What a change order is, and how it differs from a change request#
Three words get mixed up on projects:
- A change request is the ask. The client writes “can you also add card payments?” or you write “we need the ERP access you promised for week 1”. It commits no one.
- A change order is the answer, signed by both sides. It names the SOW it changes and states the new scope, price, dates and payments. From the signature on, the SOW reads as changed.
- A new SOW is for new work that stands on its own: a second project, a new phase with its own budget. If the “change” is bigger than the original project, or has no link to its deliverables, write a new SOW instead.
In U.S. federal contracts, “change order” means something narrower: a written order the government’s contracting officer signs to make a change without the contractor’s consent, which the contract’s Changes clause allows. A change both sides agree on is called a supplemental agreement there.1 Commercial services contracts rarely give the client that one-sided power, so in a private deal a change order needs both signatures.
When to write a change order#
Write one whenever the signed SOW would no longer describe the work:
- A new deliverable. Anything the SOW’s out-of-scope list names, or anything it does not list at all.
- A changed deliverable. A report that becomes a workshop, 12 screens that become 18, a second language.
- A removed deliverable. The client drops a feature to save money. Without a change order, the fee stays the same on paper.
- A missed client responsibility. Access, data, content or a decision that came late. The dates move, often with no change in price.
- A change in rates or terms. A new rate for the next phase, or a client’s request to move from milestone invoices to monthly ones.
Small requests add up. One way to keep them honest: agree in the SOW that requests under a set number of hours are batched into one change order a month.
What to include in a change order, section by section#
Header and reference. The change order’s number, its date, the client’s request it answers, and the exact SOW and MSA it amends. One sentence keeps everything else in the SOW as it was.
Reason for the change. One or two sentences of facts: who asked for what, and when, or which client responsibility was late. Leave out blame. The client’s finance team will read this line to decide whether to approve the money.
Change in scope. Each deliverable added, changed or removed, with the SOW’s own numbering continued (D5 after D4), and acceptance criteria for anything new. A line on what this change does not include stops the next request from riding along for free.
Change in price. The new total against the old one, as a fixed fee or an estimate at the SOW’s rates with a cap. If nothing changes, say “no change in price” in words, so no one wonders later.
Change in schedule. Every milestone that moves, before and after, not only the new one. A new feature in week 9 usually pushes the launch, and the launch date is the one the client’s management remembers.
Change in payment. How and when the new amount is invoiced, in the same table shape as the SOW’s payment section, and the PO number. Some clients need a new PO for a change order; ask before you invoice.
Other terms. Work starts on signature. Your estimate expires on a date. The change order wins over the SOW for what it changes.
Signatures. The same people who may approve changes under the SOW’s change control section.
The template has every section above, with [brackets] for your facts, three price options to keep one of, and notes in italics to delete as you go. Download the .docx · Open in Google Docs: upload the .docx
A change order example: adding card payments to a fixed-price build#
This continues the made-up project from the statement of work template: Kestrel Digital is building a B2B ordering portal for Alder Supply Co. for $84,000, in 12 weeks. The SOW listed “online payment by card” as out of scope. In week 7, Alder asks for it.
Change Order No. 1 to SOW No. 3 under the Master Services Agreement dated March 2, 2026, between Alder Supply Co. (Client) and Kestrel Digital LLC (Provider). Date: December 18, 2026. Change request: email from Dana Ortiz of December 14, 2026.
Reason for the change. Client asked to let accounts pay by card at checkout. SOW No. 3 lists online payment by card as out of scope.
Change in scope.
| What | Deliverable | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Added | D5. Card payment at checkout | Accounts can pay an order by card through Client's existing payment processor account; paid orders reach the ERP marked as paid |
| Changed | D4. Admin guide | Adds a section on refunds and failed payments (about 2 pages) |
D5 is accepted when test cases 63 to 78 in the shared test plan pass on staging in Chrome and Safari, including a declined card and a refund. Not included: saved cards, invoices paid by card after the order, or a second payment processor.
Change in price. Fixed fee for this change: $15,840 (96 hours at the SOW’s change rate of $165). The fixed fee of SOW No. 3 changes from $84,000 to $99,840.
Change in schedule and payment.
| What | Target before | Target after | Fee after | Invoiced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M3. Integrated and ready for UAT | Week 10 | Week 10 | $25,200 | On acceptance |
| M5. Card payment on staging (new) | Week 12 | $15,840 | On acceptance | |
| M4. Live in production | Week 11, support to week 12 | Week 13, support to week 14 | $21,000 | On acceptance |
| Total, fixed price | $84,000 | $99,840 |
M1 and M2 are already accepted and do not change. Invoices follow section 9 of SOW No. 3, net 30, under a new PO that Alder issues for this change order.
Other terms. Work on D5 starts on signature. This estimate is valid until January 8, 2027. Client provides sandbox access to its payment processor account by the end of week 10.
Signatures. Alder Supply Co.: Dana Ortiz, Operations Director. Kestrel Digital LLC: Sam Whitfield, Project Lead.
The no-cost change order: when the client is late#
Most change orders that small firms skip are the ones with no money in them. In the same project, suppose Alder had given ERP sandbox access in week 3 instead of week 1, as section 5 of the SOW assumed. Nothing new is built, but the plan no longer holds.
Reason for the change. Section 5 of SOW No. 3 assumes Client gives Provider access to the ERP sandbox by the end of week 1. Access was given on [November 19, 2026], in week 3. Change in scope: none. Change in price: none. Change in schedule: milestones M2, M3 and M4 move two weeks later: M2 to week 8, M3 to week 12, M4 to week 13, with support to week 14. Invoices follow the new milestone dates.
Sign it while the delay is fresh. Months later, without it, the late launch becomes your fault in everyone’s memory, and the last invoice waits while that gets argued.
How to run a change, from the request to the invoice#
- 1
Log the request.
Reply the same day that you have it and when the estimate will follow. Start nothing yet.
- 2
Estimate the effect.
Scope, hours, every milestone that moves. Check the SOW's change control section for the rate and the deadline for your answer.
- 3
Send the change order.
Use the email below, with the document attached or shared for signature.
- 4
Get both signatures.
The people the SOW names to approve changes. A “sounds good” in chat is not a signature.
- 5
Start the work, and update the plan.
The project plan, the payment schedule and the PO all change with it.
- 6
Invoice by the new schedule.
Name the change order on the invoice line: “M5, Card payment on staging, per Change Order No. 1 to SOW No. 3”.
Get it in writing because the contract may require it. Many MSAs say they can be changed only in a signed writing. New York, for one, enforces that: a written agreement that says it cannot be changed orally cannot be changed by a later agreement unless that one is in writing and signed by the party it is enforced against.2 So a change agreed on a call may not bind the client to pay for it.
The emails around a change order#
The answer to an out-of-scope request
To the client's project lead, the same day the request arrives. Friendly, and no work promised yet.
Hi [Name],
Thanks, [card payments at checkout] makes sense for your accounts. It is outside SOW No. [number] as written ([section] lists it as out of scope), so it needs a short change order.
I will send the estimate by [date]: the price, and what it does to the launch date.
Until then we stay on the current plan, so nothing slips while you decide.
[Your name]
The email that sends the change order for signature
To the person the SOW names to approve changes, with your contact in Cc if that is someone else.
Hi [Name],
Attached is Change Order No. [number] to SOW No. [number], for [the change in a few words].
In short: [amount] added to the fixed fee, the launch moves from week [number] to week [number], and the new amount is invoiced on acceptance of [milestone].
If your payables team needs a new PO for it, could you send the number with the signed copy?
We can start on [date] if it is signed by [date]. The estimate holds until [date].
[Your name]
How Tommos drafts the change order and bills from it#
Tommos (tommos.ai) is a CRM whose AI agents, the tommos, take a B2B inquiry to a signed contract. On the Sign plan, Tommo Legal handles the deal’s papers and Tommo Closer gets the won deal paid.
Drafted from your own template. Put this change order template, or your own, in the Templates folder Tommos keeps in your Google Drive. Write to Tommo Legal on the deal page that the client wants card payments added, and Legal drafts the change order from the template, says in its memo which template it took and why, and leaves any fact the record does not hold, such as the new PO number, as a visible blank with a line on whom to ask. A person takes the draft on a card before anything goes to the client.
Their amendment, read against your positions. When the client sends its own amendment or change form instead, Tommo Closer reads it and asks Tommo Legal for its review: a memo of each clause that departs from your positions, with the wording to send back.
Signed on the card. A person your firm allows to sign presses Sign on the card and signs in the electronic signature window inside it. The copy signed by both sides goes in the client’s folder.
The invoices follow the new paper. The deal’s payment schedule is a fact Tommos keeps: each amount with its date or its milestone. A new schedule, accepted by a person on a card, replaces the old one whole, and an amount already invoiced keeps its line. Each invoice still waits for a person’s press before it is made in your invoice system (Mercury today) and sent.
Questions about change orders#
- What is a change order in a services contract?
- A change order is a document signed by the client and the provider that changes one statement of work: the scope, the price, the schedule and how the new amounts are invoiced. Everything it does not change stays as the SOW says.
- What is the difference between a change order and a change request?
- A change request is the ask, from either side, and binds no one. A change order is the agreed answer, with the new scope, price and dates, signed by both parties before the work starts.
- Who signs a change order?
- The people the SOW names to approve changes, usually one project lead on each side with authority to commit the budget. If the SOW names no one, use the people who signed the SOW.
- Do I need a change order if the price does not change?
- Yes, when the scope or the dates change. A no-cost change order records that the client was late or that a deliverable was swapped, so the new dates are agreed in writing and the last invoice is not held over them.
- Can I bill for out-of-scope work without a change order?
- You can send the invoice, but the client has not agreed to pay it, and many MSAs allow changes only in a signed writing. Get the change order signed first, then do the work.
- How do I number change orders?
- In order within each SOW: Change Order No. 1, 2 and 3 to SOW No. 3. Put the change order's number on every invoice line it creates, so the client's payables team can match the invoice to the paper.
- Is a change order the same as a contract amendment?
- It is a kind of amendment, limited to one SOW. An amendment to the MSA changes the terms for every project, such as liability or payment terms, and usually goes through legal on both sides.
Key takeaways#
- A change order changes one SOW: scope, price, schedule and payment, signed by both sides before the work starts.
- Show every change as before and after, including milestones that only move.
- Write a no-cost change order when the client is late; it protects the dates and the last invoice.
- Name the change order on each invoice it creates. For the rest of the path from the paper to the money, read how to get paid on time.
This is not legal advice. For a large change, or one that touches liability, ask a lawyer.
Sources#
- Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101, Definitions (“Change order” and “Supplemental agreement”), read Oct 15, 2026
- New York General Obligations Law § 15-301(1), read Oct 15, 2026
Read next
- How to get paid on time, from the signed SOW to the moneyThe eight steps from the signed SOW to the money, the vendor setup email and the invoice checklist.
- Statement of work templateFree as a Word file or a Google Doc, each section explained, and a filled 12-week example.
- Milestone payment schedule: examples and a templateA 14-week example with five payments, the shapes of a schedule, and how to date an amount due on an event.