Scope of work template for freelance web projects

You came for a template, so here it is. Copy it, fill the brackets, and send it before you start work. The notes after it explain each part.

Project: [name and one-line description]

Goal: [what the client wants to achieve, in one sentence]

Deliverables: [the things they will receive, as nouns: “five designed pages”, not “work on the design”]

Not included: [what clients often assume: copywriting, photography, extra pages, content migration, support after launch]

From the client: [content, logins, feedback and sign-off, each with a date]

Timeline: [milestones with dates, or an order and rough durations]

Revisions: [how many rounds, and what counts as one]

Price and payment: [total, and when each part is due]

Changes: Anything outside this list is quoted separately before work begins.

Agreed: [client name, date]

How to fill it in

Goal. Write the client’s aim, not the task. “Help new customers book online” tells you what matters. “Build a website” does not.

Deliverables. Things they can hold. If you cannot tell when a deliverable is finished, rewrite it until you can.

Not included. The most useful line in the document. Name what they might assume, kindly and clearly.

From the client. Most delays are waiting. Put a date next to everything you need, and say that late material moves the timeline.

Revisions. Put a number on it. “Unlimited” is a promise to work for free.

Changes. One sentence, and it does the awkward conversation for you.

Adjust it for the kind of project

The ten headings stay the same. What you write under them changes with the work.

• A brochure website. Count pages and name them. Say who writes the words and who supplies the photographs. Put the number of design rounds before the build starts, because changes after the build cost more.
• An online shop. List what the shop does: number of products, payment methods, shipping rules, tax settings. Say whether you load the products or the client does.
• A redesign. Say what stays. Existing content, URLs and integrations are easy to assume and costly to rebuild, so name which ones carry over.
• SEO work. Describe the activity, not the result. You can promise an audit, fixes and a monthly report. You cannot promise a position on Google, so do not write one.
• Ongoing care. Say what a month includes (updates, checks, a set number of small changes), how the client asks for work, and how quickly you reply.

Words that cause trouble

A few phrases look harmless and open the door to arguments later.

• “Unlimited”. See revisions above. Replace it with a number.
• “Minor changes”. Minor to whom? Say “text edits and swapping images on existing pages”.
• “Support”. Say for how long, by what route, and what it covers. “Fixing things we built that break within 30 days” is clear. “Support” is not.
• “Responsive”, “modern”, “user-friendly”. You cannot check any of them. Write the thing a person can test: “works on phones from 360px wide”.
• “As needed”. It means you will decide later, alone, while the client disagrees.

When to send it

Send the scope as soon as the client says yes in principle and before you take a deposit. The order matters: a deposit paid before the scope is agreed usually means a quote that was never pinned down. Ask for a reply that says “agreed”, and keep that email with the document.

Keep it short

One page is plenty. If the client will not read it, it is too long. A short scope that both of you remember beats a long one nobody opens.

Three mistakes

• Sending it after work has started. Agree it first, with a plain “yes, that’s what we agreed” by email.
• Copying a template without editing the “not included” line. That line is specific to the project every time.
• Never looking at it again. Read it back to the client at the end of each stage. It is the habit that stops scope creep early.

For a longer walk through, with a filled example, read how to write a scope of work.

This is practical guidance, not legal advice. For large or high-risk projects, ask a solicitor to check your terms.

When you run several projects

A template helps on one project. On four, the hard part is remembering to check each one against its scope. That is the work your project manager takes on in Agenc: it keeps each project’s plan to hand and brings you only the decisions that need you. See pricing, or join the early-access list from the form at the foot of this page.