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Scope Creep

What is scope creep?

Scope creep is the gradual expansion of a project beyond its original boundaries. It happens when clients request “small additions” that feel minor in isolation but compound into weeks of unbilled work.

97%Can’t bill all out-of-scope work
$60KLost annually per agency
Source:Ignition 2025 Agency Report, PMI Research, Forrester
Reading Results

How to interpret your scope creep results

Critical

Margin After Creep

Below 15%? Danger zone

When your post-creep margin drops below 15%, you’re in the red zone. Even a small overrun can wipe out all profit.

Baseline

Original Margin

Your baseline expectation

What you expected to make when you signed the contract. This represents your pricing strategy and budgeted profit.

Action

The Gap

The conversation you need

The gap between original and post-creep profit is money you’re leaving on the table and your leverage for change orders.

The Math Behind It

How the scope creep cost formula works

Follow your numbers through the calculation

Step 1
$150kProject value
Step 2
$105kTotal cost
Step 3
$4.0kWeekly burn
Step 4
9Extra weeks
Result
$10kFinal profit

Weekly Burn Rate × Extra Weeks = Scope Creep Cost

Related Calculators

The same project. Four different leaks.

Project delay calculator+12 DAYS

Project Phases

Discovery
5d
Design
12d
Client approval
8d
Development
+12d

Idle Cost/Day

$480

Total Loss

$5,760

12 approval days = $5,760 lost

Project Delay Calculator

Calculate idle salary cost per approval day

Calculate it

Retainer Burn Calculator

Detect over-delivery before it kills your margin

Calculate it
Retainer burn calculatorOVER CAPACITY

118%

18 hrs over retainer

Hour Breakdown

Retainer hours80 hrs
Hours logged94 hrs
Unrecovered hrs14 hrs
Margin impact−$2,100
Invoice delay calculator3 INVOICES

Invoice Timeline

SENTDUEPAID
Branding project — MarSent
Website retainer — FebDue
Ad campaign — Jan14d late

Avg Delay

12 days

Cash Gap Cost

$3,200

Typical delay costs $267/day

Invoice Delay Calculator

See how much late invoices are really costing you.

Calculate it
Questions

Things people ask before they try it.

Divide your total project cost by the number of weeks in the project to get your weekly burn rate. Then multiply that by the number of extra weeks the scope additions will take. That is your scope creep cost. This calculator does that automatically using your actual team cost, overhead, and project duration.

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