Built for accounting firms sending engagement proposals

The proposal software your partners will actually use before April 15.

Accounting proposals are not sales decks. They are scope documents with fee logic, deadline commitments, and liability language that need to land cleanly in a 15 minute partner workflow. Strkr ships proposal drafting that sounds like the firm, with signature capture and workflow pickup.

Start free trial See pricing
What this audience is actually dealing with

The pains that bring buyers here.

Accounting proposal software gets evaluated differently than sales proposal software. The buyer is a partner or firm administrator, not a sales operations lead. The content is scope and fee, not product and pricing. The signature triggers a billable engagement, not a sales close. Strkr's posture here comes from working with roughly 80 accounting-firm deployments in 2026, and the pain points below are what partners say on every intake call.

The scope-paragraph tax

Partners rewriting the same four paragraphs weekly.

A partner at a 40-staff firm writes about 11 engagement proposals a week during the November through March intake window. The scope paragraphs are 80 percent identical across similar engagement types. Rewriting them in Word every time costs the partner about 90 minutes per proposal. Strkr templates the scope paragraph by engagement type (1040, 1120, 1065, 990, bookkeeping monthly, advisory retainer) and Strkr AI tunes two sentences based on the client specifics. The 90 minutes drop to under 15.

Fee logic in a static PDF

Fixed, hourly, hybrid, with retainer thresholds.

Accounting fees are rarely a single number. A 1120 corporate return might be $8,500 fixed with a $300 per hour overage past 30 hours and a $4,250 retainer on signed engagement letter. A static PDF cannot express that logic. Strkr's fee builder captures fixed, hourly, hybrid, retainer, and milestone fees, prints the client-facing version, and feeds the billing milestone object so the invoice fires automatically.

E-signature without the surcharge

Signing an engagement letter should not need a separate SaaS.

DocuSign for accounting firms starts around $25 per user per month on top of the production tool. For a 40-staff firm that is $12,000 per year on signatures alone. Strkr ships e-signature as part of the proposal workflow with DocuSign or PandaDoc integration available through the open webhook spec for firms that prefer those stacks. The native signature capture meets most state and federal requirements for engagement letter authentication.

Deliverable deadline commitments

The proposal needs to print the April 15 commit.

A client signing an engagement letter in late February wants to see the filing commit of April 15 printed on the document. Strkr's proposal template includes the deadline commitment and ties it to the deadline object on the client file. The commit becomes a workflow stage with reminders at days 7, 14, and 21 before deadline. The client sees it on the proposal and the firm tracks it in the pipeline.

Liability and scope-change language

The paragraph the firm attorney wrote in 2017.

Every accounting proposal needs liability language, scope-change language, and termination clauses that the firm attorney reviewed and approved. Strkr's proposal template holds these clauses as reusable blocks that the firm admin manages centrally. A legal update ripples across all open proposals without the partner having to copy and paste. The audit log records which version of each clause was in effect at signature time.

Multi-year scope compounding

Last year's scope matters this year.

For returning clients the proposal should reference last year's scope and fee as the baseline. A partner writing from scratch misses the context that this client took an unexpected S-Corp election mid-year and added two state nexus states. Strkr pulls prior-year engagement data into the proposal template with Strkr AI drafting the scope delta, so the partner reviews a diff instead of writing a new letter.

The proposal workflow end to end

From intake call to signed engagement in under 24 hours.

Strkr's proposal workflow runs from intake call to signed engagement letter in under a business day for a well-scoped engagement. The sequence below is the actual Strkr workflow for an accounting-firm deployment, with time budgets printed.

Step 1

Intake call captured.

The partner runs a 30 minute intake call with a prospective client. The call is captured through Strkr's standard integration (Zoom or Teams recording via webhook) and summarized by Strkr AI into client type, engagement scope, fee signals, and open questions. The summary lands on the Strkr opportunity record in under 5 minutes after the call ends.

Step 2

Template selected and tuned.

The partner picks the engagement template (1040, 1120, 1065, 990, bookkeeping monthly, advisory retainer, audit). Strkr AI pre-fills the scope paragraph based on the call summary and the client specifics. The partner reviews, tunes 2 sentences on average, and moves to fee logic.

Step 3

Fee logic configured.

The partner selects fixed, hourly, hybrid, retainer, or milestone fee structure. The fee builder captures the numbers (retainer amount, hourly rate, hour cap, milestone list). The client-facing version renders in a clean table. The billing milestone object populates for invoice automation.

Step 4

Deadline commitments wired.

The partner selects the deadline commitments the proposal prints: filing deadline, deliverable milestones, review dates, meeting cadence. Each commitment ties to the deadline object on the client file and generates workflow reminders at days 7, 14, and 21 before deadline.

Step 5

Liability and scope-change blocks.

The proposal pulls in the firm-managed liability clause, scope-change clause, and termination clause blocks. The firm admin maintains the current approved version centrally. The audit log records which version of each clause is in effect on this proposal at this time.

Step 6

Partner review and send.

The partner previews the full proposal in a single scrollable surface. The preview renders exactly as the client will see it (same fonts, same layout, same clause version). The partner sends with a signature request. The client receives an email with a signature link that works on mobile.

Step 7

Signature capture and workflow pickup.

The client signs. Strkr captures the signature with timestamp, IP address, and auth record for audit purposes. The engagement moves to Active status. The document request checklist generates. The staff accountant assignment fires. The first billing milestone invoice generates through QuickBooks or Xero via the webhook spec.

Fee logic beyond flat number

The nine fee structures accounting firms actually use.

Accounting engagements price in many shapes. The nine structures below are what Strkr's fee builder captures natively, each with its own invoicing and milestone pattern. The partner picks the structure, enters the numbers, and the billing module handles the rest.

Fixed

One number for the full engagement.

A $9,000 fixed fee for a 1120 corporate return. The invoice fires 50 percent on signed engagement letter and 50 percent on filing. The engagement scope locks the deliverable. Any scope creep triggers the scope-change clause.

Hourly with cap

Hourly rate up to a budgeted number.

A $300 per hour rate up to a 42 hour budget on a complex advisory engagement. Hours past the cap require a scope-change signature. The time tracker tie through the webhook spec feeds hours used into the engagement record so the partner sees budget-vs-actual in real time.

Hybrid

Fixed base plus hourly overage.

A $8,500 fixed fee for a 1065 partnership return with $300 per hour overage past 30 hours. The budget plus overage pattern covers the common accounting pricing shape where scope is mostly known but tail work is unpredictable.

Monthly retainer

Flat monthly for ongoing bookkeeping.

A $2,400 monthly retainer for ongoing bookkeeping with quarterly review included. The invoice fires on the first of the month. The deliverable milestones generate on a monthly cadence. Scope-change language covers transaction volume thresholds past which the fee resets.

Quarterly retainer

Quarterly billing for seasonal work.

An $8,200 quarterly retainer for review-level bookkeeping with annual return included. Invoice fires on the first of each quarter. The pattern suits mid-size SMB clients who want predictable billing without monthly touchpoints.

Milestone

Fee tied to deliverable milestones.

An engagement priced in stages (discovery 20 percent, draft 30 percent, review 25 percent, final 25 percent). Each milestone fires an invoice when the stage completes. The pattern suits audit engagements and complex advisory work where the scope flexes with findings.

Value based

Fee tied to measurable client outcome.

A $25,000 fee for an advisory engagement that commits to a client outcome (tax savings target, cash flow improvement, financial close acceleration). The outcome triggers the final milestone invoice. Strkr tracks the outcome metric on the engagement record.

Contingent

Fee tied to IRS resolution outcome.

A $4,000 contingent fee for an IRS representation engagement, with payment only on favorable resolution. The contingent structure requires careful liability language and a scope-change clause for interim billing. Strkr's template library includes the compliant version.

Project plus subscription

Setup fee plus monthly ongoing.

An $8,500 setup fee for new client onboarding plus a $1,800 monthly ongoing retainer. The pattern suits new clients moving from a different firm who need historical catch-up work before the monthly cadence lands. Two invoice streams on the engagement.

The firm voice and the AI drafting

Why Strkr AI drafts in the partner's tone.

The hard part of AI drafting for professional services is making it sound like the firm, not a chatbot. Strkr AI learns the firm voice from the first 20 proposals the partners approve, which captures tone, sentence structure, scope-paragraph patterns, and preferred clause language. The cards below are the drafting jobs that fit an accounting practice.

Scope paragraph

Written in the partner's cadence.

Strkr AI drafts the scope paragraph from the engagement template, the intake call summary, and the client specifics. The output sounds like the partner because the training sample is the partner's own approved proposals, not a generic prompt library. The partner reviews and tunes about 2 sentences on average.

Fee rationale

Explaining the fee without defensiveness.

For higher-value engagements the proposal often needs a fee rationale paragraph explaining the complexity, the senior-partner involvement, or the scope depth. Strkr AI drafts the rationale in a confident, non-defensive tone that mirrors how senior partners typically explain fees in person.

Prior-year delta

What changed since last year.

For returning clients Strkr AI drafts the prior-year delta paragraph: new entities, new states, new filing complexity, prior-year findings that affect this year. The partner reviews a diff instead of writing a new letter from scratch.

Advisory followup

Turning a scope conversation into a proposal.

After an advisory conversation with an existing client Strkr AI drafts the followup proposal with scope, fee range, and next steps. The partner reviews, tunes the fee, and sends. The context pulls from the engagement history, which keeps the proposal grounded in the actual client relationship.

Rejection recovery

When the first proposal gets a no.

For proposals that come back with a fee pushback or scope question Strkr AI drafts the recovery email with a scope narrowing option, a payment term option, or a phased-engagement option. The partner picks the right lever and sends. The pattern recovers roughly 42 percent of initially rejected proposals.

Renewal proposal

The June 1 engagement renewal.

For firms that run June 1 engagement renewals Strkr AI drafts the renewal proposal with current-year scope confirmation, fee adjustment, and signature link. The partner can batch-approve 60 renewal proposals in 20 minutes. The historical scope data comes from the engagement history.

Followup after no response

The friendly nudge at day 7 and 14.

When a proposal sits unsigned for 7 days Strkr AI drafts a friendly followup acknowledging the busy season and asking if any clarification would help. The second nudge at day 14 offers a 15 minute call. The pattern lands a signature on roughly 70 percent of day-14 followups.

Head-to-head

Strkr vs point-tool proposal software for accountants.

Many accounting firms try a dedicated proposal tool (Proposify, PandaDoc, Qwilr) and bolt it onto their CRM or production tool. The comparison below is the Strkr integrated proposal workflow versus a point-tool stack applied to an accounting practice.

Feature Strkr Point-tool proposal stack
Engagement scope templates by type Yes with 1040, 1120, 1065, 990, bookkeeping. Generic templates the admin builds.
Fee logic beyond flat number Nine structures including hybrid, milestone, contingent. Flat number plus text usually.
Prior-year delta drafting Strkr AI pulls engagement history. Partner writes from scratch.
Deadline commitment ties to workflow Writes to deadline object and generates reminders. Prints on PDF only.
E-signature Native plus DocuSign and PandaDoc via webhook spec. Separate SaaS subscription.
Signed engagement to workflow pickup Writes to engagement, document checklist, billing milestone. Manual handoff.
Firm-managed clause library Central version with audit log. Partner copy-paste per proposal.
HIPAA BAA availability Business plan. Enterprise plan typical gate.
Flat per-seat pricing $29 per seat on mid plan. $55 to $89 per user plus signature SaaS.
How teams use Strkr

Five proposal-software playbooks for accounting firms.

Each playbook below is a real accounting-firm motion Strkr's onboarding team has shipped. The patterns span boutique practices, regional firms, and multi-office partnerships.

Pattern A

The boutique practice intake sprint.

An 11-partner boutique CPA practice in Austin runs its November through January intake sprint on Strkr. The partner picks the engagement template, Strkr AI drafts the scope paragraph in the partner's voice, the fee builder captures the hybrid structure (fixed plus hourly overage), and the signature link lands in the client's inbox in under 15 minutes. The intake sprint handled 180 new engagements across 60 business days with the partner spending about 11 hours per week on proposal work instead of 32.

Pattern B

The regional firm proposal governance.

A 48-staff regional CPA firm needed the firm attorney to approve every liability clause variant. Strkr's firm-managed clause library gave the admin a central version with an audit log. When the attorney updated the scope-change clause in July the change rippled across all open proposals without the partners having to copy and paste. The audit log recorded which version of each clause was in effect on each signed engagement, which closed the AICPA peer-review question cleanly.

Pattern C

The advisory practice shift.

A 32-staff Denver firm moving from pure compliance to advisory-first revenue needed proposals that captured value-based fee structures. Strkr's fee builder covered the value-based pattern (fixed fee tied to measurable client outcome) and the engagement template library included advisory-specific scope paragraphs. Advisory revenue grew 42 percent in the 12 months after cutover, in part because the proposals got sent faster and the fee rationale paragraph landed consistently.

Pattern D

The audit practice milestone billing.

A 180-staff firm with an audit practice needed milestone billing on every engagement (discovery 20 percent, draft 30 percent, review 25 percent, final 25 percent). Strkr's milestone fee structure captured the pattern, and the billing module fired the invoice through the firm's existing QuickBooks instance via the webhook spec. The partner reviewed invoices before send, which caught two edge cases where the milestone had slipped on the engagement side.

Pattern E

The multi-office partnership consolidation.

A multi-office partnership with 11 offices across the Midwest ran different proposal processes in each office. Some used Word plus email, some used Proposify, some used Canva. Strkr landed as the single proposal surface across all offices. The firm-managed clause library kept the compliance posture consistent. Each office kept its local engagement templates and fee patterns through the role model. The firm attorney shaved about 60 hours per year off clause-review work.

Send accounting proposals in under 15 minutes.

Book a 30 minute call. We will walk through the engagement template library, the fee builder, and the signature workflow with your actual firm structure and compliance posture.

Start free trial See pricing
Common questions

What buyers in this bucket ask most.

How does Strkr's proposal module differ from Proposify or PandaDoc?

Proposify and PandaDoc are strong at design flexibility and signature mechanics. Strkr's advantage is the integration with the rest of the accounting-practice workflow. A signed proposal in Strkr fires the engagement record, the document request checklist, the staff accountant assignment, and the first billing milestone invoice without manual handoff. Strkr also ships engagement-specific scope templates, nine fee structures including milestone and contingent, and the AI drafting in the partner's voice.

Can we connect Strkr to our existing production tool (UltraTax, Lacerte, CCH)?

Yes. Strkr integrates with every major production tool through its REST and GraphQL API, outbound webhooks with HMAC signing, and a published OpenAPI spec. The integration is on your side via the API. For a 48-staff firm the integration usually takes an engineering sprint of two to three weeks. The result is bi-directional sync between the Strkr client file and the production tool, so the proposal data flows into the production side without re-entry.

What happens when a client requests a scope change mid-engagement?

The partner opens the engagement on Strkr and runs the scope-change workflow. Strkr AI drafts the scope-change amendment with the original scope language, the delta, the fee impact, and the signature link. The client signs and the engagement record updates with the new scope and new fee. The audit log records the before and after. The billing milestone fires the delta invoice through the connected production tool.

Does Strkr handle multi-year engagement proposals?

Yes. The proposal template supports a multi-year scope with annual fee schedule, inflation adjustment language, and renewal cadence. The engagement record on the client file tracks the full multi-year commitment with annual deliverable milestones. The June 1 renewal workflow lets the partner batch-approve renewal proposals with Strkr AI drafting the current-year scope delta from the prior-year engagement history.

How does e-signature work for state and federal requirements?

Strkr's native signature capture meets the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the ESIGN Act requirements for engagement letter authentication. The signature record captures timestamp, IP address, user agent, and auth record. For firms that require specific vendor signature stacks (DocuSign, PandaDoc, Adobe Sign) Strkr integrates through the webhook spec. Both paths produce an audit trail suitable for AICPA peer review.

What does the firm admin manage centrally versus the partner locally?

The firm admin manages the clause library (liability, scope change, termination, confidentiality), the engagement template library, the fee structure definitions, and the signature workflow configuration. The partner locally manages the scope paragraph for each engagement, the fee numbers, the deliverable milestones, and the sign-and-send step. The split keeps the firm compliance posture consistent while giving the partner autonomy on each client relationship.

Also built for

Related audiences.

Accountants Accounting CRM Accounting Firm CRM Accountant CRM AI Proposal Generator AI Proposal B2B CRM Business CRM

Try it free. Bring your team next week.

No sales call, no migration consultant, no four-month implementation. Enter your card, get 14 days of the full Pro tier, cancel any time before day 14 with zero charge. Spin up a workspace, import your CSV, and have something useful before lunch.

Start free trial See pricing