Glossary
Out-of-scope request
Any client ask that falls outside the deliverables, limits, or timeline defined in the current contract or statement of work — the trigger event behind most scope creep.
How it differs from scope creep
An out-of-scope request is the single event — one email, one message. Scope creep is what happens when several out-of-scope requests get fulfilled without being flagged or repriced. Not every out-of-scope request becomes scope creep: if it's caught and turned into a change order, it becomes billable work instead.
How to identify one
- Compare the request against the deliverables list in the SOW.
- Check whether it falls within the agreed revision or content limits.
- Confirm it's not explicitly listed as an exclusion in the contract.
Doing this manually for every incoming email doesn't scale past a handful of clients — which is why MarginFlow checks every request automatically against the parsed contract as soon as it arrives.