Every quarter we get the same question from integrators on the demo line: "what should I actually compare when I am looking at proposal software?" Usually they have been through two or three demos already and the vendor checklist has them confused. Below is the list we would write for ourselves.
It is deliberately short. Seven items. If the tool fails on any of these, it is not the right tool for an AV business no matter what the sales rep on the call said.
1. A real AV product catalogue, not a free-text line-item list
A free-text line-item field is not a catalogue. A real AV product catalogue carries the supplier-specific SKU, the cost basis, the live RRP, the image, the datasheet and (in 2026) the change-history of all of those. If your proposal tool asks you to type "Sonos Amp" by hand every time, you are typing the future audit trail by hand every time.
2. Supplier markup, captured per line
Margin per line item, not per project. The proposal stage is where the margin gets locked. If the tool only reports project-level margin at the end, you have lost the ability to negotiate the line that is costing you, and you will not get it back.
3. Two-way accounting sync
Win the job, the proposal becomes an invoice, the invoice lands in Xero or QuickBooks. The proposal you sent on Tuesday should be the invoice you bill on Friday. Anything less is a re-keying exercise wearing a sales uniform.
4. A signature flow your client recognises
E-signature is table stakes. What is not table stakes is whether the signature flow looks like it was built by a serious business or downloaded as a WordPress plug-in. The customer portal is the first impression a homeowner has of your operation; it should not look like a forgotten product from 2018.
5. Live deposit collection
When the client signs, Stripe collects the deposit in the same flow. Not "we will send an invoice for the deposit later". Not "we will call you for card details". The integrator who collects the deposit at the signature moment closes 20-30% faster than the integrator who chases it the following week. It is the single highest-impact change we see in onboarding data.
6. A path from proposal to project that is not a re-type
Press Convert to Project and watch the line items become a work order, the labour estimate become a schedule, and the milestones become an invoice plan. If the tool stops at "send PDF" and hands you off to a different surface for everything after the signature, the proposal stage is the last thing it solves.
7. Honesty about what is not included
Ask the vendor what is not in the price they quoted. If the answer involves "per-user surcharges", "integration fees", or "additional modules for inventory and procurement", make a note and reduce your trust score on the spreadsheet by 50%. Our pricing page is one price, every feature, no per-user surcharges. We are happy to be benchmarked against that.
The shortest demo questionnaire we know
Three questions. Ask them on every demo: (1) Show me a proposal with live supplier markup per line. (2) Convert that proposal to a project and an invoice while I watch. (3) What is not included in the price? Most tools fail one of those three. Specifi will pass all three on the live demo we run every Wednesday. Book a slot if you want to put us on the shortlist.