Glossary
What is scope creep?
Scope creep is work added to a project after the scope was agreed, without a matching change to the price or the timeline. It usually starts with a vague proposal: a deliverable described loosely, an exclusion left unwritten, or an assumption nobody confirmed. The fix is to write scope a client can't misread.
Why it starts in the proposal
Each side reads a loose line differently. "Website design" can mean three pages or thirty. When the proposal doesn't say, the gap is settled later, usually in the client's favor and at your cost.
How to prevent it
- Name each deliverable and what counts as done.
- Write down what is not included.
- State assumptions, such as who supplies content and how many rounds of changes are covered.
- Price each item, so an addition has a price attached.
Where Accord fits
Accord drafts the scope, deliverables and terms from your call notes, prices each item from your catalog, and keeps saved clauses so every proposal carries the same terms. Our guide on scope creep goes further.
Questions
Is scope creep the same as a change request?
No. A change request is the agreed way to add work with a matching price and time. Scope creep is added work with neither.