How to Create and Track Proposals in HubSpot

If you sell products or fixed packages, use HubSpot Quotes. They are built from the deal's line items, carry an e-signature, and report status back to the deal without anything extra to connect. Quotes now sit in Revenue Hub, which starts at A$135 per seat per month billed annually on HubSpot's Australian pricing page.

If you sell projects, where every proposal has a different scope, story and set of options, use PandaDoc, Qwilr or Proposify on top of HubSpot. Each has a HubSpot app that builds the document from the deal and moves the deal stage when the buyer signs. If you run an accounting or bookkeeping firm with recurring engagements, use Ignition, because it handles the engagement letter, the recurring billing and the jobs in Xero Practice Manager, and connect it back to HubSpot for the sales side.

Whichever tool you pick, set up the tracking the same way: a deal stage for "proposal sent", a deal stage for "signed", and a notification to the deal owner when the buyer opens the document. That is what turns a proposal from a file you emailed into something you can manage.

Why proposals go dark once they are sent

A cyber security consultancy we spoke to in October builds every proposal by hand in Google Docs or Word. The proposals are good. The problem is what happens after they hit send: nobody knows if the buyer opened it, which page they read, or whether it has been forwarded to the person who signs. In their words, they have no visibility once it is sent.

That is normal for a services business with a CRM. The deal says "Proposal sent" because a rep dragged it there, the document sits in a shared drive as "Proposal v4 FINAL", and follow-up happens when someone remembers.

The fix has two halves. First, the proposal has to be created from the deal, so the price, the contact and the company come from HubSpot. Second, every status change on the document (sent, opened, signed, declined) has to write back to the deal. Every tool below does the first half. They differ a lot on the second.

This video from our YouTube channel covers proposal tracking in HubSpot, so you know when prospects read your documents.

HubSpot Quotes vs PandaDoc vs Ignition: the comparison

Prices below are as listed on each vendor's site on 26 October 2026. HubSpot shows AUD and does not say whether GST is included. PandaDoc lists USD only.

Two other tools are worth a look if you are going down the document route. Qwilr has HubSpot automations that move the deal to a stage you choose when a page is accepted, declined or expires, and sync back quantity, price and discount on line items that came from the deal. Its help centre lists these on the Growth and Scale plans. Proposify has a HubSpot marketplace app that reflects sent, viewed, signed and won in HubSpot through automations you build in Proposify, on its Basic, Team or Business plans.

One trap with HubSpot Quotes if you are on an older account: accounts without Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise use legacy quotes, and HubSpot says that assigning a Revenue Hub seat removes access to legacy quotes and legacy templates. Plan the template move before you buy the seat.

Which one should you use? A decision rule by business type

• You sell products or fixed packages. Use HubSpot Quotes. Your price book is already in the product library, reps pick line items, and the quote is the deal. Adding a second document tool means a second set of templates to maintain and a second subscription for little gain.
• You sell projects or consulting. Use PandaDoc, Qwilr or Proposify, created from the HubSpot deal. Your proposals carry case studies, scope, timelines and options that change every time, and a document tool handles that content better than a quote template. Keep the price on HubSpot line items so the deal amount stays right, and let the document tool pull them in.
• You run an accounting or bookkeeping firm with recurring engagements. Use Ignition. It is built for engagement letters with monthly fees, collects the payment, and on accepted proposals it creates jobs in Xero Practice Manager. Use HubSpot for marketing and the new-client pipeline, and have the accepted proposal update the HubSpot deal.
• You do a mix. Pick by where most of the revenue comes from, and use one tool for everything so reps learn one way of working.

What accounting firms need to know about HubSpot, Ignition and XPM

An accounting and bookkeeping firm we spoke to on 15 October had been told two things: that the direct link between HubSpot and Xero Practice Manager had been retired, and that firms now use HubSpot to win clients, Ignition for the proposal and payment, and Ignition into XPM for jobs and billing.

Here is what we could confirm from the vendors' own pages.

• Ignition to XPM is a documented integration. Ignition's help centre says jobs built into a proposal are deployed to Xero Practice Manager as soon as the proposal is accepted, new clients are created in XPM at that point, and client details sync both ways once a day. Ignition's pricing page lists XPM and Zapier among the integrations on its Pro plan and above.
• Ignition to HubSpot runs through Zapier. Ignition's own article describes two Zaps: one that creates an Ignition client when a HubSpot deal reaches a stage, and one that updates the HubSpot deal when a proposal is accepted. It needs a paid Zapier plan for multi-step Zaps, and the deal update Zap works with Classic proposals only.
• The HubSpot to XPM retirement we could not confirm from Xero. We found no Xero notice about it. What we did find is a request on Xero's own product ideas forum, posted in January 2025, asking Xero to turn the XPM and HubSpot integration back on. Check with Xero before you plan around either answer.

So the three-system pattern the firm was told about works. Just know the HubSpot side is a Zapier build you own, and test it against the Ignition proposal editor your team uses. If you also run Xero for your own books, our HubSpot and Xero guide covers that connection.

From Ignition's help centre as described in this post. Zap 2 works with Classic proposals only.

How to track proposals in HubSpot: the setup

This works with any of the tools above, and it is the part that gives you the answer the consultancy was missing.

1. Add two deal stages. "Proposal sent" and "Proposal signed" (or use Closed won for signed if signing is the close). Give each a probability so the forecast reflects them. Our post on HubSpot deal stages covers how to set those properly.
2. Move the deal on sent, automatically. In PandaDoc, Qwilr or Proposify, map the Sent status to the "Proposal sent" stage. In HubSpot Quotes, use a quote-based workflow on quote status, which needs Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise. In Ignition, the documented Zaps start at accepted, so move this stage by hand or add a Zap for it.
3. Move the deal on signed, automatically. Same place, mapped to "Proposal signed" or Closed won. Never rely on a rep dragging it.
4. Notify the owner when the buyer opens it. That is the moment to pick up the phone. For HubSpot Quotes, our walkthrough on how to get notified when a quote is opened shows the workflow. Qwilr logs page views on the deal timeline, and Proposify shows viewed status in HubSpot.
5. Add a stale proposal task. A deal workflow that creates a follow-up task if a deal sits in "Proposal sent" for seven days with no signature.
6. Report on it. One report: proposals sent this month, signed this month, and average days from sent to signed. That last number is the one to watch.

Once signing is tracked, the next step is getting from signed proposal to invoice and payment without rekeying. Our guide to quote-to-cash in HubSpot picks up from there.

The tracking setup from this post. It works in any of the tools; what changes is where you map each status.

What goes wrong

• Prices typed into the document. If reps type a price into the proposal and it never goes back on a line item, the deal amount is wrong and so is the forecast. Keep price on the deal.
• Old versions still live. Revise a proposal and the first version is still out there. Make sure only the current document can move the deal, and void the old one when you send the new one.
• E-signature limits. HubSpot counts an e-signature as soon as a published quote has it turned on, signed or not, and a resend after expiry counts again. A team that resends a lot can run out before the month ends.

Frequently asked questions

Can HubSpot create proposals? HubSpot creates quotes from a deal's line items, with e-signature and payment, through Revenue Hub. For long proposals with variable content, most services businesses add a document tool such as PandaDoc, Qwilr or Proposify, each of which has a HubSpot app.

Which HubSpot plan do I need for quotes? HubSpot says a Revenue Hub seat is needed to create quotes, and Revenue Hub Professional starts at A$135 per seat per month billed annually on its Australian pricing page. Accounts without Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise use legacy quotes.

Does PandaDoc update the HubSpot deal stage when a proposal is signed? Yes. PandaDoc can move the deal stage on any document status except Draft, such as Closed won when a document is completed. On the Business plan this needs the External Automations add-on, listed at US$39 per month per account.

Does Ignition integrate with HubSpot? Ignition documents its HubSpot connection through Zapier: one Zap creates an Ignition client from a HubSpot deal stage and another updates the HubSpot deal when a proposal is accepted. The deal update Zap works with Classic proposals only, according to Ignition.

How do I know when a client opens my proposal? For HubSpot Quotes, set up a workflow that notifies the deal owner when the quote is viewed. Qwilr logs page views on the HubSpot deal timeline, and Proposify shows viewed status in HubSpot.

Sources

• Create and send quotes, HubSpot Knowledge Base, for the Revenue Hub seat requirement, quote statuses and legacy quotes.
• Use e-signatures with quotes, HubSpot Knowledge Base, for e-signature limits per seat and how they are counted.
• Revenue Hub pricing, HubSpot, for AUD seat prices and Stripe payment processing outside the US, Canada and UK.
• Set filter enrollment triggers, HubSpot Knowledge Base, for the subscription needed for quote-based workflows.
• HubSpot automations, PandaDoc Help Center, for deal stage changes, line item sync and the External Automations add-on price.
• Pricing, PandaDoc, for plan prices in USD and which plans include CRM integrations.
• Zapier: HubSpot and Ignition, Ignition Help Centre, for the HubSpot Zaps and the Classic proposal limit.
• Ignition and Xero Practice Manager, Ignition Help Centre, for jobs created in XPM on acceptance and the daily client sync.
• Pricing, Ignition, for plan inclusions, active clients and which plans include the XPM and Zapier integrations.
• XPM - HubSpot Integration, Xero Product Ideas, for the January 2025 request to restore the XPM and HubSpot link.
• HubSpot Automations, Qwilr Help Centre, for Qwilr deal stage and line item automations and plan availability.
• Proposify, HubSpot App Marketplace, for what the Proposify app reflects in HubSpot and the Proposify plans it needs.

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We set up proposal tracking, quotes and the tools around them for Australian services businesses as part of our RevOps and HubSpot work. If your proposals still go out as Word files and nobody knows what happens next, talk to us.