The client said yes, then asked for more. Now what?
Extra work after a quote is accepted is normal. Losing track of it is what costs you money. Here's a simple way to handle changes without the mess.
It happens on almost every job. The client accepts your quote, you get started, and a week later the email arrives: "While you're at it, could you also…"
Sometimes it's an optional extra they skipped the first time, like a faster turnaround. Sometimes the scope changes completely. Either way, it's good news: more work from someone who already trusts you. The trouble only starts when the change lives in an email thread, a phone call or someone's memory, and nobody remembers it until it's time to invoice.
We've had to add extra work at invoice time before. The client was fine with it, but it shouldn't have been a surprise for anyone. Here's what we do now.
1. Don't touch the original quote
The accepted quote is your record of what the client agreed to, on the day they agreed to it. Leave it exactly as it is. If you edit it after the fact, you lose the one document that settles any "but I thought…" conversations later.
2. Write the change down as its own item
Treat the extra work as a change to the job: what's being added (or removed), why, and what it costs. Keep it short:
Priority turnaround requested by client on 4 November. Report delivered within 5 business days instead of 15. Additional fee: $450 + GST.
Attach it to the job, not to your inbox, so anyone who opens the job can see it.
3. Get a yes in writing before you do the work
A quick email reply saying "Yes, please go ahead" is enough for small changes. For bigger ones, send a short new quote for just the extra work and let them accept it the same way they accepted the first one.
It feels formal for a small job. It's also the thing that stops a $450 change turning into a $450 write-off.
4. When the whole scope changes, start a new quote
If the client changes their mind in a big way, say they've redesigned the building and half your original work no longer applies, don't try to patch the old quote. Instead:
- Invoice for the work you've already done under the original quote, and close off the rest.
- Send a fresh quote for the new scope, linked to the same job.
That way the history stays clear: here's what we agreed, here's what we did, and here's what we're doing now. And your numbers stay honest, because a quote that's been replaced doesn't keep counting as work you're expecting to be paid for.
5. Check the money before you close the job
Before you mark a job as finished, run your eye over it:
- Has every accepted item and every approved change been invoiced?
- Is anything left over that was accepted but not done? If so, decide on purpose whether to invoice it, take it off, or write it off, and note why.
Clients sometimes accept the full quote but don't go ahead with every part of it. That's fine, as long as it's a decision and not something that slips through.
The short version
Leave the accepted quote alone, record every change on the job, get a yes before doing the extra work, and check nothing's left hanging before you close it off. It takes a few minutes per change, and it means invoice day has no surprises, for you or your client.