Proposals, signing & billing
I led the redesign of TaxDome’s proposals and engagement letters experience, working hands-on on the product architecture and critical workflows while coordinating two other designers.
The project transformed a limited contracts tool into a connected sales, signing and billing experience. During the first six months after launch, firms created 38,000 proposals. Adoption increased from 19.1% to 28.3%, while the signing rate rose from 81% to 92.4%.
The problem was bigger than an outdated document editor.
TaxDome’s existing Contracts feature allowed accounting firms to send terms and collect signatures, but it offered little flexibility, limited customisation and no complete path from presenting services to securing payment. Firms often left TaxDome and used specialist products such as Ignition to create proposals, describe services, collect signatures and arrange billing. That fragmented the workflow, duplicated client data and weakened TaxDome’s position as the system where firms managed their client relationships. The Product Manager and I validated the opportunity through usability studies, support requests, product feedback and an early-adopter poll. Around 20% of surveyed firms named Ignition as their main proposals tool. This was not simply a request for better formatting. Firms needed one workflow that could turn an offer into a signed and financially committed engagement.
I owned the design direction and remained hands-on where the risk was highest.
For firms, I structured proposal creation into clear stages covering settings, introduction, services, invoices, payments and engagement terms. Reusable templates, rich-text editing and branding controls allowed firms to create professional proposals without relying on external software. I also integrated invoices, deposits and payment details directly into the proposal. This allowed firms to move from presenting an offer to securing a financial commitment without switching between separate workflows. Our first client concept used a rigid step-by-step journey. Testing showed that clients frequently wanted to revisit pricing, services or legal terms before signing, so I moved the experience towards a structured, landing-page-style document with clear navigation between sections. Clients could review information in their own order while signatures, payment requirements and other commitments remained visible and understandable.
Testing the whole experience, not just individual screens.
We ran two rounds of usability testing across the firm and client experiences. The findings changed the client navigation model, the hierarchy of financial information and the way firms configured services and payments. Because the project connected several product areas and engineering teams, consistency became a delivery risk. I introduced centralised design documentation, shared terminology, reusable patterns and clearer ownership of design decisions. During implementation, I reviewed staging builds across desktop, tablet, mobile web and the client app. I also introduced a pre-release design review to catch interaction, visual and responsive issues that conventional QA often missed. After launch, I reviewed early-adopter feedback and analysed more than 200 recorded sessions to verify that existing Contracts users could transition successfully and to identify post-release improvements.
The product exceeded both of its primary targets.
During the first six months after launch, accounting firms created 38,000 proposals. Adoption increased from 19.1% to 28.3%, exceeding the 25% target. The signing rate increased from 81% to 92.4%, above the 90% goal. Post-launch research showed that firms could create proposals more efficiently and move from presenting services to securing signatures and payments within one connected workflow. We found no high- or medium-severity usability problems during the early-adopter review. The project also established a more accountable delivery process, with clearer design ownership, shared documentation and design review continuing through implementation rather than ending when the screens were handed over.
