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A scope-change email that gives the client clear options

An extra request does not have to become a confrontation. Explain the change, its cost and the available choices.

Start with the request

Briefly repeat what the client wants so they can correct any misunderstanding. Connect it to the original scope using the actual page, deliverable or feature, not a vague statement that it is “out of scope”.

Thanks — I understand you would like a second landing page for the new audience. Our current scope includes one landing page. I can add the second page for [amount], including [deliverables], with delivery moving from [date] to [date].

Offer sensible alternatives

When possible, offer to swap out work of comparable effort or schedule the addition as phase two. Do not promise that every swap is cost-neutral. Assess the work already completed and the effort needed for the replacement.

We can add it to this phase, replace [specific unstarted item] after confirming the revised estimate, or keep it for a follow-up project. Please confirm your preferred option before I begin the additional work.

What if the extra work has already started?

Reset the discussion using a short work inventory. Keep completed work separate from the estimate for what remains. Hours spent help explain your effort; they do not show that the client agreed to an additional fee.

1. Find the baseline. Link to the last agreed page list, features and revision allowance. If the brief was vague, acknowledge that before labelling a request an addition.
2. List the differences. For each item, record the request date, what changed, whether it is started or delivered, actual hours so far, and any written fee approval.
3. Sort the work. Separate corrections to an agreed requirement, included revisions, approved additions and additions whose scope or price is still unresolved. Use the revision-round guide when the boundary is unclear.
4. Agree the next decision. Propose a clearly bounded next stage with a fee, included work and delivery date. Discuss unresolved past work separately; do not quietly roll it into a new estimate or count it twice.

A mid-project reset email

Replace every bracketed field and remove options that do not fit your project. This wording opens a discussion; it does not retrospectively establish approval.

Before we schedule the next stage, I would like to reconcile the work against our agreed scope of [date/version]. The attached list separates the original work, approved additions and items we have not yet priced together.

[Item] is already [started/delivered]. I recorded [hours] on it, but we have not confirmed an additional fee. Could we review that item separately and agree how to handle it?

For the remaining [deliverables], my proposed fee is [amount and currency], including [revision allowance], with delivery by [date] once [inputs] are received. Alternatively, we could defer [unstarted item] and confirm a smaller next stage.

Please confirm the scope, price and timing you prefer before I schedule these additions. I will then send an updated summary of what is included.

Make the approval easy to check

Give the change a reference such as CH-03 and state the currency, final fee, deliverables, exclusions, revision allowance and revised date in one place. If the client replies “sounds good” to several alternatives, ask which option they mean. Record a deliberate no-charge concession explicitly, without presenting it as an unpaid approved charge.

Estimate remaining effort with the free calculator, then record the actual agreed amount separately. A calculator output is a planning aid, not evidence of a client's agreement.

Keep the record

Save the response with the scope version and change reference. A sent quote is not an approval. A client's acknowledgement that they received it may not be a decision either. Ask for an unambiguous answer when the response is unclear.

This is operational wording to adapt to your agreement. It is not a legal contract or a guarantee that a disputed invoice will be enforceable.