SOW (statement of work)
A document describing the specific work, deliverables, timeline and fees for a project under a wider agreement.
Definition
A statement of work, or SOW, spells out one engagement: what will be done, what will be delivered, when, by whom, at what price and how success is accepted. It usually sits under an MSA and borrows its legal terms. A strong SOW lists deliverables, assumptions, client responsibilities, the number of revision rounds, and how changes are handled. Vague statements of work cause most scope disputes. The term is often confused with scope of work, which is the content description; the SOW is the document that contains it.
In a sentence
The SOW listed twelve deliverables and two revision rounds.
Any request outside the SOW triggered a change order.
Common mix-up
Scope of work is the description of the work; SOW is often the whole document that includes it.
