The One Thing Every Freelance Contract Needs
I had a big problem, and it came in the form of my best client.
I agreed to take on extra responsibility after extra responsibility until I was ultimately reduced to answering the phone at 6:30 am and being at the client’s beck and call during working hours when I needed to focus my attention on that client’s work, or that of my other clients. It was a nasty situation, and I didn’t know how to start addressing it.
I needed something that explained what exactly my role as a freelance content writer was supposed to look like. I needed a scope of work.
But I have a contract, do I need a scope of work?
You may be wondering if a scope of work and a contract are the same thing. Perhaps you’ve heard the terms used interchangeably. The fact of the matter is that there’s no easy answer — in some cases, a contract includes a scope of work, and in others, the contract is the scope of work.
I know, I know. It’s not a perfect answer. Stop yelling at me. But the fact of the matter is that regardless of whether you call your contract a scope of work or you have a clause in your contract that you call your scope of work, you need to provide your client with something that specifically states what you’re going to deliver. So if your contract doesn’t include this, you don’t have a scope of work. And that’s no good.
What happens if I don’t have one?
Not having a scope of work can lead to confusion and chaos during a project. Your client is left in the dark about what exactly you’re going to deliver and when you’re going to deliver it, and you’re left unprotected from a dastardly little thing called scope creep.
What is scope creep?
Scope creep occurs when you start doing things outside of what you were hired to do. So if you’re a freelance web designer and a client starts asking you for help designing a logo, that’s scope creep. Or if you’re a freelance writer and your client asks you to review some website copy when you were hired to write a series of blog posts, that’s scope creep.
It usually starts out as small asks, and if you accept, slowly more and more responsibilities get tacked on until you’re buried under work. Sometimes it comes with additional pay, and sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, if it’s outside the scope of what you signed on to do, then you’re dealing with scope creep.
Fine, I need one. But what is a scope of work?
Basically, a scope of work covers the details of what you will do and what you won’t do. Let’s look at both of these aspects of an effective scope of work.
What you will do
When you include what you will do during a project in your scope of work, not only are you protecting yourself from scope creep, but you’re also managing client expectations, making it easier for you to focus on your work without interruptions. There are a lot of components you could include in your scope of work, but three of the most important ones are payment information, deliverables, and timelines and milestones.
Payment information
This one’s a little obvious, but I’m comfortable betting what cold hard cash I have that there have been freelance contracts signed that didn’t include the pricing information for the project. And I know there have been contracts signed that didn’t include the critical detail of when payment is expected, because I’ve written and signed them for myself. Don’t be like me. Get your payment amount and deadline in a scope of work in your contract.
Deliverables
You want to include in your scope of work a detailed description of the deliverables you’ll be providing to the client. Are you going to share the content you’ve written for them in a Google Doc? Are you going to put the project management details in a CSV file and email it to the client? Be extremely thorough here, as it could save you a lot of headaches down the road.
Timelines and milestones
Just as important as the payment information and deliverables in a scope of work are the timelines and milestones of the project. Getting this down on paper helps the client to understand what is coming their way and when, and prevents you from having to field questions or provide updates constantly. When a client knows when to expect to hear from you, it eases their mind and makes your job easier.
What you won’t do
But Elizabeth, I can hear you saying, if I cover all the details of what I will do in my scope of work, why do I need to explicitly outline what I won’t do? Good question, and the answer is scope creep. Yes, I’m harping on it, but trust me when I tell you that you do not want to deal with it.
So when you’re writing a scope of work, you should consider including exclusions. For instance, if you’re a freelance writer, maybe you don’t include any rounds of revisions with your copy. Or maybe you don’t find images to pair with your blog posts. It could be any number of things, really, but if you don’t include what you don’t include, you might find yourself faced with the uncomfortable situation of having to explain to a customer why you can’t provide a certain service to them. It’s not the end of the world, but it could make your life easier, and who doesn’t need that?
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I’m sure by now you’re wanting to know how my story resolved itself. Simply speaking, it didn’t. I’m still dealing with the repercussions of not having established a scope of work with my client. And while I no longer answer first-thing-in-the-morning phone calls, I still have to handle being asked to do things outside of my wheelhouse.
Be smarter than me. Include a scope of work with every contract you write (and write a contract for every project you start!) and you’ll nip scope creep in the bud before it becomes a problem.
What do you typically include in your scopes of work? Have you had to handle scope creep before? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to follow me on Medium to get more content on freelancing.
