What is a Statement of Work for?
It is the document you and a client sign before work starts. It defines deliverables, timelines, total cost, and payment stages. Once issued, the wording is locked. Any change becomes a numbered revision. It is distinct from a quotation, which offers a price and expires.
How do I write a Statement of Work?
- Press New Statement of Work. The document number is filled in automatically.
- Pick the client. This is mandatory before you can proceed.
- Under agreement, link the MSA reference and date if applicable.
- Under Scope of services and deliverables, add provisions with headings and prices, then add items underneath.
- The Fee fills itself from priced provisions. If you want a fixed fee, leave provisions unpriced and type the fee manually.
How do I set the payment schedule?
- Under Payment schedule, add a stage for each payment.
- Write the trigger event, such as upon signing, and the percentage of the fee.
- Ensure stages total 100%. The document will not save until they do.
- Orbit spreads any odd sen so the stages add up to the fee exactly.
How do I issue and bill a stage?
- Press Issue to lock the wording and send the document.
- Press Bill this beside a stage when it falls due to create an invoice. It stays greyed out until the document is issued, and each stage can be billed once.
- Raise an acceptance form from the Acceptance screen when the client signs off.
- Use Keep as my template to save the wording for future jobs.
How do I change a signed document?
- Open the document and press Create a revision.
- The new version is numbered with -R1 and ready to edit.
- The original is marked Superseded and kept for reference.
- Stages already invoiced on the old version do not carry over.
What this does to your books
Saving a Statement of Work, its payment schedule or a revision posts nothing. Billing a stage creates an ordinary invoice: in a real company with automatic invoice sales on, saving it posts debit Trade Debtors, credit Sales, while practice books default to a manual debtor entry. When the client pays, it posts Dr Cash & Bank (1000) / Cr Trade Debtors (1100). A revision does not undo an invoice already raised; use a credit note.