Free template
Scope of work template
Scope creep almost never starts with a bad client — it starts with a fuzzy scope of work. This template makes your project boundaries explicit: every deliverable priced and dated, exclusions named out loud, and a change-request process agreed before the work begins. Copy it, fill in the brackets, and attach it to your contract or proposal.
Scope of work
1. Project overview
Project: [project name] Provider: [your name / company] Client: [client name / company] Start date: [date] Final deadline: [date] Total price: [$ amount]
2. Objectives
One or two sentences on what this project achieves for the client. Example: “Redesign the marketing website to increase quote requests, launching before the fall campaign.”
3. Deliverables and work items
List every work item as its own line, each with a price and a due date: • [Work item 1] — [$ price] — due [date] • [Work item 2] — [$ price] — due [date] • [Work item 3] — [$ price] — due [date] This list is the scope baseline. If it isn't listed here, it isn't included.
4. Explicit exclusions
Name the things clients commonly assume are included but are not. Example: “Copywriting, stock photo licensing, and ongoing maintenance after launch are not included in this scope.”
5. Client responsibilities
List what the client must provide and by when: brand assets, content, feedback within [3] business days, access to [systems]. Delays here move the deadline day-for-day.
6. Revisions
Each deliverable includes [two] rounds of revisions. Additional rounds are handled as change requests under section 7.
7. Change requests
Any work outside the deliverables list requires a written change request stating the new work, its cost and its effect on the deadline. Work on the change begins only after the client approves it in writing.
8. Acceptance
Client approves each deliverable in writing or within [5] business days of delivery. Silence beyond that window counts as acceptance.
A scope of work only works if it stays alive
The template gets you a baseline — but two weeks in, the client asks for \u201cone small thing.\u201d Greenlit keeps the baseline enforceable: your scope items, budget and deadline live in the project, every client request becomes a priced change order with the time impact calculated, and your client e-signs and pays from a private portal link.
- Your scope baseline, budget and deadline in one place
- Change requests become signed, priced addendums — not email threads
- Clients approve and pay by card, no account needed
Pair this with our freelance contract template for a complete agreement. These templates are general information, not legal advice.