AI Consulting Templates: Client Proposal, SOW, Discovery Questionnaire and Pricing Calculator for Freelance Consultants

The paperwork kit for freelance AI consultants and small AI agencies: the documents that win, scope, price, and deliver client work, so you stop reinventing them on every engagement.

What's inside (ZIP download):

- Guide: the full playbook. Positioning, the discovery to proposal to delivery pipeline, pricing models with real market numbers, scope-creep defenses, and a week-by-week engagement rhythm.

- Discovery questionnaire: 27 questions covering business context, data readiness, success metrics, and constraints. Send it after the first call, before you quote anything. It filters tire-kickers from buyers.

- Proposal template: fill-in structure with problem, approach, deliverables, a three-option price table that presents price as a choice instead of a negotiation, and terms.

- SOW template: statement of work with scope, exclusions, change requests, acceptance criteria, and payment milestones. The language that stops scope creep before it starts.

- Pricing calculator (CSV): price an engagement from cost up. Day rates, hours, delivery cost, margin, with worked example rows.

- Onboarding checklist: everything you need from the client before work starts. Access, data, stakeholders, kickoff agenda.

- Six client email templates: discovery invite, proposal follow-up, kickoff, mid-project update, delivery and handoff, testimonial and referral ask.

Who it's for: independent AI consultants and small agencies selling applied AI work (workflow automation, document processing, internal search, support deflection) to businesses that pay real project fees.

How it runs: Markdown templates plus one CSV. Open them in any text editor; the calculator works in Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice. Replace the bracketed placeholders with your details once, save your branded masters, and every engagement after that is fill-in work.

Note: the legal language in the SOW is solid operational practice, not legal advice. Have a local attorney review your master SOW once, then reuse it for years. Licensed for use in your own consulting practice, client-facing use included. Not licensed for resale of the kit itself.