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Draft a statement of work — or know exactly what one commits you to deliver.

Need an SOW for a client project? Describe the work in plain English and Initialed drafts one. Been sent a client’s statement of work? Upload it and Initialed flags what can cost you — open-ended scope, vague acceptance, payment held until the very end — in plain English, in about two minutes. Ask it anything along the way.

Top risks free No credit card PDF or Word · ~2 min
statement-of-work-phase-1.pdf
Reviewed
HighAcceptance is at the client’s sole discretion — no criteria, no deadline
Suggested redline
Deliverables shall be deemed accepted upon Client’s approval in its sole discretion Deliverables are deemed accepted unless Client rejects them in writing, with specific reasons tied to the agreed criteria, within ten (10) business days
HighFixed fee, but deliverables are “including but not limited to” — scope is open-ended
MediumEntire fee is payable only on final acceptance — no milestones or deposit
MediumSOW says its terms override the master agreement in any conflict
LowNo timeline relief when the client is late with feedback, access, or content

Illustrative results with suggested redlines — your review reflects your actual contract.

6 clauses

where an SOW most often turns into unpaid work

~2 min

to see what the SOW commits you to

Plain English

understand the SOW without the legalese

Draft, review, or ask questions — on any contract

Initialed is one place for the whole contract: write a new one from a plain-English description, pressure-test one you’ve been sent, and ask it anything in between.

Draft it

Describe what you need in plain English and Initialed writes a first draft — with placeholders where your details go, and the clauses your jurisdiction expects.

Review it

Upload one you’ve been sent and get risk-scored findings with suggested redlines you can accept in a click — in about two minutes.

Ask about it

Chat with the contract in plain English — “what am I agreeing to?”, “what’s missing?”, “is this clause normal?” — and get grounded answers.

What Initialed checks in your SOW

A statement of work is where the real deal lives — what you deliver, by when, how it’s judged, and when you get paid. These are the clauses that decide whether the project stays profitable, in plain English, with what to ask for instead.

Scope & deliverables

We flag open-ended language that lets the project grow without the fee growing with it, and deliverables described too loosely to tell when you’re done.

We flag: “including but not limited to” · “and related tasks as needed” · no out-of-scope list

Acceptance criteria

We flag acceptance left to the client’s “sole satisfaction,” with no objective criteria, no review window, and no point at which work is deemed accepted.

We flag: “in Client’s sole discretion” · no rejection deadline · unlimited rework until approved

Timeline & client dependencies

We flag hard deadlines that don’t move when the client is late with feedback, access, or materials — and penalties for delays you didn’t cause.

We flag: fixed delivery dates · no client-delay clause · late-delivery credits or penalties

Fees, milestones & expenses

We flag payment held until final acceptance, missing deposits, long payment windows, and expenses you’re expected to absorb without reimbursement.

We flag: paid on completion only · no deposit · net-60/90 · expenses not reimbursable

Change orders

We flag SOWs with no written change process — the gap that turns “one small addition” into weeks of free work.

We flag: no change-order clause · changes “at no additional cost” · verbal requests binding

Fit with the master agreement

We flag SOW terms that quietly override the MSA you already negotiated — liability, IP ownership, or payment — and conflicts with no rule for which document wins.

We flag: “this SOW shall prevail” · new liability or IP terms · no order-of-precedence clause

Walk into any negotiation — or lawyer call — prepared.

Every flag comes with what to ask for instead — so your redlines are specific, not a hunch.

Already signed?

You signed the SOW. Now the project’s drifting.

The client keeps adding requests, won’t sign off on the deliverable, or is holding the final payment until “everything’s right.” Upload the signed SOW and Initialed explains — in plain English — exactly what you committed to deliver, what the client committed to pay, and whether this is worth taking to a lawyer.

We’re not a law firm and we don’t give legal advice. We’re the fast first step that tells you where you stand — so if you do call a lawyer, you arrive knowing exactly what to ask.

When it’s worth calling a lawyer

  • The client is withholding a large or final payment over “acceptance”
  • The SOW changes liability or IP terms from the master agreement
  • It’s a high-value or long-running engagement you can’t afford to lose
  • You received a demand letter, a refund demand, or a threat of a lawsuit

Initialed helps you recognize these fast and organize the facts — then you decide whether to bring in counsel.

How it works

STEP 1

Upload your contract

Drop in the PDF or Word file — one you’re about to sign, or one you already did. Tell us which side you’re on.

STEP 2

We review it, side-aware

Initialed reads the whole document and checks it against a protection checklist — the same rigorous pass every time.

STEP 3

Get ranked red flags

See the clauses working against you, ranked by impact — with what to ask for, or what to raise with a lawyer.

Frequently asked

What’s the difference between an SOW and an MSA?

The master services agreement usually sets the overall legal terms of the relationship — liability, IP, confidentiality, payment basics. Each statement of work sets the specifics of one project — scope, deliverables, timeline, acceptance, and fees. Check which document wins if they conflict; Initialed flags SOW terms that override the master agreement.

What should a statement of work include?

A clear list of deliverables and what’s out of scope, objective acceptance criteria with a review window, a timeline that accounts for client dependencies, the fee and when each part is paid, and a written change-order process. If any of those are missing or vague, that’s usually where disputes start.

We already signed the SOW — can this still help?

Yes. Upload the signed SOW and Initialed explains, in plain English, exactly what you committed to deliver and what the client committed to pay — so you know where you stand on scope, acceptance, and payment, and whether it’s worth taking to a lawyer.

Before you sign — or after you already did.

Upload your statement of work and see what it commits you to — scope, acceptance, timeline, payment, change orders — in about two minutes. Your first credit is free.

Read before you sign

  • Statement of Work (SOW) review

    Deliverables, acceptance, change orders, milestone payments, and IP — the SOW terms that decide whether a project pays and ends cleanly.

  • Scope of work & scope creep

    How "done" is defined, revision limits, and change orders — the clause that separates a profitable project from unpaid, endless rework.