| name | scope-and-sow |
| description | Use when you need to write or change a statement of work — turning an agreed offer into a scope, deliverables, price, and terms that both protect the client and defend the agency's margin. |
Scope and Statement of Work
Run this before work starts and again whenever the ask grows. The SOW is the line
between paid work and unpaid work; if it is not written, the agency will do it for
free and resent it. Clarity here prevents the fight later.
Steps
- Write the deliverables as nouns. Concrete, countable things the client
receives — "three campaign concepts, one produced," not "creative support."
If you cannot count it, you cannot deliver it or invoice it.
- Write the exclusions louder. What is explicitly not included, what costs
extra, and how many rounds of revision are in scope. Exclusions prevent scope
creep more than inclusions do.
- State the assumptions. What must be true for the price to hold — client
inputs by a date, existing brand assets, no more than N stakeholders. A broken
assumption is a change order, not a favor.
- Set the commercials. Price, payment schedule, and what triggers an invoice.
Tie milestones to money so delivery and revenue stay in sync.
- Define acceptance. Who signs off on each deliverable, against what, and how
long they have to respond before it is deemed accepted.
- Write the change path. Exactly how a change to scope becomes a change to
price and timeline — a short written change, approved before the extra work
starts. No verbal scope changes.
- Route for approval. The account director owns margin and terms; nothing
proceeds until the client has accepted the SOW in writing.
Quality bar
- Every deliverable is countable and has an acceptance criterion.
- Exclusions and revision limits are explicit.
- Each assumption, if broken, maps cleanly to a change order.
- Payment milestones are tied to delivery milestones.
Output format
SOW: <account / project> VERSION: <n> DATE: <date>
DELIVERABLES: <countable noun — acceptance criterion, each>
OUT OF SCOPE: <bulleted> REVISIONS: <n rounds included>
ASSUMPTIONS: <bulleted — each one a potential change order>
PRICE: <amount> PAYMENT: <schedule tied to milestones>
ACCEPTANCE: <who signs / against what / response window>
CHANGE PATH: <how scope changes become priced change orders>
APPROVED BY: <client signatory> — <date>
