Change request template with cost and date impact.
The form that turns “can you also add this?” into a decision someone made in writing: a numbered change request, a description, the cost to deliver, the days it moves the project, the original total against the revised one, and an approver, a date, and a verdict. Copy it as CSV and raise the next change properly.
The template, filled with an example
The example is a request for a third language version of the website project above, on the same fictional project. The cost builds up from hours, and the schedule impact is stated in days rather than in “we will try to fit it in”.
Illustrative example only. The projects, people, dates, hours, and amounts on this page are invented for illustration. The ₹1,250.00 hourly rate and the 25% markup are example assumptions, not benchmarks — substitute your own.
One thing worth being clear about: a change request like this is a commercial decision, not a system record. NoxOrigin deliberately has no change-request workflow to track, because a scope change that is not separately priced simply becomes a margin problem later. Here it becomes a new quote against the same project, so the original agreement stays intact and the extra work is visible as its own number. If you would rather keep a formal change-request document as well, this template is that document.
Request header
- Change request number
- CR-2026-018-003
- Project
- Sample Client website redesign (PRJ-2026-018)
- Raised on
- 21-11-2026
- Raised by
- Sample Client Marketing Lead (example)
- Raised to
- Sample Delivery Lead (example)
- Original quotation
- QTN-2026-0142 dated 01-10-2026
- Response required by
- 25-11-2026
- Reason category
- New requirement — additional language version
What is being asked for
- The client has asked for a third language version of the site (Tamil) alongside the two already in scope.
- This is not a translation of the two existing versions: it is a third set of six page templates, a language selector in the navigation, and translation-ready content fields in the CMS.
- Design and build effort only. Translation and proofreading of the Tamil content are quoted separately by the client's own translator and are excluded from this change.
Impact on cost and schedule
| Line | Basis | Amount / count | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design effort | Two additional templates at 6 hours each | 12 | hours |
| Build effort | Third template set, language selector, CMS field setup | 26 | hours |
| QA and handover | Extra device pass and one added training item | 10 | hours |
| Effort cost | 48 hours at the agreed rate of ₹1,250.00 | 60,000.00 | INR |
| Third-party cost | Language pack licence for the CMS | 6,000.00 | INR |
| Direct cost | Effort cost plus the licence | 66,000.00 | INR |
| Contingency | 10% of the direct cost, as risk allowance | 6,600.00 | INR |
| Total cost of change | What it costs to deliver | 72,600.00 | INR |
| Schedule impact | Tamil templates added after D2; go-live moves by 8 working days | 8 | days |
Original against revised
| Summary | Amount (INR) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Original quoted value | 200,000.00 | Inclusive of GST, as per QTN-2026-0142 |
| Total cost of change | 72,600.00 | Effort, licence, and contingency |
| Markup at 25% | 18,150.00 | Applied to the total cost of the change |
| Net addition, before GST | 90,750.00 | Change cost plus markup |
| GST at 18% on the addition | 16,335.00 | Intra-state CGST and SGST at 9% each |
| Total addition including GST | 1,07,085.00 | What the client would pay for this change |
| Revised project total | 3,07,085.00 | Original quoted value plus the total addition |
The change costs 72,600.00 to deliver, sells at 90,750.00 before GST, and adds 1,07,085.00 including GST. The project total moves from 2,00,000.00 to 3,07,085.00.
GST is shown here because the addition is billed, not absorbed. As with any invoice, the rate and the place of supply that apply are the ones your chartered accountant confirms for your business.
Decision
- Decision
- Approved
- Decided on
- 25-11-2026
- Decided by
- Sample Client Approver (example)
- Delivery effect
- Go-live moves from 18-12-2026 to 30-12-2026
- Invoice reference
- To be raised against the revised total
- Recorded by
- Sample Delivery Lead (example)
Change request template (CSV — illustrative example data) Field,Value Change request number,CR-2026-018-003 Project,Sample Client website redesign (PRJ-2026-018) Raised on,21-11-2026 Raised by,Sample Client Marketing Lead (example) Raised to,Sample Delivery Lead (example) Original quotation,QTN-2026-0142 dated 01-10-2026 Response required by,25-11-2026 Reason category,New requirement — additional language version Description The client has asked for a third language version of the site (Tamil) alongside the two already in scope. "This is not a translation of the two existing versions: it is a third set of six page templates, a language selector in the navigation, and translation-ready content fields in the CMS." Design and build effort only. Translation and proofreading of the Tamil content are quoted separately by the client's own translator and are excluded from this change. Impact line,Basis,Amount / count,Unit Design effort,Two additional templates at 6 hours each,12,hours Build effort,"Third template set, language selector, CMS field setup",26,hours QA and handover,Extra device pass and one added training item,10,hours Effort cost,"48 hours at the agreed rate of ₹1,250.00",60000.00,INR Third-party cost,Language pack licence for the CMS,6000.00,INR Direct cost,Effort cost plus the licence,66000.00,INR Contingency,"10% of the direct cost, as risk allowance",6600.00,INR Total cost of change,What it costs to deliver,72600.00,INR Schedule impact,Tamil templates added after D2; go-live moves by 8 working days,8,days Summary,Amount (INR),Note Original quoted value,200000.00,"Inclusive of GST, as per QTN-2026-0142" Total cost of change,72600.00,"Effort, licence, and contingency" Markup at 25%,18150.00,Applied to the total cost of the change "Net addition, before GST",90750.00,Change cost plus markup GST at 18% on the addition,16335.00,Intra-state CGST and SGST at 9% each Total addition including GST,107085.00,What the client would pay for this change Revised project total,307085.00,Original quoted value plus the total addition Decision field,Value Decision,Approved Decided on,25-11-2026 Decided by,Sample Client Approver (example) Delivery effect,Go-live moves from 18-12-2026 to 30-12-2026 Invoice reference,To be raised against the revised total Recorded by,Sample Delivery Lead (example)
The original-versus-revised block is the part that gets argued about, and the part that settles the argument fastest. It shows the client exactly what the change does to the total they already approved, in the same currency and the same rounding as the original quote.
How to fill it in
Four steps, raised before the work starts rather than after.
Number it and link it to the project
One sequential series per project. A change that cannot be pointed at by number is a conversation, and conversations are the thing this template is meant to replace.
Describe the change, not the complaint
State what is being asked for and what it involves, in terms someone who was not in the room can act on. The example is specific about what is included and — just as importantly — what is not.
Price it and schedule it separately
Cost and days are different conversations with different people. A change can be affordable and still not fit the date, or easy to schedule and not worth the money. Show both.
Record the decision, not the discussion
Approved, rejected, or deferred — with a date and a name. A change request that stays in draft is a change request that will be raised again next week.
When to use this, and when to stop
Almost every project benefits from this. What changes is whether one document is enough or the record has to be shared.
When this template is the right tool
- You are a small team where everyone remembers the conversation, and the memory stops being reliable around month three.
- You want one format for changes so the client sees the same request every time rather than a different shape each month.
- You are still learning which kinds of change cost you the most, and the record is how you find out.
- You bill by project rather than by hour, so an unpriced change is a real cost to you.
When you have outgrown it
- Changes get absorbed into the work and only show up as a project that ran over.
- Version history for the scope lives in email, so nobody can say which version is current.
- Approvals happen over a phone call and the amount agreed is not written anywhere.
- You are re-deriving what was quoted and what has been billed from two separate spreadsheets.
The same process in NoxOrigin
In NoxOrigin a change is raised against the project it belongs to, with the effort, the cost, and the effect on the date attached to it — so quoted value, approved changes, billed value, and delivered work stay comparable on the same project. Approvals can be threshold-based, and the decision keeps an audit history rather than living in a chat thread. Nothing about this replaces your judgement on whether a change is worth doing; it stops the judgement from being made invisibly.
- Project profitability in NoxOriginQuoted value against billed value per project, so unbilled scope and under-quoting show up as a pattern rather than an anecdote.
- Project profitability calculatorCompare quoted value plus approved change orders against direct cost and internal hours.
- Profit margin calculatorWork out whether a markup on a change actually produces the margin you intended.
- Scope change cost calculatorThe arithmetic behind this example, with every step shown and editable.
- Project scope templateThe document this change is measured against.
- Quotation templateWhere the change gets added once it is approved.
Change request template questions
What makes a change request different from a task?
A task is work already inside the agreed scope. A change request is work that is not, and therefore needs a decision and a price before it starts. Recording it as a task is how a project quietly absorbs extra work and the margin disappears without anyone deciding anything.
Should the client pay a markup on a change?
That is a commercial decision for you, not a rule. The example applies a 25% markup to the cost of the change so the same effort does not become less profitable than the original work. Some businesses approve changes at cost, some at original quoted rates, and some fold them into a revised project total. What matters is that the decision is written down rather than made differently each time.
Do I have to use a change request for a small change?
No. Set a threshold you are comfortable with — an hour, a fixed rupee amount — and handle anything under it the way you already do. The template is for the changes big enough to move a date or a total. The mistake is having no threshold, so every request becomes a judgement call under pressure.
What if the client refuses the extra cost?
Then it is a decision, and the record is what protects both sides. The example shows a decision field with a date and a named approver, which is enough: if the client declines, the original scope and the original date stand, in writing, agreed by the person entitled to agree them.
Price the change. Then decide.
If changes are currently absorbed and discovered at the end of the project, the hand-off between quoting and delivery is worth mapping properly.