Change order template
When a client asks for 'one more thing', the change order is how you say yes without working for free. Here's the format and how to send it without making it awkward.
What a change order is
A change order is a one-page amendment to your existing agreement. It records the new request, the extra deliverables, the extra fee, and the effect on the delivery date, then both sides sign it. Everything in the original contract stays in force. Construction has used them for a century; freelancers should too.
The template
How to send it without friction
Reply to the request the same day: "Happy to add that. It's outside what we agreed, so I've put together a quick change order with the price and the new date; approve it and I'll start." Clients respect it. The ones who push back on paying for extra work were going to be a problem anyway, and now you know before you've done it.
When to use one
- New pages, features, formats or deliverables that weren't listed.
- A third round of revisions when two were included.
- Changing direction after approval ("actually, let's go with the other logo concept").
- Anything that moves the delivery date.
Small favours under fifteen minutes are goodwill; just do them. Everything else is a change order.