Glossary
Change order
A formal request to add, remove, or modify project scope, usually with an associated price and timeline adjustment.
A change order is the paper trail that turns an out-of-scope request into billable, agreed work. Instead of quietly absorbing the extra hours, the agency documents what changed, what it costs, and how it affects the timeline, and gets the client to sign off before starting.
Example
A web design contract scopes five pages. The client asks for two more mid-project. Rather than building them for free, the agency sends a one-page change order: "+2 pages, +$1,800, +1 week," and waits for approval before touching the work.
Why it matters for agencies
Without a change order process, scope creep has no natural stopping point — every new ask just gets folded into the existing project for free. A lightweight, fast change-order workflow is what lets an agency say yes to client requests without eating the cost.