Specimen
Scope of work
For a marketing or creative agency. United Kingdom and Ireland.
1. The brief
One paragraph, in the client’s words rather than ours, describing what they are trying to achieve. Everything below is an answer to this paragraph, and if the two ever disagree, this is the one that was actually agreed.
Your wording. Write this after the call and send it back for confirmation. A brief nobody corrected is not the same as a brief somebody agreed.
2. What we will deliver
Each deliverable named, in the singular, with enough detail that a person who was not on the call can tell whether it has been delivered. Quantities matter here: three concepts is a different job from one, and five pages is a different job from twelve.
3. What is not included
The things a reasonable client might assume are covered and are not: photography, copywriting, translation, print management, media spend, ongoing hosting, or anything that has to be bought from a third party. Naming them costs a paragraph and saves the conversation.
Your wording. This is the highest-value section in the document and the one most often left out. Write it from the last three jobs that went over.
4. What the price assumes
The assumptions the fee depends on: that brand assets are supplied in a usable form, that there is one approver, that feedback is consolidated, and that the dates below hold. If an assumption turns out to be wrong, the fee is not automatically wrong, but it is a conversation rather than an argument.
5. Amends
The number of rounds of amends included, what counts as one round, and what happens beyond it. A round is consolidated feedback from the client, delivered once. Work beyond the included rounds is charged at the rate shown in the schedule.
6. Timings, and what we need from you
The dates we are working to, and the dates by which we need decisions from you in order to hold them. Where a client date slips, delivery dates move by the same period rather than compressing the work.
7. Fees and invoicing
The fee for each deliverable, and any retainer separately with its period attached. When each becomes payable, and on what terms.
8. Intellectual property
Rights in the delivered work pass to the client on payment in full. Rights in anything we brought with us, including our own tools, templates and unused concepts, stay with us. Third-party assets are licensed on their own terms, which we will tell you about before we use them.
Your wording. If your general terms already cover this, delete the clause and reference them instead. Two versions of an intellectual property clause is worse than one.
9. Agreement
This scope of work is agreed under our general terms dated as shown. Please confirm by signing below.
Deliverables and fees
| Service | Basis | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Brand strategy and positioning workshop | One-off | £4,500 |
| Visual identity, three concepts and one route developed | One-off | £11,000 |
| Brand guidelines document | One-off | £3,200 |
| Ongoing design retainer, 4 days a month | Monthly | £3,600 per month |
| Additional rounds of amends beyond those included | Per day | £950 per day |
Figures are illustrative. Yours come from your own rate card. The retainer keeps its period and is not added to the project fees: a monthly figure and a one-off figure describe different commitments and a combined number describes neither.