Grant application engagements, scoped and priced
Scope and price grant application work for national, regional and local programs: fixed or success-fee options, a timetable to the closing date and an engagement the client signs.
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QuoteCloud helps accountants and grant consultants win and engage grant application work. Send a proposal that scopes the application, offers a fixed fee or a lower fee plus a success-based component you set, shows the timetable to the closing date on a Gantt chart and states what you can't promise. Both directors sign and the engagement payment is made on signing.
A fictional practice's grant preparation proposal LA-G-0311 for Corrin Precision, counting down to the program's closing date on Tuesday 15 December. Six weeks of tasks fill in as a line sweeps across the weeks: guidelines and eligibility review, information request and evidence, budget schedule from quotes, draft application pack, the client's review and declarations, then submission through the funder's portal. The pill counts the weeks left and ends on 'Pack signed, ready for the closing date'. The footer shows the fee options, a fixed fee of $8,400 plus tax or $5,200 plus a success fee, and both directors signed.
Start with the eligibility conversation
Before you quote, you find out whether the work is worth doing: has the project started, does the business meet the program's size tests, can it fund its share, are there quotes for every cost, is there time before the closing date.
Keep those notes inside the proposal as a section marked Hide from Recipient. Your team sees them beside the scope and the fees; the client never does, and they never reach the PDF.
- Your questions and the client's answers, flagged fits, to confirm or watch
- Hidden sections are shaded in the editor and left out for the client
- The view of the person who will prepare the application
Eligibility conversation, 28 October
Internal · Hide from RecipientRaj Mehta · Grants & incentives manager3 fits2 to confirm1 watch
- Has any of the project started?Nothing ordered yet; planned start 1 February.Fits
- Size and trading history38 FTE, trading 11 years, turnover $5m–$10m. Check each against the guidelines.To confirm
- Can the company fund its share?Board minute needed for a contribution of about $280,000.To confirm
- Quotes for each costThree supplier quotes in hand, two to come.Fits
- Other government funding for this projectNone.Fits
- Time to the closing dateSix weeks: tight, workable if the quotes arrive in week 2.Watch
Worth applying. Raj confirms the size and contribution points against the program guidelines; the funder decides eligibility.
One proposal: the fee, the timetable, the terms
The grant preparation proposal Ledgerline sent Corrin Precision, and the engagement letter that went with it. Pick a fee option and tick an extra: the totals and the engagement payment follow.
Choose how you pay for the preparation
Preparation fees
| Item | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application preparation | |||
Fixed fee packageEverything in the option you choose above
|
1 lot | $8,400 | $8,400.00 |
| Optional Tick to add | |||
| 1 lot | $650 | $650.00 | |
| 1 lot | $2,400 | $2,400.00 | |
- Subtotal
- $8,400.00
- Tax (10%)
- $840.00
- Total
- $9,240.00
- Plus, monthly
- $0.00/mo
- Engagement payment on signing (30%)
- $2,772.00
A fixed fee, or a lower fee plus a success fee
Two ways to pay as a single choice. The fixed fee is the default; a lower fixed fee plus a success-based component is an option your firm sets, only where your professional body's standards allow it.
- Letters of support and reporting support as optional extras
- 30% engagement payment on signing, through Stripe or PayPal
- A success fee is invoiced by you later, never by QuoteCloud
Price tables and payments: Essentials and up
Pricing tablesPreparation timetable to the closing date
What we can and can't promise
- We prepare the application with you from the program guidelines; eligibility is assessed by the funder.
- The funder decides whether to approve a grant. We can't guarantee approval or the amount.
- You sign the declarations. The application is submitted through the funder's own portal, by you or by us as your authorised contact where the program allows it.
- A success fee, if you choose it, is invoiced only after written approval from the funder.
Six weeks to the closing date, on a Gantt chart
The client sees what happens each week and when they're needed: the information request, their quotes, their review and the declarations. Under it, what you can and can't promise.
- Your plan, with the submission as the milestone
- The limits in writing: the funder decides
- Submission through the funder's own portal
Gantt charts: Business plan
Project plans with Gantt chartsScope of the grant engagement
We will
- Review of the program guidelines with you
- Information request and evidence checklist
- Budget schedule from your quotes
- Application pack: summary, budget, milestones, outcomes, risk
- Declarations prepared for your signature
- PDF of the signed pack for submission
Not included
- Eligibility decisions (the funder's)
- Submitting without your sign-off
- Milestone and final reports, unless added
- Any other grant or program
Terms of the grant engagement
- Your informationYou give us complete and accurate information and quotes by the dates in the timetable. The answers and figures in the application are yours.
- Eligibility and approvalWe prepare the application from the program guidelines. The funder decides eligibility, approval and the amount; we can't guarantee any of them.
- DeclarationsYour directors read and sign the declarations before anything is submitted.
- FeesThe fee option you chose in proposal LA-G-0311. If you chose the success fee, we invoice it only after the funder approves the grant in writing.
- SubmissionThe signed pack is submitted through the funder's own portal, by you or by us as your authorised contact where the program allows it.
- Sensitive detailsBank details and identity documents go through our secure client portal, never in this letter or the application documents.
Acceptance: both directors sign
2 of 2 signed
- Grace WhitlockManaging director Signed4 Nov 2026
- Sam NguyenDirector Signed4 Nov 2026
Engagement summary
- Client
- Corrin Precision Ltd
- Work
- One grant application
- Fee option
- Fixed fee $8,400 + tax
- Closing date
- In 6 weeks
Certificate of authenticity and audit trail attached
An engagement letter for the grant work
What's in scope and what isn't, who answers for the information, who decides eligibility, how the success fee works and who submits. Each director signs in their own browser, with no account.
- Scope: in, and quoted separately
- Several signers, each with their own signature block
- Certificate of authenticity and audit trail
The grant work you can scope this way
National, regional and local programs differ in rules, rates and closing dates. The proposal stays the same shape; your firm reads each program's guidelines.
Export grants
Marketing and market-entry costs, with the client's plan for each market and the evidence the guidelines ask for.
Innovation and commercialisation
A new product or process taken to market: milestones, partners and the budget behind them. For R&D, see the R&D tax credit.
Energy efficiency
Equipment upgrades and solar, with supplier quotes, current energy use and the savings the client expects.
Hiring and training
New roles, apprentices or skills programs, with the positions, timing and costs set out.
Regional and local
Council and regional programs for a new site, an expansion or community benefit, often with smaller budgets and shorter forms.
Manufacturing modernisation
New machinery and automation, like the Corrin Precision application in this microsite.
Send your next grant proposal from QuoteCloud
Free for 14 days, no credit card required. Send us your grant proposal and we'll convert it into a template during the trial.
Every grant client, document by document
A saved custom filter on the documents list shows every grant document and its status. Grouped by client, it reads like a pipeline: who has engaged, whose information is in, whose pack is waiting for a signature.
Custom filter: Grant work5 clients · 11 documents
| Client and program | Closes | Proposal | Engagement letter | Information request | Application pack | Next, for your team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corrin PrecisionState manufacturing grant (sample) | Closes15 Dec | ProposalLA-G-0311Paid | Engagement letterLA-GE-0311Accepted | Information requestLA-R-0311Accepted | Application packLA-GA-0311Signing | NextSam Nguyen signs the declarations |
| Tessellate LabsExport grant (sample) | Closes29 Jan | ProposalLA-G-0318Paid | Engagement letterLA-GE-0318Accepted | Information requestLA-R-0318Opened | Application packLA-GA-0318Creating | NextCall Leah about two missing quotes |
| Bellbird JoineryHiring and training grant (sample) | Closes5 Mar | ProposalLA-G-0325In Review | Engagement letterNot started | Information requestNot started | Application packNot started | NextA partner approves the fee before it's sent |
| Hearth Lane BakeryEnergy efficiency grant (sample) | Closes12 Feb | ProposalLA-G-0322Opened | Engagement letterNot started | Information requestNot started | Application packNot started | NextTalk Ana and Tom through the fee options |
| Wattle Point SeafoodsRegional grant (sample) | ClosesRound not open | ProposalLA-G-0301Sent | Engagement letterNot started | Information requestNot started | Application packNot started | NextScope call booked |
- Grant clients
- 5
- Engaged
- 2 of 5
- Preparation fees signed
- $15,000 + tax
Sample data, drawn by us from the documents list (custom filters and document statuses are QuoteCloud features). Closing dates and next steps are your team's own record: QuoteCloud doesn't track grant rounds, closing dates or the funder's decision.
Grants as a service line, not a favour
What changes when every grant enquiry runs through the same proposal, engagement letter, information request and application pack.
Five steps from enquiry to an engaged grant client
How a practice scopes, prices and engages grant application work in QuoteCloud.
Have the eligibility conversation
Note the client's answers in a section hidden from the recipient, and check them against the program guidelines.
Choose the fee options
A fixed fee, or a lower fee plus a success-based component your firm sets, as a single choice with optional extras.
Add the timetable
Each task to the closing date on a Gantt chart (Business), with what you can and can't promise underneath.
Send it with the engagement letter
Both directors sign in their own browser, and the engagement payment is made on signing through Stripe or PayPal.
Start the information request
Send the client's information request the same day, from your grants template.
What QuoteCloud does, and what stays with you
QuoteCloud holds the documents of a grant engagement: the proposal, the engagement letter, the information request and the application pack. It sends them, collects signatures, takes the engagement payment on signing and exports the signed pack as a PDF.
It doesn't find grants, know any program's rules, check eligibility, submit to a funder's portal or guarantee an outcome. Your firm reads the guidelines and advises; the client signs the declarations; the funder decides.
- A success fee is your firm's option, where your professional body's standards allow it, and you invoice it after approval
- Monthly or later fees are never billed by QuoteCloud: it takes one payment on signing
- Gantt charts, the Forms block and approvals need the Business plan
Grant application engagement questions, answered
Can we offer a success fee on grant applications?
You can set your fees however your firm and your professional body's standards allow. In QuoteCloud, show the options as a single choice: a fixed fee, or a lower fixed fee with a success-based component described in the proposal. QuoteCloud takes one payment on signing; it doesn't invoice a success fee later, so you invoice it from your own system after approval.
Does QuoteCloud find grants or check eligibility?
No. QuoteCloud doesn't know grant rules, check eligibility or submit applications. Your firm reads the program guidelines and advises the client; QuoteCloud holds the proposal, the engagement, the information request and the application documents, signed and exported as a PDF.
How do we keep our eligibility notes away from the client?
Put them in a section of the proposal and mark it Hide from Recipient. Hidden sections are shaded in the editor so your team can see them, and they are left out of what the client sees. Keep sensitive details such as bank details or identity documents out of documents altogether.
Can the proposal show our timetable to the closing date?
Yes. A Gantt chart block, on the Business plan, shows each task by week with the submission as a milestone. It's your plan, written into the proposal: QuoteCloud doesn't track grant rounds or closing dates, and doesn't send reminders.
Can both directors sign the grant engagement?
Yes. Add a signature block for each director. Each signs in their own browser with no account, and the signed document carries a certificate of authenticity and an audit trail. The engagement payment can be taken on signing through Stripe or PayPal, as a percentage or a fixed amount.
How do we see all our grant work in one place?
Save a custom filter on the documents list, for example on titles containing 'grant', and the list shows every grant proposal, engagement letter, information request and application pack with its status, such as Sent, Opened, Signing, Accepted or Paid. Closing dates stay in your own records.
Grants, R&D and every other service line
Where the grant engagement leads, and the rest of the practice.
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Grant application documentsInformation requests, budget schedules, milestones, risk and signed declarations, exported as a PDF for the funder's portal.Explore
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R&D tax credits and incentivesRegistration and claim engagements with clear limits, and activity descriptions the client's team confirms.Explore
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Engagement letters & terms of engagementScope, responsibilities, fees, limitation and privacy, from your template, signed by every director or trustee.Explore
- Fixed-fee packages & pricingGood, better, best packages, add-ons the client ticks and monthly fees set out in the agreement.
- Client onboarding & information requestsInformation requests with a Forms block and checklist, every director signing and an onboarding fee on signing.
- Annual re-engagementExpiry dates, the Expiring Soon filter and next year's letters sent in bulk and tracked until signed.
- Tax, bookkeeping & payrollTax returns, sales tax and VAT, financial statements, bookkeeping and payroll, quoted as clear fixed fees.
- Advisory & virtual CFOForecasts, budgets, business plans and a monthly CFO retainer, with discounts approved by a partner first.
- Structures, sales & successionCompany, trust and partnership set-ups, restructures, valuations, business sales and succession plans.
- Fund and compliance auditsAnnual fund engagements every trustee signs, and audit proposals with clear scope and independence.
- Xero, QuickBooks & practice integrationsSigned engagements to Xero or QuickBooks Online through Zapier, and practice tools through Zapier, Make or the API.
- Accounting templatesReal QuoteCloud templates for engagement letters, accounting proposals, bookkeeping, audit, grants and budgets.
- QuoteCloud implementation for practicesYour services price book, locked engagement terms, a template per service line, approvals and training.
- FAQAnswers to the questions accounting firms, bookkeepers and grant consultants ask most.
Make grant work a service line
Free for 14 days. No credit card required.