By Mark Robillard

Change is inevitable, right? It certainly is when you're talking about clients and their jobs.

     I don't think I've ever heard of a job that didn't change from its original estimate. The question always was: who pays? In the good old days of retainers and fat media commissions, an agency could (sometimes) afford to change a job--in the name of client relations--at no charge.

But these days? Forget it.

     Since client changes are inescapable, what's the best way to not get nailed? There are two choices: revise the estimate or add a change order.

     Revising a Clients & Profits estimate is quick--just type in the new amounts over the old ones. Clients & Profits makes it easy to track revisions, since it numbers each revision to an estimate automatically. When the estimate is printed, you'll see the revision number at the top of the page.

     Store copies of these estimates in the job jacket and you've got a visual history of the job's changes.

But estimate revisions have a serious drawback: They remind the client (again) of how expensive the job has become.

A better solution is a change order.

     Here's how it works: you'll add a change order each time the client makes a substantial change--even if it doesn't cost anything. The change order only shows what the client wants changed, not the job's original estimate. The printed change order even looks like the estimate, as to not draw attention to itself. But it includes a signature line to document the client's approval of the change.

     Change orders increase the job's budget and estimate, which your account managers track on job summaries and job lists. Clients & Profits will even combine change order amounts with estimates automatically on client invoices, preventing lost income.