Create my accountPhase 3 · Execution
The job moves on, and the contract moves with it.Every "while we're at it" alters it.
An unforeseen thing behind the wall, an option the client adds, a fix. Each time, what you agreed changes. If the change isn't recorded the moment it arises, it vanishes, from your margin as from your proof.
What you live
Extra work done in the flow.
The client asks for an addition, you do it so as not to halt the job. We'll see about the price "at the end". At the end, the addition has left everyone's memory and is on no line.
And when it shows up on the invoice, the client contests having asked for it. With no dated record, you don't invoice it, or you fall out. The work is done, never paid.
Extra work is a change to the contract.
The unforeseen and the extra work aren't "outside the contract": they are changes to the contract. On a fixed-price contract, they're only owed to you if they were authorised in writing, beforehand.
Treating them as a vague "extra" to settle at the end means losing both the margin and the proof. Treating them as an amendment, as it goes, means holding the contract while it lives.
Every change becomes an amendment, on the same contract.
An additional quote isn't a separate document: it's an amendment on the same contract, named, priced, accepted by the client, tied to the job's file, at its date. What you add stays in the thread.
And while the job runs, you see what it truly earns you: hours, materials, margin, as it goes. You steer while you can still act, not at the accounts.
What we get asked
During the job, in plain terms.
How do I invoice extra work not planned in the quote?
By recording it the moment it arises: an amendment that names and prices the addition, accepted by the client, tied to the same contract as the quote. Once accepted, it invoices without argument. The classic mistake is to do the work first and talk about it after: by then, the writing is already harder to get.
Difference between an amendment and extra-value work?
"Extra work" or "added value" refers to everything that's added to the job. The amendment is the written form that makes it owed and payable: it fixes the addition, its price and its date, with the client's agreement. In other words, added value not formalised by an amendment is work you risk never getting paid for.
Should an amendment be signed during the job?
Yes, as soon as a change goes beyond the scope of the accepted quote. It doesn't have to be heavy: what matters is that it's made while the request is fresh and the agreement easy, rather than reconstructed at the end. That's what protects your payment and avoids the dispute at final billing.
How do I avoid losing margin during the job?
By tying to each job, as it goes, what it costs: the hours at real cost, the materials, the purchases, and by recording the extra work. The margin updates on its own and compares to the quote. You see the gap during the job, not at the accounting result.
Never let another "extra" be lost.
Create your PRO account and record every change on the same contract, as it goes.
€29.99/month, no commitment.