Change Order Template: Get Out-of-Scope Work Approved

A change order is a short written agreement to add, remove or change work after a project has been agreed. Use the template below whenever a client asks for something outside the original scope, and get it accepted before the extra work starts.

The change order template

Copy this into a doc, an email or your project tool. Every field has a one-line hint.

CHANGE ORDER

Change order number
  CO-001, CO-002 and so on, per project.

Date
  The date you send it.

Client
  Company name and the contact who asked for the change.

Project
  Project name and the agreement it changes (proposal, contract or SOW, with date).

Requested by
  Who asked for the change, and when.

What's changing
  The new or changed work, described so someone outside the project would understand it.

Why it's outside the original scope
  The line in the original agreement it goes beyond, or "not included in the original scope".

What's not changing
  Anything the client might assume is included but isn't.

Cost
  The added fee, or "no cost". Show how you got there: hours x rate, or a fixed price.

Timeline
  How the change moves the delivery date. "No change" if it doesn't.

Effect on other work
  Anything else that shifts, pauses or gets dropped because of this.

Payment terms
  When the added fee is invoiced and due.

Acceptance
  Name, title, date and signature or written "accepted" from the approver.

What each part is for

A change order does two jobs: it gets the client's yes on the new work, and it records exactly what that yes covered.

What's changing is the heart of it. Write it so a new team member could deliver it without asking. "Add a blog" is a conversation. "Add a blog index page and one article template, with categories and search, styled to match the current site" is a change order.
Why it's outside the original scope keeps the conversation calm. Point to the agreement, not to your opinion.
What's not changing heads off the follow-up ask. If you're adding the blog template, say you're not writing the articles.
Cost and timeline are separate fields because clients often accept the price and forget the delay. Make both visible.
Acceptance is the out of scope work approval. Without it, you have a conversation, not an agreement.

A filled-in example

A small web agency is building a five-page site for an accountancy firm. Halfway through, the client asks for a blog.

Change order number: CO-002
Date: May 14
Client: Hartley and Moss Accountants. Requested by Priya, operations manager.
Project: Website rebuild, per the proposal signed April 2.
Requested by: Priya, by email on May 13.
What's changing: Add a blog index page and one blog post template, with categories, styled to match the new site. Set up three existing articles from their old site as examples.
Why it's outside the original scope: The proposal covers five pages: Home, Services, About, Team and Contact. A blog was not included.
What's not changing: We are not writing new articles. Priya's team will add future posts.
Cost: $1,200 fixed.
Timeline: Launch moves from June 3 to June 10.
Effect on other work: None. The other five pages stay on schedule for review on May 24.
Payment terms: Invoiced with the final launch invoice, due in 14 days.
Acceptance: Priya Shah, Operations Manager, accepted by email on May 15.

The client read it in two minutes and accepted the same day, because nothing in it was a surprise.

How to use it

Spot the ask early. "Can you also..." and "quick one" are the usual signs. Check the request against the original agreement before you reply.
Send the change order before you start the extra work, ideally within a day of the ask. Work done first is very hard to bill later.
Send it to the person who can approve spend. That's usually whoever signed the original agreement, not the person who asked.
Wait for a written yes. An email reply that says "accepted" is enough for most client work. A signature is better for large changes.
Number it and file it with the project. At invoice time, every added fee should point to a change order the client accepted.

If the client says no, that's a fine outcome too. The original scope stands and nobody is confused about it. For how sign-off fits into the rest of the project, see our client approval process guide.

Change order form vs change request

The words get used loosely, but there's a useful split.

A change request is the client asking for something different. It can be a message, a call or a form.
A change order is your written answer: what it will take, what it costs, and a place for the client to accept.

Keep a simple change order form for every project, even small ones. Most scope creep isn't one big ask. It's ten small ones nobody wrote down.

What counts as out of scope

Not every new ask needs a change order. The test is simple: does it add work, time or cost beyond what the agreement describes?

These usually need a change order:

A new page, deliverable, size or format that wasn't listed.
A new round of revisions beyond the number you agreed.
A change of direction after sign-off, such as a new color palette once the design was approved.
Work that depends on something the client was meant to provide and didn't, such as writing copy you expected to receive.

These usually don't:

Fixing something that doesn't match the agreed brief. That's your job.
Small swaps inside an agreed deliverable, like changing one photo for another of the same kind.
Feedback within the rounds you agreed.

When you're not sure, ask yourself whether you'd be annoyed doing it for free. If yes, write the change order and let the client decide.

Common mistakes

Doing the work first. Once the work is done, the client has no reason to say yes, and the invoice feels like an ambush.
A vague description. "Additional design work" invites an argument about what was covered. Describe the change in plain, specific words.
Leaving out the timeline. The client agrees to the price, then is surprised when launch slips a week.
Bundling many small asks into one big change order at the end. Send one per change, as each one comes up. Small and early gets accepted. Large and late gets disputed.

How Dora does this for you

Out-of-scope asks usually arrive mid-thread, sounding small. "While you're in there, could you add a blog?"

With Dora, out-of-scope asks become change orders the client accepts in one click. The request, the change order and the client's acceptance stay on record together, so at invoice time there's nothing to dig up. Dora writes the brief for the new work from the client's message, asks for anything that's missing, and follows up if the client goes quiet.

The hours spent arguing over what was in scope are hours you don't bill. See how Dora works as an AI account manager inside each client's client portal. Your first client is free, then $10 per client per month with unlimited team seats. See pricing.

Frequently asked questions

What should a change order include?

A change order should include a number, the date, the project and the agreement it changes, a clear description of the new work, why it's outside the original scope, what isn't changing, the cost, the effect on the timeline, payment terms and the client's acceptance.

When should you send a change order?

Before you start the extra work, ideally within a day of the client asking. Once the work is done, it's much harder to get agreement on the fee, and the invoice can feel like a surprise.

Who should approve a change order?

The person on the client side who can approve spend. That's usually whoever signed the original proposal or contract, which is not always the person who asked for the change.

Is an email reply enough to approve out-of-scope work?

For most client work, a written reply that clearly says the change order is accepted is enough to record the agreement. For large changes, or where your contract asks for it, get a signature as well.

What's the difference between a change request and a change order?

A change request is the client asking for something different. A change order is your written answer to it: what the change involves, what it costs, how it affects the timeline, and a place for the client to accept.