Bringing knowledge to life

Pro Forma Standard Consulting Proposal

(for projects less than $50,000)

This pro forma remains current until 1 January 2009.

It has been prepared by BSUand Office of the University Legal Counsel (OULC). It is only designed for use with consultancy projects. Use this pro forma with projects where:

  • The estimated contract is less than $50,000, and either
  • The Client is known to be seeking an alternative proposal, or
  • UWS has not previously undertaken a project for this Client.

Compulsory Procedures:

  • The project must have been approved by the relevant delegates within your School / College and by BSU before this proposal is sent to the prospective client.
  • Two copies of a proposal should be sent to a client:
  • One for the client to keep, and
  • One to sign and return to UWS.
  • The UWS project manager should sign both copies of the proposal on the front page above the line provided and below the UWS contact details bottom right.
  • You may add information or delete sections in accordance with the Proposal Preparation guidelines below. Any other change MUST be approved by BSU and OULC. This includes the use of the clients own contract documents.

Proposal Preparation

  • Be sure to delete all text in red.
  • Sections may be deleted or changed if not appropriate to your proposal. The Sections will automatically re-number if you choose to remove one or more of these Sections.
  • Do not delete Credentials statement following title page, and Sections 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13 or Appendix 1.
  • Do not change Sections 7, 8, 11 or 13 or Appendix 1 in any way without the approval of BSU (except to add relevant information).
  • Be sure to enter the name of the client in fields on the project on the front page. These will be carried through into other parts of the document.
  • Be sure to complete Acceptance Page.
  • Do not include this page with the proposal to the client.

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Bringing knowledge to life

A Proposal to:

Organisation [business name and ABN of the Client to whom this proposal will be submitted]

(“Client”)

in regard to:

Project or Tender [Name of Project]

from

University of Western Sydney

ABN 53 014 069 881

(“University”)

University Contact:

[enter name]

[enter position]

[enter name of school / division]

University of Western Sydney

Telephone:02 [enter number]

Facsimile: 02 [enter number]

Email: @uws.edu.au

Locked Bag 1797

PENRITH SOUTH DC NSW 1797

Date: [enter date]

______

pro forma standard consulting proposal ver 2.doc1[ insert date ]

UWS is renowned for its practical and applied expertise. The University has an extensive and successful consulting practice across a wide range of knowledge disciplines.

Science & Technology

Law, Business & Finance

Construction & Property

Engineering & Industrial Design

Computing & Information Technology

Environment & Water

Agriculture & Horticulture

Education & Learning

Psychology & Social Sciences

Health Sciences & Complementary Medicine

Communication & Media

The University’s many satisfied clients include both SMEs and large corporations; local, state and federal government departments; and a broad range of not-for-profit organisations – from local community groups to international aid organisations.

Our consulting engagements vary from short assignments involving one person over a day or two, through complex projects of several years duration with multiple
sub-contractors.

Typically, our work is enabling – everything we do adds value to the business of our clients and stakeholders – whatever field they may be in. When the international publishing group Reed Elsevier needed someone to validate normative data in Australia for three of their psychological tests, they chose UWS to undertake the project involving thousands school children across all States.

Whether it is for business, government or community, UWS delivers effective and practical solutions with complete reliability. That’s one reason why SOCOG turned to UWS to screen and train over 1,300 bilingual volunteers to nationally accredited standards for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

And we have clever people. When the Western Australian government needed the best available forensic analysis of a railway bridge failure, they chose experts from UWS to undertake the project and provide expert opinion to their lawyers. UWS academic staff are held in the highest regard.

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Proposal to [organisation][ title of proposal ]

1.0Executive Summary

Summarise the contents of this proposal in not more than 150 – 200 words. Include critical information only. Make sure you include the proposed cost at which the project is to be undertaken. Use bullet points if necessary. Less is more. [DELETE THIS NOTE]

2.0Introduction

Write a brief introduction to the project. This section should outline the context to the project which UWS is proposing to undertake. It should demonstrate a historical understanding of how the need for the project arose and, most importantly, demonstrate a clear understanding of the client’s business need: why the project is being undertaken, how it fits into the client’s business and why it is important. [DELETE THIS NOTE]

3.0Scope

Use this section to clearly define the scope of the project, that is, to describe the work that will be undertaken by UWS. You should:

  • Describe the scope as specifically and accurately as possible (most misunderstandings between clients and consultants arise from a misunderstanding or disagreement about scope).
  • Refer as far as possible to the processes, involved in the project (eg, analyse, review, determine, resolve, clarify) along with the subject matter and purpose rather than to specific deliverables (eg, reports, summary of findings) which will be detailed elsewhere.
  • Use bullet points to describe various aspects of what the UWS project team will do.
  • If relevant, and if you do not wish to create another section to deal with it, include here a description of the methodology you will employ for the project. The methodology is essentially the steps by which you / your team will produce the deliverables against the agreed scope. It may be one step or a longer, more complex process depending on the project. Depending on the nature of your project include one or more of the following examples:
  • Testing with a prescribed piece of equipment
  • Following an accepted or defined protocol
  • Desk research on ….
  • Workshops with ….
  • Interviews with ….
  • Experimental procedure (provide details)
  • Survey or questionnaire (provide details).
  • You should specifically state any exclusions – that is things which are outside the agreed scope of the project. It is particularly important to identify these and to draw them to the client’s attention before work is commenced.

[DELETE THESE NOTES]

4.0Deliverables

Describe the deliverables or outputs from UWS to the Client for the project: a “product” that is clearly identifiable and will be provided to the Client as part of the Consultancy. Some examples of deliverables might be:

  • A report containing the market analysis, and business plan and referred to in “Scope”.
  • Facilitation of a workshop or conducting a training session as described in the “Scope”
  • A spreadsheet containing the detailed financial analysis and projections described in “Scope”.
  • A report containing quantitative analysis of the test results refer to in “Scope”.
  • Development and delivery of a tailored one-off training session described in “Scope”.
  • A bio assay of the Client supplied chemical and report on efficacy as described in “Scope”.
  • Software or other product as described in “Scope”.

This does not need to be a long section, but take care to describe how the work described with the Scope section of the proposal will be presented and delivered to the client. If there is more than one deliverable, describe them separately. Do not include dates. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

5.0Key Personnel

Include one paragraph summarising the relevant skills and experience of each of the key personnel to be involved in the project on the UWS team. Highlight / bold the name of each person with text below. Do not include more than five or six key personnel. Include non-UWS personnel (sub-contractors) if they have a key role. (If sub-contractors are involved it should be ensured that appropriate contractual obligations are in place so that you can ensure fulfilment of the Consultancy.) [DELETE THIS NOTE]

6.0Client Inputs

Describe clearly any inputs (eg, information) that are required from the client in order to complete the project. Describe each input separately and for each one show the expected date or stage when it is to be provided. This is very important as late delivery of inputs from a client can often be the source of delay in a project. Use the following table if appropriate. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

Description / By When

7.0Fee

State the total price for the project along with the major cost elements. Use the table below if appropriate. Do not include the UWS budget template. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

Item / Amount
Services
Expenses
Total Cost
GST
Total Fee amount to be invoiced

8.0Schedule Milestones and Payments

Due Date / Milestone and Deliverables / Payments
Ex GST / Incl GST
Commencement*

* Note:commencement by the date shown is subject to acceptance of this proposal by the client and its return to UWS prior to the date indicated in “Acceptance”.

Use this table to indicate the:

  • Commencement date
  • Any milestones you wish to identify or the client has identified during the project (these will usually be the provision of specified materials or other clearly identifiable “outcomes”, eg, conduct of a training session, survey of a customer group, etc.)
  • The relevant dates for the milestones
  • Payments due at any milestone (including completion of the project / the last milestone.

The payments in the right hand column should correspond exactly with the price in the previous section. If your project does not have any milestones, simply include the commencement and completion details. As a guide, if there are no milestones, include a 50% payment at commencement and a 50% payment on completion. Please call BSUfor guidance on more complex situations. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

9.0Project Management

We expect that the project will observe the following basic elements of project management.

  • Regular Work in Progress (WIP) meetings between the University Project Manager [insert name] and the Client Representative, [insert name], to be held at least on a [insert frequency] basis.
  • Clear rapid written communication between the parties of any issues for resolution that arise in the course of the project.
  • No changes to the scope, deliverables or any other aspects of the project will take place without the prior written approval of both parties. In the case of the University, written agreement to any change must come from the Office of Business Development (not from the University Project Manager).
  • The University Project Manager will maintain a project schedule. This schedule will be discussed and if necessary updated at the WIP meetings referred to above.

10.0Professorial Oversight

The following senior academic staff at the University of Western Sydney will provide oversight of the project.

If you have arranged for one or more professorial or senior staff (eg, Head of School, Associate Professor and above) to provide oversight for the project, include one or two paragraphs about each one here. Alternatively, if you only have access to longer CV’s or resumes, include a list of the names here and include the CV’s in an appendix. (Make reference to which appendix here.) If you have not made any arrangements with such UWS staff to provide oversight for the project then delete this section from the proposal. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

11.0Commercial Arrangements

A copy of the University’s standard “Terms and Conditions” for consulting projects is contained in Appendix 1 of this proposal. This proposal constitutes an offer to perform the services described herein on the basis of the Terms and Conditions.

Upon acceptance by a Client in accordance with the acceptance provisions, this proposal and the “Terms and Conditions” become a contract between the University and the Client.

12.0Special Conditions

Do not include anything in this section without the specific approval of the Office of Business Development and the Office of the University Legal Counsel. Remove this section if there are no special conditions associated with your project. [DELETE THESE NOTES]

13.0Acceptance

This proposal is valid as an offer only if signed on the front page by a representative of the University. This offer will automatically expire if it is not accepted by [insert date in consultation with BSU] (“the expiry date”).

This proposal will constitute an agreement between the University and the Client if it is accepted and signed by the Client and a signed copy is received in original form by the University at the address shown below on or before the expiry date.

Acceptance

I, the undersigned, for and on behalf of [insert full business name of Client, including identifying Australian Business Number] and as its authorised representative hereby engage the University to undertake the services described in this proposal on the on the basis of the attached Terms and Conditions.

Accepted by: / Witnessed by:
Signature: / Signature:
Print Name / Print Name:
Title or Office
Date: / Date:

Return of Proposal

This proposal has been provided in duplicate – one copy being for your records. A signed original copy of the proposal must be returned to the University at the address given below on or before the latest expiry date. Return to:

By Post:Hand Deliver:

Business Services Officer - ConsultingBusiness Services Officer - Consulting

Business Services UnitBusinessServicesUnitUniversity of Western Sydney University of Western Sydney

Locked Bag 1797Building L

PENRITH SOUTH DC NSW 1797Hawkesbury Road

Westmead

[Note: If you wish to suggest other terms for this consultancy proposal please contact the Office of Business Development with your suggested amendments.]

Appendices

Appendix 1 : Terms and Conditions

Add any other Appendices required. [DELETE THIS NOTE]

Appendix 1 – Terms and Conditions

Terms for UWS Minor Consultancies

Consultancy Services

  1. UWS will use reasonable endeavours to provide the services and the deliverables described in the annexed UWS consultancy proposal at the required dates.
  1. UWS may sub-contract provision of the services or deliverables.
  1. If the parties have agreed in writing that named personnel will provide the services, UWS will use reasonable endeavours to make those personnel available.
  1. The services or deliverables, and the applicable fee, can only be changed by written agreement between the parties.
  1. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, UWS may provide similar or identical services or deliverables to a third party.

Client Inputs

  1. The client will provide the Client Inputs at the dates specified in the annexed UWS consultancy proposals, and agrees that delay in providing client inputs may result in delay in UWS providing services or deliverables.

Payment

  1. The Client will pay UWS the Fee in accordance with Sections entitled “Fee” and “Schedule Milestones and Payments” of the annexed UWS consultancy proposal. UWS will, on request, provide the Client with a tax invoice. The Fee is inclusive of any GST which may be payable in relation to the services and deliverables, in accordance with A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 as amended. If agreed in writing, UWS may also charge the client for specified costs of providing services or deliverables.

Ownership of Deliverables

  1. The deliverables and all intellectual property in the deliverables remains the property of UWS until the client has paid all the Fee, taxes and costs.

Ownership of Intellectual Property

9.All UWS existing intellectual property remains the property of UWS. Subject to clause 8, UWS provides the client with a licence to use existing intellectual property only to the extent that such a licence is necessary for use of the deliverables for the intended purpose.

  1. Subject to clause 8, new intellectual property in the services deliverables becomes the property of the client other than any new intellectual property in the services or deliverables unrelated to the purpose for which the services or deliverables are intended by the client, which will be treated by the client as confidential will remain the sole and exclusive intellectual property of UWS.
  1. So far as new intellectual property in the services or deliverables belongs to the client, the client grants UWS an irrevocable and perpetual licence to utilize the intellectual property in the services or deliverables for the purposes of publication, research or education.

Confidentiality

  1. The parties agree not to disclose this agreement or any confidential information except with written consent of the other party, or as required by law.

Risks

  1. The University excludes all warranties other than that it will carry out the services to professional standards appropriate to the nature of the services. Except as required by statute, UWS has no liability under this agreement. The client accepts the services and deliverables at its own risk. The client indemnifies UWS against any claim by a third party for any injury or loss whether arising directly or indirectly or as a consequence of the services or deliverables, or their use by the client. The client will obtain and hold insurance insuring the client in respect of any injury or loss that may arise from its use of the deliverables or reliance on the services.

Disputes

14.The parties agree to attempt to resolve any dispute by timely negotiation, including by reference to personnel with authority to settle the dispute, before referring the dispute to any external party. If the dispute relates to a discrepancy in the services or deliverables the parties shall agree in writing as to the discrepancies in the services and the rectification to be provided by UWS. If a dispute is not resolved within 20 working days of notice being issued by a party of the existence of a dispute, the dispute may be referred to a court, or, if agreed by the parties, to some other form of alternative dispute resolution