Overview
You can create a document directly from TCB without setting up a Client or Project beforehand. The system guides you through everything in the document creation flow — selecting or creating a project, linking or adding a client, and choosing the document type. Once those are set, TCB pulls your data and loads a smart template ready to use.
Step by step
Click New Document from anywhere in the app.
Select a Project — choose an existing one or create a new one on the spot. TCB loads the scope of work for that service type automatically.
Select a Client — choose an existing client or add a new one in the same flow. Only the name is required; you can add the client's email later (TCB will ask for it when you send the document).
Select a Document Type — Proposal, Contract, or Invoice, each with a short description of when to use it. Then pick a visual template: Origin is the default, with more templates coming soon.
Inside the Document Builder, review the live preview. The document is automatically filled with your project and client data — project name, scope, pricing, timeline, and client details are all pulled in from your project. The editing column shows The Base block your document inherits from (service type, base price, timeline, and scope) and the Optional Deliverables you can toggle on or off. You can also apply a discount.
Click Export to download your client-ready PDF — or send it directly by email or for signature.
Creating a document based on an existing one
You can also create a new document based on a previous document from the same project. This is one of the core features of The Creators Base — your past work becomes the foundation for future documents, keeping everything consistent and saving you time.
For example, after a Proposal is accepted, you can create a Contract that automatically pulls the scope, pricing, and deliverables from that Proposal — no copy-pasting required.
What document types are available?
Proposal — scope, deliverables, and pricing for a new project
Contract — formal agreement between you and your client
Invoice — billing document with payment tracking
More document types are coming soon — Welcome Letters, Reports, and Brand Manuals are on the roadmap.
Which documents require an Active project?
When a project is in Pipeline (the initial state before you start working), only Proposals and Contracts can be created. These are the tools you need during the negotiation phase.
To create an Invoice, you need to activate the project first. If you try to create one in a Pipeline project, TCB will prompt you to activate the project.
Read Understanding project states for more details on how this works.
What can I customize in a document?
Documents in TCB are generated from smart templates — the structure and text are fixed by design, which keeps everything legally consistent and professionally formatted. Here's what you can and can't change right now:
What updates automatically: all dynamic fields — project name, client details, scope of work, pricing, payment terms, and timeline — come from your project. To change these, update the project and regenerate or recreate the document.
What you adjust in the Builder: the Optional Deliverables included in the document, and an optional discount on the total.
What stays fixed for now: the document's structural text, clauses, and template language cannot be edited directly. This is intentional to keep documents legally sound and visually consistent.
Coming soon: the ability to edit document text and add custom sections (like additional clauses) is on the roadmap and planned for a future update.
On Invoices, you can also choose to display your payment details: once you've saved your bank information in My Account → Getting Paid, turn on the option in the Document Builder to show it on the invoice. And if you've connected Stripe in Getting Paid → Online Payments, invoices you send by email include a secure Pay now button so your client can pay by card — read Getting paid online — let clients pay invoices by card.
Have a specific clause or section you'd like to add? Send us a message via chat — we'd love to hear your use case and it helps us prioritize what to build next.
Tips
You do not need to set up Clients or Projects in advance — it can all be done during document creation.
Make sure your Service Types are configured in Base Setup for the most relevant content structure.
You can create multiple documents per project — one of each type if needed.
All documents are linked to the project and client, so nothing gets lost.
TCB will suggest the next document type based on what already exists in the project.