Optional Items in Proposals (Shopping Cart)

ArborNote’s Optional Items feature allows you to give your clients more flexibility when reviewing a General Tree Care proposal.

You can mark individual trees and line items as Optional, allowing your client to choose which items they would like to include before approving the proposal.

When the client makes their selections:

• Selected optional items are included in the approved proposal.
• Items that are not selected are moved to an Excluded Items section that is visible only to the tree care company.
• The proposal total and tree count update automatically as the client selects or deselects optional items.
• Clients can approve the proposal without selecting any optional items.

Feature Availability

Part 1: Create a Proposal with Optional Items

1. Create a General Tree Care proposal

Open the project and start the Create Proposal process.

Select the trees you want to include in the proposal.

2. Select a supported pricing mode

Optional Items are available when using:

• Hours
• Line Item

Optional Items are not available with Flat Rate pricing.

3. Turn off Group Trees

By default, Group Trees is enabled. When trees are grouped, the Optional column is hidden.

To display the Optional column:

1. Open Client and Display Settings.
2. Go to Proposal Settings.
3. Find Table Columns.
4. Uncheck Group Trees.

This allows individual trees to be marked as optional.

4. Mark trees or line items as optional

Once Group Trees is disabled, an Optional column will appear.

In the GTC tab, check the box in the Optional column for any tree you want the client to be able to choose.

Line items can be marked optional in the same way from the Line Item tab.

5. Review the proposal

Open the proposal preview to confirm your selections.

Optional items display:

• A checked, read-only checkbox on the left.
• An Optional label next to the price.

Review the proposal and save it using the icon in the upper-right corner.

6. Send the proposal

When the proposal is ready, click the paper airplane icon in the upper-right corner of the proposal activity timeline.

This sends the proposal to the client.

Part 2: Client Reviews the Proposal

1. Client opens the proposal

The client opens the proposal from the link included in the proposal email.

2. Client reviews the available items

Required items do not have a checkbox and cannot be removed.

Optional items have:

• A checkbox.
• An Optional label next to the price.

Optional items are selected by default.

3. Client selects or deselects optional items

The client can select or deselect any optional tree or line item.

When an optional item is deselected:

• Its price changes to $0.
• The item is marked Not Included.
• The proposal total updates automatically.
• The tree quantity updates automatically.

Rechecking the item adds it back to the proposal total.

4. Client approves the proposal

The client can approve the proposal with:

• All optional items selected.
• Some optional items selected.
• No optional items selected.

The client then signs the terms and conditions and submits the approval.

After approval:

• The client receives an approval confirmation.
• The tree care company receives an approval notification email.
• The approved proposal becomes the final proposal.

Part 3: After Approval

Client View

After the proposal is approved, the client can reopen the proposal link and view the final proposal.

The client sees:

• Required trees and line items.
• Optional items they selected.
• The final proposal total.

Items the client did not select are not shown.

The client can also download the final proposal PDF.

Tree Care Company View

The tree care company can open the proposal activity timeline to review the final proposal and see which optional items were excluded.

Excluded trees and line items appear in a separate Excluded Items section.

The section includes a Total Excluded amount.

The proposal PDF download becomes available after the proposal status has been updated to Approved.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don't see the Optional column. What should I do?

Group Trees is enabled by default and hides the Optional column.

Go to Client and Display Settings → Proposal Settings → Table Columns and uncheck Group Trees.

Can I use Optional Items with Flat Rate pricing?

No. Optional Items are currently supported with Hours and Line Item pricing only.

Can I use Optional Items on a PHC proposal?

No. Optional Items are currently available for General Tree Care (GTC) proposals only.

My client can't uncheck a tree. Why?

Only items marked as Optional can be deselected.

If the tree or line item is not marked Optional, it is required and cannot be removed by the client.

Can a client approve a proposal without selecting any optional items?

Yes. The client can approve the proposal with only the required trees and line items included.

Why can't I see the Optional column when Separate Objectives is selected?

Separate Objectives is not compatible with the current Optional Items feature.

Where can I see which items the client declined?

Open the proposal's activity timeline and look under Excluded Items.

The section displays the excluded trees and line items along with the Total Excluded amount.

This information is visible only to tree care company users.

Will the client see the items they excluded?

No. After approval, the client sees only the final approved scope.

Excluded items do not appear in the client's final proposal or PDF.

Can a client change their selections after approving?

No. Once the proposal has been approved, the client cannot change their selections.

If the scope needs to be changed, the tree care company must edit and save the proposal. This creates a new proposal with a new proposal number.