Out-of-scope work: how an agency bills the extra without losing the client
Out-of-scope work gets billed before it is done. Write into the contract the monthly volume, the rounds included and the price of extras. Log every request on the day it arrives and get written acceptance. The accepted extra goes on that month's invoice, with date and name.
How much does an agency lose to out-of-scope work?
It loses the value of every extra piece that goes out unrecorded, every month, across all clients. In a typical case, that exceeds 10% of the fee.
The most solid data in the industry is Operand's Censo Agências 2024, with 617 respondents from across Brazil. Mundo do Marketing published the results in April 2025:
- only 2.4 out of every 5 deliverables escape unplanned changes;
- over 30% of agencies can't bill out-of-scope changes;
- 34.36% cap free changes and bill the excess.
In other words, more than half of all jobs come back with a change nobody planned. And one in three agencies delivers the extra for free.
The table below uses example numbers: three clients, a price of R$ 150 per extra feed post and the requests of a typical month.
| Client (example) | Monthly fee | Contract volume | Extras requested in the month | Value under the rule | Value per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lumi Café | R$ 3,600 | 12 posts | 3 | R$ 450 | R$ 5,400 |
| Orla Imóveis | R$ 4,800 | 16 posts | 2 | R$ 300 | R$ 3,600 |
| Brisa Moda | R$ 2,700 | 8 posts | 4 | R$ 600 | R$ 7,200 |
| Total | R$ 11,100 | 36 posts | 9 | R$ 1,350 | R$ 16,200 |
In this example, the extras are worth 12.2% of the fee. If they go out free, the agency works a month and a half per year without pay.
The cost is not just the amount. The extra piece takes up the same person who would make the contracted piece. When the extra comes in unrecorded, the deadline for the rest of the plan slips, and the redo shows up the day before.
What is the difference between an edit, a redo and a new job?
An edit corrects the piece within the contract's rounds. A redo remakes the piece because the brief changed. A new job is a deliverable that wasn't in the volume. Only the first one fits in the fee.
Without this distinction, every conversation becomes "just a tiny tweak." With it, the account team knows what to answer on the spot.
| Client request | Type | Covered by the fee? | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Change the word in the headline" | Edit | Yes, within the rounds | Log the round on the piece |
| "Change the tone of the whole text" | Edit or redo, depending on the brief | Yes, if the brief set the tone | Check the approved brief |
| "We changed the campaign, redo the art" | Redo | No | State the price before redoing |
| "Make 2 more posts for Saturday" | New job | No, if the month's volume is used up | Log it, state the price and get acceptance |
| "Third round on the same piece" | Edit beyond the limit | No | Bill under the contract rule |
The hardest row is the second. That is why the brief must be approved in writing before production. It is the yardstick that separates an edit from a redo.
How do you write the scope into the contract so you can bill the extra?
The contract needs to answer five questions. What is included each month? How many rounds are covered? How much does an extra cost? How long does the client have to approve? How is an extra accepted?
This is an example of a scope clause, to adapt with your lawyer:
- The monthly fee covers 12 feed posts, with plan, copy and art.
- Each piece includes two edit rounds. The third round costs R$ 75.
- A feed post beyond the volume costs R$ 150. A redo due to a brief change costs the price of a new piece.
- Volume not used in the month does not roll over to the next month.
- An out-of-scope request only goes into production after the price is accepted in writing, by message or through the approval link.
Item 5 carries the most weight. Without it, the extra starts before the price, and the conversation about the amount is left for the invoice. By invoice time, the client has forgotten they asked.
Item 4 prevents a volume debt. If volume rolls over, the client saves up posts for the end of the year, and the agency doesn't have the people to deliver it all at once.
Also write down what is not included: paid traffic, photography, video, print. Each item off the list prevents an argument later.
How do you log the extra request on the day it arrives?
The extra request needs to become a record that same day, with four pieces of data: what was requested, by whom, when and through which channel. Then comes the decision.
The request arrives through the most informal channel possible: a WhatsApp voice note, a comment in a meeting, a line in an email. The account team needs a short step-by-step:
- Log the request under the client, with the date and the channel.
- Check the month's balance. How many pieces of the volume have been used?
- State the price under the contract rule. "These 2 posts fall outside October's volume. Under the contract rule, they come to R$ 300. Shall I go ahead?"
- Wait for written acceptance. A "go ahead" in the message already works as a record.
- Decide and mark it: accepted and billed, accepted as a courtesy, or declined.
Courtesies get logged too. They show up on the invoice at zero. That way the client sees what they got extra, and the agency knows how much it gives away per client.
The decision to grant a courtesy belongs to management, not to the account team. The account team only logs and informs. That takes the weight of the conversation off their shoulders.
How do you get the extra onto the invoice without friction?
The monthly invoice lists the fee and each accepted extra, with the request date and the name of whoever approved it. With that list, the client recognizes what they asked for.
A well-built invoice has three blocks:
- Contract fee, with the volume delivered in the month ("12 of 12 posts").
- Accepted extras, one per line, with date, piece and amount.
- Courtesies, at zero, so the client sees what they received.
The service invoice is issued for the total amount. The detail of the extras can go in an attachment or in the body of the billing.
Close the extras on the same day of the month, always. If closing is on the 25th, a request on the 26th goes on the next invoice. A fixed rule prevents an invoice that changes after it is sent.
What should you do when the client asks for extras every month?
An extra that repeats for three months is scope the contract didn't foresee. The answer is an amendment, not a fight over every request.
Bring the list of extras from the last three months to the monthly meeting. With dates and amounts on the table, the conversation moves from "you charge for everything" to "the contract has become too small."
The same goes for redos. If one client asks for far more rounds than the others, the problem usually lies in the brief. See how to set up the post approval workflow to reduce pieces coming back.
Two solutions usually work:
- Volume amendment: the client goes from 12 to 16 posts, and the fee rises in the same proportion.
- Brief review: the agency and the client review tone, audience and messages before the next month.
How CERNE solves it
CERNE takes the extra request from the log to the invoice, with a person's decision in between.
- Clients and contracts. Each client has the fee, the monthly volume and what has been used, on a single screen.
- Out-of-scope changes with a decision. The account team logs the request. CERNE checks the month's volume and proposes the price under the contract rule. The person decides: accept, bill or decline.
- Edit rounds on the piece. Each client edit request stays on the piece, with type and date, and adds up per client.
- Invoice with the extras. The fee and the accepted extras become an invoice, with Pix or boleto and the NFS-e issued.
- Direct questions. In the AI assistant, management asks "how much did Orla request in extras in October?". The answer comes with the agency's data.
The agency package comes from Pepê, the system our team uses to plan, produce and approve clients' content. See the extra request workflow on the agencies page and the cards for each role.
Start with an assessment
The table in this article uses example numbers. Your agency's table uses your contracts and the month's requests. Start with an assessment of your operation: our team measures how much goes out of scope per client and helps write the rule. Book the assessment.
Frequently asked questions
- How do you bill a client for out-of-scope changes?
- Write into the contract the monthly volume, the edit rounds included and the price of extras. When a request arrives, log it, state the price and get written acceptance before producing. The accepted extra goes on that month's invoice, with the date and the name of whoever approved it.
- How many agencies manage to bill for out-of-scope work?
- According to Operand's Censo Agências 2024, with 617 respondents, over 30% of agencies can't bill out-of-scope changes. Another 34.36% cap free changes and bill the excess.
- What is the difference between an edit, a redo and a new job?
- An edit corrects the piece within the contract's rounds. A redo remakes the piece because the brief changed after sign-off. A new job is a piece or deliverable that wasn't in the volume. Only an edit within the limit is covered by the fee.
- How many edit rounds should an agency include in the fee?
- There is no industry rule. Many agencies set two rounds per piece and charge from the third on. The right number depends on your history: count the rounds per client for three months before setting it.
- What should you do when the client asks for extras every month?
- Show the client the list of extras from recent months, with dates and amounts. If the volume repeats, propose an amendment that increases the scope and the fee. A recurring extra is a sign the contract has become too small.
Sources
- Mundo do Marketing, Operand's Censo Agências 2024, April 29, 2025
- Nosso Meio, 10th edition of the Censo Agências Operand