A scope of work template
for creative agencies, kept beside the work.

Eleven sections: objectives, deliverables with specs and counts, phases and milestones, the timeline with review windows, revision rounds, client responsibilities and dependencies, assumptions, exclusions, the change-order process, acceptance criteria, and fees and payment by reference to the contract. Exclusions and acceptance criteria are the sections templates tend to skip, and they are the ones that end arguments.

In agency practice the names overlap. Strictly, the scope of work describes the work itself, while a statement of work is the whole project document signed under a master services agreement or a contract: the scope plus the timeline, acceptance, responsibilities and payment. Many creative agencies write one document and call it either; what matters is that all eleven sections are in it.

Detailed enough that a stranger could decide whether a request is included. Name every deliverable with its format, size, versions and file types, the number of concept routes and refinement rounds, who supplies copy and images, and what happens to source files. "Brand assets" is not a deliverable; "a letterhead, a business card and an email signature, each as a print-ready PDF or HTML file" is.

The deliverables with length, aspect ratio, format, captions and delivery method; shoot days, locations and crew; the edit and its review rounds; music and stock licences with their usage term; and everything the client provides, from locations to people on camera and their releases. Leave out raw footage and project files unless they are priced in, because those are the usual requests after delivery.

Everything a reasonable client might assume is included but is not. For design: extra routes, native source files, copywriting, photography, printing and trademark searches. For video: raw footage, further cutdowns, subtitles in more languages and extra shoot days. For both: rush work and licences beyond the agreed usage. Write each one as a thing, with its rate or quote process beside it.

When a request falls outside the scope, you write it up before doing it: what is asked, what it costs and how many days it adds. Work begins once the client agrees in writing, and the change is billed at the contract rates. In Storyflow each change is a dated row beside the scope, with a currency cell and a running total.

As one consolidated set of notes from the named approver, sent within the review window, on one version of one deliverable. Give each deliverable a fixed count of rounds, often two, and say that notes arriving after the window, or from someone new, open the next round. Changing an approved direction is not a round at all; it is a change order.

The rule for when a deliverable is finished: who accepts it, against which spec in the scope, and within how many working days. A common form is that a deliverable counts as accepted if no written notes arrive within five working days of delivery. Acceptance closes the rounds for that item, so later requests become change orders.

Yes, a first draft from your brief and proposal, and every line needs checking. Storyflow's AI writes the sections for you, lists each deliverable it finds, and can review your draft against the brief to name what it leaves open, such as a missing approver or an unpriced licence. It does not know your rates or your contract, so those stay yours.

No. Storyflow is not a contract or e-signature tool, and a template is not legal advice: have the terms reviewed by a lawyer where you work. Collect signatures in PandaDoc, in Google Docs on a paid Workspace plan, or in your agency's contract software. Keep the agreed copy on the board, so the scope and the work it governs stay side by side.

Not during early access. Storyflow is paid-only during early access, with plans from $7.99 a month billed annually ($9.99 monthly). A free plan launches before the end of 2026, and anyone a paid member invites to a board joins free. A client reading the scope never needs a plan of their own.