a site that takes payments. In the next proposal, for a client with no online payments, that line would go out unnoticed. Delete it, decide whether 40/30/30 is your standard or just this deal, and the file is ready to reuse.

#Save it as a file

Save the six files in one folder, proposals/2026-10 casa-lima/, and connect proposals in MD Flow.

#Why that matters next week

You read it the way the client will. Sort the folder by Name (A-Z) and the sections line up 01 to 06, each one rendered: the price tables as tables, the scope as a checklist, the frontmatter as a header with the version on it. Reading the summary rendered, not as raw Markdown, is how you find the sentence that sounds wrong before the client does.

Nothing goes out with a [TBC] in it. With Pro, search reaches inside the files and shows each match with its line number, so searching TBC and then DECIDE lists every open question in the proposal at once. When both searches come back empty, it's ready.

One PDF, in that order. Your client doesn't want six attachments, and doesn't need to know what Markdown is. With MD Flow Pro, export the folder as one PDF: the sections come out in the order you see them, with the tables intact. Keep the folder to the six sections, and your raw notes somewhere else.

The counter-offer touches one file. Rui writes back: order form live by 1 December, the rest in January. Paste his reply into the chat with 03-timeline.md and 01-summary.md, ask for both at version: 2, and save them over the old ones. If you have an agent editing the folder directly, MD Flow's preview follows each save without losing your place. Scope, price and terms stay exactly as you checked them. Export again, and send the new PDF.

The next proposal starts from this folder. Copy 05-terms.md into the next client's folder as it is, and give the AI this proposal with the new notes: "same files, same rules". Search by filename is free, so terms finds the terms file in every proposal you've sent. Three proposals in, the terms file is the best-checked document you own.

The call gave you the notes. The folder turns them into a proposal you can change one section at a time, and the client still gets one PDF.