What is a scope of work?

A scope of work is the section of a project agreement that describes the work to be done: what will be delivered, how much of it, what is and is not included, what the agency assumes about the client's inputs, and how each deliverable will be accepted. It answers the question "what exactly are we doing?" A scope of work is not the same as a statement of work, although people often use the terms interchangeably. The statement of work is the full document. It contains the scope of work plus the timeline, milestones, fees, payment terms, roles and the change process. You can have a scope section inside a proposal, a contract or a statement of work; it does the same job in each. What a good scope of work contains: • Deliverables, each with a quantity and format ("5 page templates designed in Figma", not "website design") • Included tasks, such as one round of copy edits or setup of Google Analytics • Excluded tasks, written out ("stock photography purchases, content migration and hosting are not included") • Assumptions about the client ("client provides final copy for all pages by week 2") • Revision limits ("two rounds of revisions per template") • Acceptance criteria: how you and the client agree a deliverable is complete Example of vague versus specific scope. Vague: "Build a new website." Specific: "Design and build a responsive 5-page marketing site (home, services, about, blog index, contact) in WordPress, with a contact form, basic on-page SEO settings and 30 days of post-launch fixes. Excludes copywriting, logo design, content migration from the old site and hosting." The exclusions list is what prevents most scope creep. When a client asks for something later, you compare the request with the scope. If it is outside, you raise a change order with the extra cost and time, and update the scope once it is approved, so the document always reflects the current agreement. Get the scope signed before work starts, either on its own or as part of the statement of work or contract. An unsigned scope is a description, not an agreement.