Also known as: SOW, scope document, project scope
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.
Where you'll see statement of work (sow) in day-to-day work inside Helm.
In Helm, the SOW lives as a rich document attached to the project and account. Estimates can be drafted from SOW content, and when accepted they progress the deal. Once work begins, the Project Manager agent can reference the SOW to detect scope expansion and draft change-order communications. Because the SOW, the project, the hours, and the invoices all share one platform, the answer to "was this in the original scope?" is a direct lookup.
Concepts that show up in the same workflows and reports.
Common questions and honest answers.
Deliverables (specific, acceptance-criteria-complete), timeline with milestones, total cost and payment schedule, assumptions, exclusions (what is not in scope), and a change-order process. Missing any of these creates friction later.
Long enough to be unambiguous. For a simple engagement: 2-3 pages. For complex enterprise work: 10-20. More than 30 is a sign of unclear requirements being papered over with word count.
Yes. Traceability from SOW to invoice is how you defend billing in a dispute. Helm supports this directly: SOW line items become estimate line items become invoice line items, with the chain of evidence preserved.
Helm is the AI work platform where these concepts stop being theory and start being your Monday morning.