How the ledger works · ServiceAgreement.us

1. Write the scope the day you agree

Three kinds of line: Included (what the price covers), Not included (what you said it does not cover) and Assumptions (what the price depends on, such as “client supplies all text by the 21st” or “two rounds of revisions”). Up to 30 lines of 140 characters.

2. Log every request after that

Date, what was asked, and later a ruling: Inside scope, Change, Outside the job, or Not sorted yet. A change gets the next number (CO-01, CO-02…) the first time it is ruled a change and keeps it, even if you change your mind, so a sheet you already sent still matches.

3. The Sorter's five rules, in order

R1 Written under “Not included” → Change. You named it as outside the price.
R2 Breaks an assumption → Change, even when the task is listed: the price was built on the assumption.
R3 Written under “Included” → Inside scope.
R4 Not written either way, and small (minutes) → Inside, logged so the free work is counted.
R5 Not written either way, and bigger → Change. Price it before you start it.

The first rule that applies wins. To help with the first questions, the Sorter lists your scope lines that share a word with the request (words of three or more letters, common words ignored, endings like -s, -ed and -ing trimmed). It is a reading aid, not a judgement.

4. The tally

Agreed total now = original price + approved changes.
If all are approved = agreed total now + changes waiting on the client. Declined changes count nowhere.
Growth from changes = approved changes ÷ original price.
Absorbed inside scope = hours on inside-scope requests, and their value at your hourly rate if you gave one.

5. Signals

S1 requests not sorted yet;
S2 three or more requests absorbed inside scope;
S3 a change waiting more than 7 days for an answer;
S4 approved changes at 25% or more of the original price;
S5 a change with no price.

Signals state facts from your own log. What to do about them is your call.

What it is not