Statement of work (SOW) outline, change request form and change log

The sections a statement of work needs, with a prompt under each, plus a change request form and a change log that adds approved changes to the budget and the end date.

  • No email needed
  • Last reviewed 4 October 2026
Download Change log for Excel and Google Sheets (.xlsx), SOW outline and change requests, 13 KB Print or save as PDF

For Google Sheets, download the .xlsx and open it with File > Import.

What it's for

  • Agencies writing a statement of work for a website build, a retainer or an SEO project.
  • Agreeing how changes to scope are asked for, estimated and approved before work starts.
  • Keeping one record of every change and what it did to the budget and the end date.

What's inside

Statement of work outline
Thirteen sections, from objectives and scope to acceptance and approvals, each with a prompt. Print it, or copy it into your own document.
Change request form
One page per change: what is changing and why, its effect on hours, cost and the timeline, and both sides' decision.
Change log (.xlsx)
Every change request in one list. Approved hours, cost and days are added to the original budget and end date.

Preview

Worked example: a website build with three change requests
Change Hours Cost Days added Status
CR-001 Add a blog section 16 2,400 5 Approved
CR-002 Extra round of home page design 6 900 2 Declined
CR-003 Import 200 products from the old site 10 1,500 3 Proposed

The statement of work was 200 hours and 30,000, ending Fri 30 Apr 2027. One change is approved, so the revised budget is 216 hours and 32,400, ending Wed 5 May 2027. CR-003's 10 hours and 1,500 are shown as waiting for a decision; the declined change counts for nothing.

Print the outline or the change request form

Statement of work

Outline only. General information, not legal advice; have your lawyer review your contract terms.

1. About this statement of work

Client, agency, project name, a reference and version number, and the date. Name the signed agreement (such as your master services agreement) whose terms apply, and its date.

2. Background and objectives

Why the client wants this work, and what should be different when it is done. How will you both know it worked?

3. Scope and deliverables

Each deliverable, described so both sides would recognise it when it arrives: what it is, its format and anything it must do.

4. Out of scope

What you are not doing, especially anything the client might assume is included, such as writing content, hosting or ongoing support.

5. Assumptions and dependencies

What the plan relies on: content or access by a date, third-party services, or feedback within a set number of working days.

6. What the client provides

Content, brand assets, access by invite (never shared passwords), one person who makes decisions, and when each is needed.

7. Timeline and milestones

Each milestone with its date, and what it depends on.

8. Review and acceptance

How each deliverable is reviewed, how many rounds of changes are included, how long the client has to respond, and what counts as accepted.

9. Fees and invoicing

How the work is priced (fixed price, time and materials or a retainer), the estimate in hours or money, and when each invoice is sent. Payment terms belong in your agreement.

10. Changes to scope

How changes are asked for, estimated and approved, using the change request form. Nothing changes until both sides approve it.

11. Team and contacts

Who does what on both sides, with names and email addresses, and who approves work and invoices for the client.

12. Communication and reporting

How often you meet, how progress is reported and to whom, and how quickly each side replies.

13. Approvals

The name, role and date for each person who approves this statement of work, on the agency side and the client side.

Template by Jasper — heyjasper.ai

Change request form

Project
Statement of work (reference)
Change request number
Date raised
Raised by (name and organisation)
What is changing
Why

Effect of the change (estimates)

Extra hours
Extra cost
Days added to the timeline
Deliverables or milestones affected
Other effects and risks

Decision

Approved Declined Needs more information

Client: name and role
Signature
Date
Agency: name and role
Signature
Date

Record every request in the change log, approved or not. Template by Jasper — heyjasper.ai

How to use it

  1. Print the outline or copy it into your own document, and work through each section with the client before work starts.
  2. Keep your contract terms in the agreement your lawyer has written or reviewed. The outline only asks which agreement this statement of work sits under.
  3. When someone asks for something new, fill in a change request form: what is changing, why, and what it does to hours, cost and the timeline.
  4. Log every change request in the change log, approved or not. On the Project sheet, type the original budget and end date.
  5. Mark each request Approved, Declined or Withdrawn when it is decided. The revised budget and end date update themselves.

The formulas, explained

Approved hours
=SUMIFS('Change log'!$F$4:$F$53,'Change log'!$I$4:$I$53,"Approved")

Adds up the estimated hours of every change marked Approved. Cost and days added work the same way.

Revised budget (hours)
=IF(B6="","",B6+B11)

The original budget plus the approved hours. Proposed, declined and withdrawn changes don't count.

Revised end date
=IF(B8="","",B8+B13)

The original end date plus the calendar days that approved changes add.

Waiting for a decision
=SUMIFS('Change log'!$F$4:$F$53,'Change log'!$I$4:$I$53,"Proposed")

The hours of changes still marked Proposed, so you can see what might come.

Every formula uses functions that Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice all have. There are no macros or scripts.

Questions

What is a statement of work?

A document that sets out the work for one project: what you will deliver, by when, how it will be accepted and what it costs. It usually sits under a master services agreement or a similar contract, which holds the legal terms.

What should a statement of work include?

Objectives, scope and deliverables, what is out of scope, assumptions, what the client provides, the timeline, how work is reviewed and accepted, fees and invoicing, how changes are handled, the team and contacts, and approvals. The outline has a section for each.

What do the sections look like for a real project?

For a website build, a deliverable might read "Ten page templates, built and tested in the current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge", with "Entering content beyond the home page" out of scope. For a monthly SEO retainer: "Up to 20 hours a month of technical fixes and content updates, reported on the first working day of each month", with "Paid search advertising" out of scope.

How do change requests work?

Whoever wants the change describes it on a change request form. You estimate the hours, cost and days it adds, and nothing changes until both sides approve it. Every request goes in the change log, so the budget and the end date always match what was agreed.

Is this a contract?

No. It is an outline of the sections a statement of work covers, with a prompt for each and no legal clauses. Your contract terms belong in the agreement your lawyer has written or reviewed.

Does the change log work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Upload it with File > Import. It only uses functions both programs have (SUMIFS, COUNTIF, IF, AND and ISNUMBER).

About this template

Last reviewed 4 October 2026.

Changes: 4 October 2026: first published.

Free to use and change in your own business. Please don't resell the files or publish them as your own. More free templates.