Some of the most frequently asked questions we receive surround best practices, and how to set yourself up for success on Ivy. Well, let’s start with the basics:

Unless you are collecting a retainer or billing for your time, you should always begin your project with a proposal. Why? Proposals serve as the building blocks for your project, and are malleable, interactive documents you can send to your clients for approval and payment. You can easily convert your proposals to invoices and purchase orders when the time is right, creating connected documents. The beauty in starting with a proposal and converting this proposal to an invoice(s) and purchase order(s) means that you can easily track this product or service across its entire lifecycle in your project directly in the Project Tracker. 

How? Take a look: 

In the above screenshot, you’ll see the item reflected as one line item, linked to all relevant documents.

For those of you wondering why you may be seeing duplicates in the project tracker - ask yourself, what was the first document you created? Did you begin with a purchase order, and then create the invoice separately? Another reason to always start with a proposal :)
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​To convert a proposal to an invoice or purchase order, all you need to do it click "Start Invoice" or "Create Purchase Order" from your drop down menu on the proposal: 

Any proposals that are later converted to an invoice or purchase order will also include a blue chain-link button letting you know that a given document is connected to another. 

This simple practice of starting with a proposal will make your life SO much easier, because you’ll be able to understand the status of every product/service in your project at a quick glance. 

Let’s take it one step further in truly understanding how AMAZING proposals can be. Ivy enables you to take deposit payments against your proposals, allowing you to collect as much money as you need up-front from your client before ordering any products or services. The best part? As soon as you convert this proposal to an invoice, you’ll see this payment transfer over automatically, and can simply bill your client for the difference. 

Curious to learn more?