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Consulting statement of work

Consulting engagements are sold on outcomes and delivered as work. This statement of work names the deliverables you will actually hand over, the access you need to produce them, and — carefully — the difference between the advice and the result.

Free to copy and use. Nothing to download, no email required. Replace anything in [SQUARE BRACKETS] with your own details.

Deliverables are artefacts, not adjectives

“Strategic guidance” cannot be delivered, reviewed, or invoiced. A [20]-page assessment, a prioritised roadmap with owners and dates, and a [90]-minute readout with the leadership team can all be. List the artefacts. If the value of the engagement is really the thinking rather than the documents, say so and price it as a retainer with a meeting cadence instead — but then the cadence is the deliverable and it belongs in the scope.

Your access requirements are the real risk

Consulting projects fail when the interviews do not happen, the data extract never arrives, or the sponsor goes quiet after week two. Write those dependencies down with names and dates, and state the consequence: the timeline moves, and findings are limited to the evidence actually made available. Do it as planning, not as a warning.

Advise on outcomes, warrant only the work

You can commit to method, effort, deliverables, and dates. You cannot commit to the client's revenue, because their execution and market are outside your control. Say this plainly in the scope — a clear no-guarantee clause reads as senior rather than evasive, and it stops a good engagement being judged against a number nobody agreed to.

The scope of work template

Copy the whole thing, or select the parts you need. The numbers and dates are examples — change them to yours before sending anything.

Consulting statement of work

STATEMENT OF WORK

Engagement: [Engagement name]
Client: [Client legal entity name]
Consultant: [Your name or firm name]
SOW number: [SOW-001]
Prepared: [2026-02-02]  ·  Version: [1.0]
Governing agreement: [Consulting Agreement dated [date]] — this SOW is
issued under it and takes its terms.
Valid for acceptance until: [2026-02-16]

1. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
[Client] is [context in two sentences — e.g. "a 60-person B2B software
business whose renewal rate fell from 91% to 78% over four quarters"].
[Client] wants to understand why, and to have a prioritised plan for
fixing it.

This engagement is diagnostic and advisory. [Consultant] will produce
the findings and the plan; execution sits with [Client] unless a
separate SOW is agreed.

2. WORKSTREAMS AND ACTIVITIES
2.1 Discovery
    · Review of [churn data, support tickets, and CRM notes for the
      last 8 quarters].
    · [12] interviews, [45] minutes each: [6] internal
      ([CS, sales, product, support]) and [6] with [Client] customers
      including [3] recent churns.
    · [1] observation session with the [customer success] team.

2.2 Analysis
    · Cohort analysis of retention by [segment, plan, and onboarding
      path].
    · Mapping of the customer journey against the points where churn
      concentrates.
    · Benchmarking against [named public sources — no proprietary data
      from other clients will be used].

2.3 Recommendations
    · Prioritised interventions, each with expected effort, expected
      effect, an owner, and a sequence.
    · A [90]-day plan and a [12]-month direction.

2.4 Readout and handover
    · [1] working session with the project team, [120] minutes.
    · [1] readout to the leadership team, [90] minutes.

3. DELIVERABLES
3.1 Interview synthesis — [8–12] pages, anonymised, delivered
    [2026-03-06].
3.2 Retention assessment — [20–25] pages with the data behind each
    finding, delivered [2026-03-20].
3.3 Prioritised roadmap — a one-page sequence plus a supporting
    workbook, delivered [2026-03-27].
3.4 Readout deck and recording, delivered [2026-04-03].
3.5 [One] follow-up call [30] days after the readout, included.

4. NOT INCLUDED IN THIS SCOPE
4.1 Implementation of any recommendation, including hiring, tooling,
    process rollout, and change management.
4.2 Interim or fractional operating roles.
4.3 Software selection, procurement, vendor negotiation, and
    contracting.
4.4 Legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory advice. [Consultant] is not
    a licensed adviser in those areas and [Client] should take its own.
4.5 Access to, or reuse of, any other client's confidential data.
4.6 Deliverables in a format other than [PDF and slides] — for example
    a live dashboard or a model maintained after handover.
4.7 Additional interviews, workstreams, or sessions beyond section 2.
    These are quoted by change order at the day rate in 7.3.

5. CLIENT RESPONSIBILITIES
5.1 Executive sponsor: [name], [title]. Available for [1] hour a
    fortnight and able to unblock access.
5.2 Project contact: [name], [title], scheduling interviews and
    supplying data.
5.3 Data access by [2026-02-13]: [named exports, CRM read access,
    support tooling read access].
5.4 Interviewees confirmed by [2026-02-20]. Where a customer interview
    cannot be arranged, [Consultant] will substitute an internal
    proxy and will label the finding accordingly.
5.5 Reviews returned within [5] business days.
5.6 If a dependency in 5.1–5.5 is late, the dates in section 3 move by
    at least the length of the delay. Findings are limited to the
    evidence actually made available, and the assessment will say so
    where it matters.

6. WORKING ARRANGEMENTS
6.1 Cadence: a [30]-minute check-in every [Tuesday] with the project
    contact, and a written progress note every [Friday].
6.2 Location: remote, with [2] days on site at [location], travel
    billed at cost.
6.3 [Consultant] works as an independent contractor, sets their own
    hours and methods, and may work for other clients during the term,
    subject to the confidentiality terms in the governing agreement.

7. FEES
7.1 Fixed fee: $[42,000.00] for the deliverables in section 3.
7.2 Schedule:
    · $[14,000.00] on signature.
    · $[14,000.00] on delivery of 3.2.
    · $[14,000.00] on delivery of 3.4.
7.3 Day rate for approved additional work: $[1,800.00] per day,
    minimum [half] day.
7.4 Expenses over $[150.00] are approved in advance and billed at cost
    with receipts.
7.5 Net [30] from invoice date. Overdue amounts accrue interest at
    [1.5]% per month or the legal maximum in [jurisdiction] if lower.

8. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS
[Consultant] commits to the method, the effort, and the deliverables
described above, performed with the skill and care expected of a
competent professional in this field.

[Consultant] does not guarantee any business outcome — including
retention, revenue, cost, valuation, or hiring results — because those
depend on [Client]'s execution, its people, and market conditions that
neither party controls. Recommendations are advice, and [Client] remains
responsible for its own decisions.

9. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Deliverables in section 3 become [Client]'s property on payment in full.
[Consultant]'s pre-existing frameworks, models, templates, and methods
remain [Consultant]'s property; [Client] receives a perpetual,
worldwide, royalty-free licence to use them internally as embedded in
the deliverables. Nothing confidential to [Client] will be reused
elsewhere.

10. TERMINATION
Either party may end this SOW on [15] days written notice. On
termination, [Client] pays for all work performed and all committed
non-cancellable costs to that date, and [Consultant] hands over
work in progress in its current state.

11. ACCEPTANCE

[Client]                          [Consultant]
Name: ______________________      Name: ______________________
Title: _____________________      Title: _____________________
Signature: _________________      Signature: _________________
Date: ______________________      Date: ______________________

This is a practical starting point rather than legal advice. Terms like late fees and payment periods are regulated differently depending on where you and your client are, so check anything you plan to enforce.

Turn it into a scope your client approves in PaloWorks

Enter the deliverables, revision rounds, timeline, and price on the project's scope. Your client approves it on a link, every round of feedback is logged against the rounds you agreed, and work past them becomes a change order. It does not import this page's text: copy the parts you want into the scope.

Free for one client and three active projects. Pro is $19/mo for unlimited clients and projects.

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