Glossary/Services fundamentals

Change order

Also known as: scope change, contract amendment

A change order is a formal amendment to an existing engagement that documents and prices new scope. When a client requests work beyond what was originally agreed, a change order captures the additional deliverables, timeline impact, and revised cost. Both parties sign before the new work begins. Change orders protect margin by making scope creep an explicit, priced conversation.

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In Helm

How this shows up in the platform.

Where you'll see change order in day-to-day work inside Helm.

In Helm, the Project Manager agent detects scope expansion by reading project updates and new task creation beyond the original SOW. It drafts a change-order email with revised cost (calculated from your configured rates) and timeline impact, attached to the account. You review and send. Helm keeps the change-order document on the project record for historical reference.

Related terms

Keep reading.

Concepts that show up in the same workflows and reports.

Scope creep
Scope creep is the gradual expansion of project scope beyond what was originally agreed. It's unbudgeted, often undocumented, and almost always at the provider's expense. Small individual requests compound over the life of an engagement until the team is delivering materially more than was priced into the SOW.
Statement of Work (SOW)
A Statement of Work (SOW) is the document that defines what will be delivered, by when, for how much, and under what terms. It lists specific deliverables, milestones, assumptions, exclusions, and acceptance criteria. The SOW is the contractual source of truth for "what's in scope." Everything outside it is a change order conversation.
Retainer
A retainer is a recurring commercial agreement where a client pays a fixed fee at a regular interval (monthly or quarterly) for a defined scope of ongoing work: a block of hours, a set of deliverables, or access to the team at an agreed priority. Retainers provide predictable revenue to the provider and predictable access to the client.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) decomposes a project into smaller, manageable deliverables organized hierarchically. Top level is the whole project; next levels are major phases or deliverables; leaf level is individual tasks. A WBS makes scope estimable, assignable, and trackable, and exposes gaps where undefined work was smuggled into "and then we finish."
FAQ

About change order.

Common questions and honest answers.

When should I write a change order instead of absorbing the work?

Any scope addition worth more than 2-5% of the original engagement should be a change order. The discipline of saying "this is change order territory" is worth more than the dollars. It trains clients to expect formal scope conversations.

Can a change order extend the timeline without changing cost?

Yes. Timeline-only amendments are common when the client causes a delay (missed feedback windows, slow approvals) but no additional work scope is added. The change order still documents the shift for future reference.

Does the client need to sign change orders?

Strongly recommended. An unsigned change order is an accumulating dispute. Helm drafts the change-order document; e-signature happens via Composio integrations (DocuSign, HelloSign) on Pro and Business.

See this in action.

Helm is the AI work platform where these concepts stop being theory and start being your Monday morning.

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