# Consulting proposal template > A consulting proposal is the document a firm sends a prospective client to win an engagement: it shows that you understood the problem, how you will solve it, when, by whom and for what fee. This template has eight slides that lead from the client's outcome to a start date. It is written for a client who will forward the deck to colleagues, so every slide has to work without you in the room. - Source: https://ai-presentations.com/templates/consulting-proposal/ - Updated: 21 October 2026 - Language: English - German version: https://ai-presentations.com/de/vorlagen/angebotspraesentation/ For consultants, advisory boutiques, freelancers and agencies who pitch a project to a client and want a proposal the client can pass on internally. ## Slide by slide ### 1. Title: the client's outcome and the scope The first slide names the client, the outcome and the size of the engagement at a glance. Starting with the client's result instead of your firm's name tells the reader the proposal is about them. - The client's outcome with a number, such as “free up €4m of liquidity” - The scope in a few words, such as a twelve-week program - Client name, your firm and the date ### 2. Our understanding Proves you listened. The client should nod at every line, and any line they would correct is a question to settle before you quote. - Three or four facts about the client's situation, using their numbers - The trigger, such as a bank covenant or a board deadline - What success looks like, in a box at the side ### 3. The evidence One chart built from the client's own numbers shows where the value is before you propose how to capture it. It turns the proposal from a promise into a diagnosis. - A chart of the client's data against a benchmark - A takeaway sentence with the size of the gap - Source and date, including how the benchmark was built ### 4. Approach Makes the work concrete and gives the client control at each step. A phase that ends in a decision point lets the client stop or adjust, which makes the first yes easier. - Two to four phases, each with a name, a duration and a result - A decision point at the end of each phase - What you need from the client in each phase ### 5. Timeline Shows when things happen and when the client's time is needed. Dates turn a proposal into a plan, and a client who sees their own deadline on the chart knows you have read their calendar. - Phases as bars against months or weeks - Milestones such as a steering committee or a bank presentation - The start date that the next slide assumes ### 6. Investment Fixed fees per phase let the client buy one step at a time and still see the whole price. The total has to add up exactly, and the slide has to say what is not included. - A fixed fee per phase, with its duration - The total, which equals the sum of the phases - What is not included, such as travel, licenses or the client's own staff time ### 7. Team Shows who does the work and why the client can trust them. Clients buy the people who sit in their meetings, so the team on this slide has to be the team on site. - Name, role and one line of relevant experience per person - How often each person is on site - The partner who is accountable for the result ### 8. Next steps Ends with dates and tasks, so a yes has an obvious first action. - The start date and the date by which the proposal must be accepted - What the client provides first, such as data extracts - Who to call, with an email address ## Example deck The example is about Aldermoor Advisory, an invented company. Every figure in it is invented too. 1. Releasing €4m of cash from Brenner's working capital. A twelve-week program for Brenner Werkzeugbau GmbH. Aldermoor Advisory · 3 November 2026 2. Growth has tied up cash faster than it has created profit: Revenue up 31% in two years; operating cash flow flat; Inventory now covers 118 days, against 75 for comparable toolmakers; Customer terms drifted from 30 to 54 days during the expansion; The bank has asked for a liquidity plan before renewing the credit line in Q2. What success looks like: €4m released within 12 months, a 13-week cash forecast the bank trusts, and routines your team runs without us. 3. Inventory and receivables tie up €11.2m, and finished goods alone sit about €1.6m above benchmark. Finished goods alone exceed the benchmark by about €1.6m. 4. Three phases, each with a decision point for you: Diagnose → Design → Deliver 5. Twelve weeks from kick-off to handover: Diagnose; Design; Pilot and roll-out; Steering committee; Bank presentation 6. Fixed fees per phase, no surprises: Diagnose €28k; Design €34k; Deliver €34k 7. Senior people on site, every week: Dr. Helena Voss (Engagement partner); Felix Bauer (Project lead); Lea Okafor (Analyst) 8. Ready to start on 17 November. Confirm scope and phase 1 by Friday 6 November. Share balance sheet and ERP extracts. Kick-off workshop with finance and operations ## Tips - **Lead with their outcome.** Open with the result the client wants, in their numbers: “Free up €4m of liquidity in 12 months” beats “Our firm and our approach”. Credentials and history can sit on the last page or in an appendix. - **Open with what you heard.** The understanding slide proves you listened. Use the client's words from the briefing call and at least one number they gave you. Read the understanding slide aloud to the client and let them strike what is wrong, then quote. - **Price in phases with an exit.** Fixed fees per phase let the client commit to the first phase and decide on the rest with results in hand. That lowers the risk of saying yes, and a smaller first fee often needs fewer approvals on the client side. - **Use one chart from their data.** A single chart of the client's own numbers against a benchmark shows that the work has already begun. Label the source and the date, and say how the benchmark was built; the client's finance team will ask. - **Show the people who will be there.** Put the people who will sit in the client's meetings on the team slide, with how often they are on site. If a senior partner sells and a junior team delivers, say so; the client will notice by the second week anyway. - **Write it to be forwarded.** The decision is rarely made by the person you met. Make sure the title, the understanding slide and the investment slide make sense to a CFO who was not in the room, and keep method detail in an appendix. ## Common mistakes - Starting with your firm's history instead of the client's problem - A generic methodology slide that would fit any client - A fee total that does not match the sum of the phases - A timeline without dates, so the client cannot plan their own people - Promising a result you do not control, such as a revenue figure that depends on how the client executes - A team slide with the whole firm instead of the people who will do the work ## Brief for the AI A complete brief for the AI. Replace the [placeholders] with your facts. ```text Create an 8-slide consulting proposal for [client name], a [mid-sized toolmaker]. Our firm: [firm name]. The client's goal: [free up €4m of liquidity in 12 months]. Slide 1: title with the client's outcome and the scope. Slide 2: our understanding of their situation in four points, using these facts: [revenue up 31% in two years, 118 days of inventory against 75 at peers, customers paying after 54 days], plus a box on what success looks like. Slide 3: a bar chart of where the cash is tied up, using [finished goods 3.9, work in progress 2.7, raw materials 1.8, receivables 2.8, in €m], with the gap to the benchmark in the takeaway. Slide 4: the approach in [three] phases with a decision point after each. Slide 5: a timeline from the [17 November] start with the milestones [steering committee, bank presentation]. Slide 6: fixed fees per phase [€28k, €34k, €34k] with the total and what is not included. Slide 7: the team, three people with role and relevant experience. Slide 8: next steps with dates and the contact person. Use action titles and a sober consulting style. Use only the figures I give; mark anything missing as a placeholder. ``` [Open this brief in the editor](https://app.slaide.de/registrieren?prompt=Create+an+8-slide+consulting+proposal+for+%5Bclient+name%5D%2C+a+%5Bmid-sized+toolmaker%5D.+Our+firm%3A+%5Bfirm+name%5D.+The+client%27s+goal%3A+%5Bfree+up+%E2%82%AC4m+of+liquidity+in+12+months%5D.+Slide+1%3A+title+with+the+client%27s+outcome+and+the+scope.+Slide+2%3A+our+understanding+of+their+situation+in+four+points%2C+using+these+facts%3A+%5Brevenue+up+31%25+in+two+years%2C+118+days+of+inventory+against+75+at+peers%2C+customers+paying+after+54+days%5D%2C+plus+a+box+on+what+success+looks+like.+Slide+3%3A+a+bar+chart+of+where+the+cash+is+tied+up%2C+using+%5Bfinished+goods+3.9%2C+work+in+progress+2.7%2C+raw+materials+1.8%2C+receivables+2.8%2C+in+%E2%82%ACm%5D%2C+with+the+gap+to+the+benchmark+in+the+takeaway.+Slide+4%3A+the+approach+in+%5Bthree%5D+phases+with+a+decision+point+after+each.+Slide+5%3A+a+timeline+from+the+%5B17+November%5D+start+with+the+milestones+%5Bsteering+committee%2C+bank+presentation%5D.+Slide+6%3A+fixed+fees+per+phase+%5B%E2%82%AC28k%2C+%E2%82%AC34k%2C+%E2%82%AC34k%5D+with+the+total+and+what+is+not+included.+Slide+7%3A+the+team%2C+three+people+with+role+and+relevant+experience.+Slide+8%3A+next+steps+with+dates+and+the+contact+person.+Use+action+titles+and+a+sober+consulting+style.+Use+only+the+figures+I+give%3B+mark+anything+missing+as+a+placeholder.&utm_source=ai-presentations.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=template%3Aconsulting-proposal&utm_content=markdown) ## Frequently asked questions ### What should a consulting proposal include? A good proposal covers the client's situation in their own terms, the proposed approach, the timeline, the fees, the team and the next steps. The most useful additions are one piece of evidence from the client's own data and a clear statement of what is not included. Keep method detail and references in an appendix so the main story stays short. ### How long should a consulting proposal be? Eight to twelve slides are enough for most engagements, with references, detailed work plans and terms in an appendix. A proposal for a small project can be shorter. If the client has to forward it, shorter is better, because the person who decides may read only the first three slides. ### How should I price a consulting proposal? Many firms quote a fixed fee per phase, because the client sees the whole price and can decide step by step. State the duration and the deliverables next to each fee, make the total equal the sum, and list what is excluded, such as travel or the client's own staff time. If the scope is genuinely uncertain, price the first phase firmly and the later phases as estimates. ### Should a proposal be a PowerPoint deck or a Word document? Both work, and the choice follows the client. Slides suit proposals that are presented in a meeting, and a Word document suits proposals that procurement reads and files. The AI builds either: slide formats export as an editable PowerPoint file, and A4 portrait documents export as Word. ### Can AI write a consulting proposal? AI can draft the structure and the wording, but it does not know your client or your rates. The AI takes your notes, a briefing document or a spreadsheet as source material, plans the pages with you and builds an editable proposal. You supply the facts and the fees; the AI labels its assumptions, and you stay in charge of every figure, so check the numbers before the proposal goes out. ### Are the numbers in this template real? No. Aldermoor Advisory, Brenner Werkzeugbau and all figures are fictional. The key sums add up, so the deck works as a model: the three phase fees of €28k, €34k and €34k come to €96k, and the four balance sheet items come to €11.2m. ## Related pages - [Consulting presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/consulting-presentation/): A consulting presentation template with 9 slides: executive summary, situation, causes, options, recommendation, roadmap, business case and decision. - [Project kickoff](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/project-kickoff/): Open a project on 9 slides: goal, scope, success measures, timeline, team, ways of working, risks and the next 30 days. A kickoff template with an example. - [Case study](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/case-study/): Tell a client story in 8 slides: client, challenge, approach, result, outcome KPIs, a client quote and fit. A case study template for consultants and agencies. - [Executive summary](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/executive-summary/): Lead with the recommendation, the one number that matters, the options compared and the decision you need. Template with an 8-slide example. - [Listing presentation](https://ai-presentations.com/templates/listing-presentation/): A listing presentation template with 8 slides: track record, comparable sales, price, marketing plan, timeline, net proceeds and the next steps for the seller. --- ai-presentations.com is published by Slaide (https://www.slaide.de), a sole proprietorship run by Nathalie Scholl in Heilbronn, Germany. [How this site is written, checked and corrected](https://ai-presentations.com/editorial-policy/).