Statement of work example with scope, acceptance and fees

A statement of work, usually shortened to SOW, is the document both sides rely on once the selling is over. Where a proposal persuades, a SOW defines. It is often attached to a master services agreement, which holds the general legal terms, while the SOW holds the project specifics.

• A proposal explains why the client should choose you and what you recommend
• A master services agreement covers liability, confidentiality, payment terms and other general conditions
• A statement of work describes one specific engagement in enough detail that both sides know when it is done

A vague SOW is the most common source of scope creep, unpaid work and strained client relationships. A precise one protects both parties, because it removes guessing.

Strong SOWs share a predictable structure. Reviewers on the client side, often in finance, legal or procurement, look for these sections and slow down when one is missing.

• Purpose and background
• Scope of work and out of scope items
• Deliverables with acceptance criteria
• Schedule and milestones
• Roles and responsibilities on both sides
• Fees, invoicing and payment schedule
• Assumptions and dependencies
• Change control process
• Signatures

You can start from our statement of work template, which contains each of these sections in this order.

In this example, Clearfield IT Partners has won a request for proposal from Northfield Dental Group, which operates six clinics and a billing office. After the RFP stage, described in our RFP examples, the two sides sign a SOW for the onboarding project. Here is how it opens.

Purpose: This statement of work describes the onboarding of Northfield Dental Group to Clearfield IT Partners managed IT services. It is governed by the master services agreement signed by both parties on November 24, 2026.

Background: Northfield currently relies on a part time technician and several vendors. The goal of onboarding is to bring every workstation, server and network device at the six clinics and the billing office under central monitoring, backup and support before the monthly managed service begins.

Scope of work:

• Inventory of all workstations, servers, printers and network equipment at seven locations
• Installation of monitoring and patch management agents on every supported device
• Configuration of encrypted backups for servers and the imaging archive, with a documented restore test
• Setup of the help desk portal and phone line for Northfield staff
• One onboarding session per clinic for front desk and clinical staff

Out of scope: replacement of hardware, migration of the practice management system, network cabling and support for personal devices. Any of these can be added through the change control process below.

Each deliverable needs a test the client can apply. Acceptance criteria turn "done" from an opinion into a fact and give both sides a clear moment to close each item.

Acceptance process: Clearfield notifies Northfield in writing when a deliverable is ready. Northfield has five business days to accept it or describe in writing which criterion is not met. A deliverable with no written response after five business days is considered accepted.

A schedule is only realistic if the client knows what it must provide and when. Listing client responsibilities next to dates is the simplest way to keep a project on time.

Clearfield responsibilities: a named project lead, all configuration work, weekly status updates by email and a final onboarding report.

Northfield responsibilities: administrator access to existing systems by the end of week one, a contact at each clinic for site visits, approval of maintenance windows outside clinic hours and timely review of deliverables.

The commercial section should leave no room for interpretation. State the fee, when it is invoiced and what happens when the scope changes.

Assumptions: the device count is within ten percent of the figure shared during the RFP, all clinics have working internet connections and existing software licenses are valid and transferable.

Change control: either party may request a change in writing. Clearfield responds within three business days with the impact on scope, schedule and fees. No change is performed or billed until Northfield approves it in writing. Approved changes are recorded as numbered amendments to this SOW.

Signatures: the SOW is signed electronically by the Northfield operations director and the Clearfield account director, and becomes effective on the date of the last signature.

Most SOW problems come from words that sound clear in the meeting and mean different things later. Watch for these.

• Deliverables described as activities, such as "assist with setup", with no finished result
• No acceptance criteria, so a project never formally ends
• An out of scope list that is missing or too short
• Client responsibilities left out, so delays on the client side become your problem
• A fixed fee with no assumptions behind it
• Changes agreed by phone and never written down

If you deliver technical services, our page for IT statement of work teams shows how IT providers handle SOWs and proposals in one workflow.

A SOW usually passes through more hands than the proposal did. Knowing what each reviewer looks for helps you write it once instead of revising it three times.

• The project sponsor checks that the scope matches what was agreed in the sales conversation
• Finance checks the fee, the invoicing schedule and anything that could raise the total
• Legal or procurement checks that the SOW points to the right master agreement and does not contradict it
• The people who will do the work on the client side check their own responsibilities and dates

Write each section so the relevant reviewer can approve it without calling you.