Business & Client Ops

The territory

30 core terms mapped for this field, ranked by how often builders reach for them. Each one is a future entry. Want to bust one? One entry, one file, one pull request.

• statement of work (SOW)contract exhibit defining deliverables, timeline, and acceptance for one project"the doc that says exactly what I'm building" · "the deliverables list they sign"
• scope creepunbilled work added incrementally after scope was agreed"they keep asking for one more thing" · "the project that never ends"
• change orderformal amendment adding scope, cost, and time to a signed contract"the extra-work form" · "a paid yes to a new request"
• master service agreement (MSA)umbrella contract of standing terms; projects attach as SOWs"sign once, do many projects" · "the big legal doc up front"
• retainerrecurring fee reserving capacity or a fixed monthly scope"monthly fee to keep me around" · "a subscription for my time"
• fixed-price vs time-and-materialsflat project price versus billing actual hours and costs"flat fee or hourly" · "one price versus the meter running"
• net termsdays a client has to pay after invoice date (Net 30)"how long before they have to pay" · "the 30 days thing on invoices"
• upfront depositportion of fee collected before work begins"money before I start" · "50% to book the slot" · "the upfront"
• milestone billinginvoicing tied to completed project stages rather than time"get paid in chunks as I finish parts"
• kill feepayment owed if client cancels mid-project"what I get if they bail" · "cancellation payment"
• acceptance criteriawritten conditions that mark a deliverable as done and payable"how we agree it's finished" · "the definition of done"
• scope of work exclusionsexplicit list of what the fee does not include"the list of what I'm not doing" · "what's not included"
• discoverypaid initial phase to define problem, scope, and estimate"the figure-out-what-they-need phase" · "paid research before the real project"
• value-based pricingprice set by client's outcome value, not hours spent"charge for the result not the time"
• effective hourly ratetotal fee divided by actual hours; true profitability measure"what I really made per hour"
• utilization rateshare of available hours that are billable"how much of my week is paid work"
• proposalpersuasive pre-contract document pitching approach, scope, and price"the pitch doc with pricing"
• client onboardingstructured intake sequence: contract, payment, access, kickoff"the getting-started checklist for new clients"
• kickoff callfirst working session aligning goals, roles, and schedule"the meeting where we start for real"
• revision roundscontractually capped number of feedback-and-fix cycles"how many times they can ask for changes"
• stop-work clauseright to pause delivery when payment or inputs stall"pause work until they pay" · "the right to down tools"
• dunningautomated escalating reminders chasing overdue or failed payments"the nagging emails about unpaid invoices"
• project profit marginrevenue minus true delivered cost, as a percentage"what I actually keep from this job" · "how much of the fee is profit"
• client intake formqualifying questionnaire filtering and briefing prospects before a call"the form that screens out bad leads"
• rush feepremium surcharge for compressed timelines or queue-jumping"extra charge for a tight deadline"
• client offboardingfinal transfer of assets, credentials, docs, and ownership"handoff" · "giving them everything at the end"
• project briefshort document capturing goals, audience, constraints, success measures"the one-pager describing the job"
• retainer scope guardrailsexplicit inclusions and exclusions defining a monthly retainer"what the monthly fee does and doesn't cover"
• capacity planningforecasting committed work against available hours before saying yes"can I actually take this on"
• late fee / interest clausecontractual penalty accruing on overdue invoices"charging them for paying late"

Deeper in the field

• invoice itemized payment request stating amount, due date, and payment instructions
• payment schedule contracted dates or milestones when specific amounts become payable
• service agreement standalone contract governing one engagement without an umbrella MSA
• quote fixed offer to perform defined work at a stated price
• estimate nonbinding forecast of project cost, effort, or duration
• client sign-off recorded approval confirming a deliverable or milestone is accepted
• termination clause contract terms governing how either party may end the engagement
• purchase order (PO) client authorization often required before invoicing can begin
• expense reimbursement terms for passing approved project expenses through to the client
• collections escalation process for recovering invoices still unpaid after reminders
• minimum engagement smallest fee or commitment accepted for taking on client work
• accounts receivable (AR) aging report bucketing unpaid invoices by how overdue they are
• runway months of operation remaining at current cash burn
• good-better-best pricing packaged options anchoring the client toward a middle choice
• CRM pipeline staged view of deals moving from lead to signed
• client-supplied dependency work blocked pending client assets, access, or approvals
• escalation path named contacts and steps for unblocking stalled decisions
• single point of contact (SPOC) one client-side decision-maker who consolidates feedback
• weekly status update recurring written progress, blockers, and next-steps report
• project burn rate pace of consuming a budgeted hour or fee pool
• anchoring (pricing) presenting a high reference price to reshape perceived value
• subcontracting / white-label delivery delivering under another agency's brand or hiring one out
• referral fee commission paid for a lead that converts to a client
• contingency buffer extra time or budget reserved for unknowns
• quarterly business review (QBR) recurring meeting reviewing results and renewing scope