It starts with a quick favor such as a small adjustment to a client’s payroll process. Then another tweak here, an additional report there. Before you know it, your team is knee-deep in extra work that wasn’t part of the original agreement. The worst part? The client never expected to pay more for all this extra work.
If you’re reading this, then you’re reading the second article in a three-part series designed to help you to reclaim your time, empower your team, and focus on what really matters in your accounting and bookkeeping firm. Read the first article on how to free up capacity by streamlining your workflow and my third article, “The firm capacity game changer: Grading your clients.”
Scope creep is the silent killer of profitability in accounting and bookkeeping firms. Left unchecked, it erodes your capacity, demoralizes your team, and leaves you scrambling to meet deadlines. It also sets a dangerous precedent: When clients see you’re willing to over-deliver for free, they will tend to keep pushing the boundaries.
Scope creep doesn’t have to derail your firm. By empowering your team to spot it early, communicate it confidently, and address it proactively, you can safeguard your capacity, protect your revenue, and even turn extra work into a value-added service.
The hidden costs of scope creep
Scope creep doesn’t just cost time; it costs trust, team morale, and profitability.
The most obvious issue is that it causes more work for the team. When scope creep becomes the norm, staff may feel undervalued, overworked, and unseen, which can lead to dissatisfaction and turnover.
It also leads to revenue loss for the firm. Every unbilled task chips away at your profitability. Over time, the cumulative impact can be staggering. To give you a realistic scenario, imagine that each team member spends just two hours a week on out-of-scope work that doesn’t get billed. That adds up to more than 100 hours a year of lost revenue per employee!
Unchecked, it can set the wrong expectations with clients. While clients may appreciate the extra effort initially, they may come to expect “freebies” as standard, making it harder to enforce boundaries later.
Scope creep isn’t just a productivity issue—it’s a cultural one. It signals that your time and expertise aren’t valued, and that’s a dangerous precedent to set.
The Solution: Spot, communicate, and charge
Addressing scope creep starts with awareness and ends with action. Here’s how you can empower your team to handle it effectively with no adverse effect on the client relationship.
Step 1: Teach your team to spot scope creep
Scope creep often flies under the radar because it’s subtle. Train your team to recognize it by asking the following questions when a new request is received from a client:
- “Does this request fall within the agreed-upon deliverables?”
- “Will fulfilling this request take significant additional time or resources?”
- “Have we encountered similar requests from this client before now?”
Encourage team members to document out-of-scope requests as they arise. This creates a record for future discussions with the client.
ProTip: Create a “Scope Creep Checklist” your team can refer to when evaluating requests. To make this even more powerful, make a list of what services are within scope for each client. Perhaps post this in a public place. One firm’s team we work with takes the default view that every request is outside of scope—unless proven otherwise.
Step 2: Empower confident communication
Your team must feel comfortable addressing scope creep with clients.This starts with giving them the right tools and language. A best practice is to create a few standard phrases that the staff can use when they are in conversation with a client. Role play them in team meetings.
Here are several example responses they can give the client that would not damage the relationship, and would allow for time to evaluate and price the additional request:
- “This is a great idea! Let me check how it aligns with our current agreement and get back to you.”
- “We’d love to help with this additional request. Here’s what that would involve and the associated cost.”
ProTip: Position scope discussions as a way to protect the client’s interests. Frame it as ensuring they receive focused, high-quality service.
Step 3: Create a billing policy for out-of-scope work
To stop scope creep from eating into your revenue, establish clear guidelines for billing additional work. This includes setting clear expectations upfront and implementing a standard process for what happens when a request is identified as out of scope.
To help clients understand what they have contracted you to do for them, include a “scope of work” clause in your engagement letters that defines what’s included and what isn’t included, and then outline how additional work will be billed.
When a request is identified as out of scope, follow these steps:
- Inform the client.
- Provide an estimate of the time and cost, and seek their approval and payment before proceeding.
- If this is an ongoing service for the client and not a one-off request, add it to the client’s recurring invoice and service list, and get the client to sign an updated engagement letter.
To aid in tracking, implement time-tracking software to capture the hours spent on out-of-scope tasks. Use these records to create detailed invoices that justify additional charges.
Case study: One accountant instituted an “Extra Work Order” process where every team member had a pad of Extra Work Orders on their desk, even though the firm is a paperless office. As a result, in just a few months the firm identified at least $6,000 of additional revenue per month of work that was being done for free, but is now being charged to the clients. Over the course of a year, $6,000/month adds $72,000 to the firm’s bottom line.
Building a culture that protects capacity
To ensure that addressing scope creep isn’t just about policies, you’ll want to create a firm-wide culture that respects boundaries.
Start by involving your team. Regularly discuss scope creep in team meetings. Celebrate examples of team members successfully managing scope boundaries, then be sure to reward proactive behavior by team members. This involves recognizing and rewarding team members who effectively spot and manage out-of-scope work. Because this translates into extra revenue for the firm, you might even consider implementing a bonus system.
Done right, you’ll actually be able to shift the narrative from one that focuses on limitations to one that treats scope discussions as a way to provide additional value to the client—while also capturing fair revenue for the firm: “This additional work is outside our initial scope, but it’s a valuable service that can help you achieve X.”
A team that feels empowered to address scope creep is a team that protects your firm’s capacity, profitability, and reputation.
The payoff of stopping scope creep
When scope creep is under control, the benefits ripple across your firm. You’ll protect your team’s capacity because they will be able to focus on delivering core services without distractions and unplanned overtime. You’ll capture additional revenue because the additional work becomes a source of profit—not a drain on resources. Done right, you’ll strengthen client relationships because setting boundaries builds mutual respect and trust.
When you control scope creep, you’re not just protecting your firm’s bottom line; you’re creating a sustainable foundation for growth. Scope creep may start small, but its impact can be enormous. By empowering your team to spot it, communicate it confidently, and turn it into billable work, you can protect your capacity and your profitability.
Imagine a firm where every client interaction is intentional, every extra request adds value, and your team feels confident managing boundaries. That’s the power of stopping scope creep before it stops you.
What’s one step you can take today to address scope creep in your firm? Start small, and watch the transformation unfold.
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