"Could you just quickly look at this?"
A monthly fixed-fee client emails: could you just look at this mortgage reference letter, and while you are at it, the bank wants a cash flow forecast. The staff member, keen to help, does it. It takes three hours. Nobody records it as extra work, because nobody is sure whether it is included. Next month it happens again.
By the end of the year, the client's fixed fee covers far more work than was agreed, and the practice only finds out when someone compares recorded time with the fee.
Staff cannot see the scope
The engagement letter sets out what the fee covers, but staff rarely read it when a request comes in. It is a PDF in a folder, and working out whether a request is included means opening it and interpreting the wording. So staff default to doing the work, because saying no to a client feels worse than giving time away.
Even when a staff member suspects the work is extra, there is no simple way to flag it. Raising it with the manager means an email and a conversation, and it often feels easier just to do it.
The clients most likely to ask for extras are often the ones the practice likes most: responsive, friendly, growing. That makes staff even less keen to raise the question of cost.
What scope creep costs
| Issue | Effect |
|---|---|
| Scope not visible to staff | Extra work done without question |
| No way to flag requests | Extra work never priced |
| Fixed fees eroded | Some clients cost more than they pay |
| Found at year end | Too late to raise it naturally with the client |
| Uneven treatment | Some staff charge, others do not |
It also creates unfairness between clients. Those who ask for little subsidise those who ask for a lot, and the practice's pricing stops reflecting the work actually being done.
How we make scope visible and extra work visible too
- Each client's agreed services and any limits, such as number of payroll runs or included meetings, are recorded as structured data from the engagement, rather than living only in the PDF.
- The scope is shown on the client record and next to each job, in plain language staff can check in seconds.
- When a request comes in, staff log it with one click from the client record or by forwarding the email. The system marks it as in scope, out of scope or unclear, based on the recorded services.
- Out-of-scope and unclear requests go to the client manager to price, include or waive, and the decision is recorded.
- If priced, a short quote or additional fee note goes to the client for approval before the work starts, using wording your practice approves.
- A report shows each client's extra requests, what was charged and what was waived, which informs the next fee review.
Your practice decides what is in scope and what to charge. The system makes those decisions visible at the point where the work is requested.
Extra work gets noticed
Staff know what a client's fee covers without opening a PDF. Extra requests are logged instead of quietly absorbed. Managers decide consciously whether to charge. Clients get used to being told when something is extra, which usually goes better than a surprise at the fee review. And the practice can see which fixed fees are no longer working.
Is this happening at your practice?
- Fixed-fee clients regularly ask for extra help
- Staff rarely check the engagement letter
- Extra work is not logged anywhere
- Recorded time on some clients far exceeds the fee
- Some staff charge for extras and others do not