How to Charge for Extra Work: Change Order Template

Your client says, one small addition. Here's how to charge for extra work, with one page they approve before you start. That page is a change order. And one line, most freelancers leave out, is the line that makes it stick. Stay to the end, and you'll have the exact words to send, plus a page you can build in two minutes.

Start with what a favor really costs. Nine hundred dollars of catering page, for free. Three hundred of extra revisions. A few favors later, you've done a month of work nobody paid for. The fix isn't a harder conversation.

It's a document, sent before you start. First, the rule. If it wasn't in what they signed, it's a change order. Not a favor. Signed means the proposal or contract the client already agreed to.

That's your baseline. New pages, new deliverables and extra rounds all sit outside it. Some things aren't changes. Fixing your own mistakes, and the revision rounds you already sold, stay in the original price. Quick test.

Three requests. Is it a change? The client wants the logo a bit bigger. That's inside your revision rounds. Not a change.

The client wants a catering page that wasn't in the scope. Change order. The client wants a fourth round of revisions, after the three you sold. Change order. And swapping the blog for a shop?

That's a change too, so price the difference. Next, the four things every change order needs. Every change order has four things. What changed. What it costs.

The new total. And a yes. One, what changed. Be specific. Not extra work, but catering page, design and build.

Vague lines are how arguments start. Two, what it costs. One number, not a range. Quantity times price, so the math is right there on the page. Three, the new total.

The old total, the change, and the new total, side by side, so the invoice never surprises anyone. Four, the yes. This is the line most freelancers leave out. A thumbs-up in a chat is easy to lose. An approval on the page is on the record, before you start.

Pricing it? Do what you did for the project. Your hours at your rate, or the price from your service list. If the change moves your deadline, say so in the reason. Time is part of the cost.

And if you want to be generous, show the discount as a line. Never do it quietly. Several tiny asks? Bundle them into one change order a week, instead of sending twenty small ones. Now, what do you actually say?

Keep it short. The catering page is outside what we agreed. It's nine hundred dollars, and the new total is twelve thousand nine hundred. Approve it here, and I'll start this week. No apology, no maybe.

You're not asking for a favor. You're offering a clear choice. Here's the whole thing in Workspace369. The proposal is signed, so it locks. Changes now need a change order.

Hit new change order. Give it a title, and write the reason in plain words. Add the work. Price it. The total updates as you type.

Send it. The client opens one page, sees exactly what changes, and approves. No account to create. Just a link. And if they say no, they can decline, and your original scope stays as it was.

When they approve, it records who approved, and when. That's your paper trail. Changes can take work out too. Swap the blog for a shop, and the blog comes off while the shop goes on. What if the client pushes back?

Point at the page. Here's what we agreed, here's what you're asking for, and here's the difference. It's not personal. It's arithmetic. And if they say yes on a call, record the approval yourself, so it still ends up on the record.

And it's your page. Your logo, your colors, your font, and it still looks professional. Pick a theme, an accent color and your logo once. Your proposals look like you. Three mistakes to avoid.

One, waiting until the end to mention it. Send the change order the day they ask, before you do the work. Two, burying it in the next invoice. A surprise line on an invoice turns a small ask into a fight. Three, hiding the reason.

One honest sentence about why it's outside the original scope keeps the tone friendly. So, the rule. If it wasn't signed, it's a change order. Four things: what changed, what it costs, the new total, and a yes. Build yours in Workspace369.

There's a fourteen-day free trial, and the link is in the description. Next up, what to send when a client goes quiet after your proposal. It's on screen now.