The first draft went out on Monday. By Thursday you have three emails, a WhatsApp voice note from the founder, a PDF with red circles from someone in sales, and a request that contradicts the brief. Each one says "small change". Together they are a second project.
Revisions are a normal part of the work. They only cost you money when nobody agreed how many there are, what one looks like, or where a revision ends and new work begins. This playbook covers the contract wording, how to ask for feedback, and what to say when it turns into new scope. It sits between the kickoff and the handover in managing a freelance project.
Put the rounds in the contract
The revision terms belong in your statement of work, agreed before the work starts. Raising them for the first time when the client asks for round four sounds like an excuse.
How many rounds depends on the work. Two per deliverable is a common default for design and writing: the first for direction, the second for polish. One is enough for a small job with a tight brief. Three makes sense for a brand identity, or when several people must approve. For development, a bug-fix window after delivery (say, 14 days) usually works better than rounds, because "revision" means something different when the code either works or does not.
Revisions. Each deliverable includes [two] rounds of revisions. A round is one written, consolidated list of changes from the Client's nominated approver, [Name], sent within [five] working days of receiving the deliverable. The Freelancer will return the revised deliverable within [three] working days of receiving each round. Revisions are changes to the agreed deliverable. Requests that add pages, features, formats or content, or that change the brief, are new work and will be quoted separately under the change-request process. Additional rounds are charged at ₹[amount] per round [or ₹[hourly rate] per hour]. If the Freelancer receives no feedback within [ten] working days of delivering a deliverable, it is treated as approved and the next milestone payment becomes due.
The last paragraph is the one freelancers leave out and then miss. Without it, a client who goes quiet for six weeks can hold a project, and your milestone payment, open indefinitely. Tie milestone payments to approval in your payment terms and to this clause, and check that it matches your MSA if you use one.
Revision or new work
Most arguments about revisions are really arguments about this line. Agree it at the kickoff and use the same words every time.
A revision (included) | New work (quoted separately) |
|---|---|
Changing the colour, wording or order of something already in the deliverable | Adding a page, section, feature, format or language |
Fixing something that does not match the brief | Changing the brief: new audience, new positioning, new reference |
Swapping one image or example for another | A second version "just to compare" |
Adjusting length within the agreed range | Doubling the length, or turning a blog post into a whitepaper |
When you are unsure, ask yourself whether the request would have changed your quote if it had been in the original brief. If yes, it is new work.
Ask for feedback the right way
How you send a draft decides what kind of feedback comes back. "Let me know what you think" invites anything. A short note that restates the scope and asks specific questions keeps the feedback on the work you agreed.
Hi [Name], Here is the first draft of [deliverable]: [link]. As agreed, this covers [the scope in one line, e.g. "the five service pages, using the copy you sent on the 3rd"]. To make the most of this round, could you look at: - Does the [tone / layout / structure] fit what you had in mind? - Is anything factually wrong or missing? - Is there anything you would not be comfortable showing [their audience / their boss]? Please collect comments from everyone who needs to see it and send them as one list by [date], from [approver]. Comments directly in the [Figma file / Google Doc] work best. This is round one of two. [Your name]
Two parts of that email do most of the work.
One list, from one person
Drip feedback is the biggest cause of revision overruns. The manager sends notes on Monday, the founder on Wednesday, and the founder's notes undo the manager's. Ask the client to nominate one approver who collects everyone's comments, resolves the contradictions on their side, and sends you a single list. If a second person's feedback arrives after the round is sent, it goes into the next round.
Comments on the work, not in chat
Feedback in WhatsApp voice notes and email threads gets lost and argued about. Ask for comments where the work lives: comments in Figma for design, suggestion mode in Google Docs for writing, a tool such as Markup.io or BugHerd for a live website, or a timestamped comment for video. For complex feedback, a two-minute Loom from you walking through the changes you plan to make clears up misreadings before you start.
Keep a simple change log in the shared project doc: each requested change, which round it came in, and whether it is done. It shows the client what was handled, and makes it obvious when a request arrives that was never in any round.
Vague feedback
"Make it pop." "It doesn't feel premium." "Something's off." These are real reactions, just not instructions. Do not guess. Ask one or two questions that turn the feeling into a change: "Is it the colours, the type, or the amount of space? Can you point me to a site or brand that feels right?" A short call is often faster than three emails here.
When feedback becomes new scope
Reply on the same day you spot it. The longer a new request sits unanswered, the more the client assumes it is included. Be warm about the idea, clear that it is outside the agreement, and give them the choice.
Hi [Name], Thanks for the round two notes. I'll have the changes to the homepage and the contact page back to you by Thursday. One item is outside what we agreed: the new "Case studies" section. It's a good idea. It wasn't in the scope for this phase, so it isn't covered by the revision rounds. Here are the options: 1. I add it now: about [two] extra days, ₹[amount], and final delivery moves from [date] to [date]. 2. We launch as planned and I build it as a small follow-on piece next month. Let me know which you prefer and I'll send a one-page change request to confirm. [Your name]
Notice what that email does not do: it does not apologise or quote the contract back at them. If the client pushes back with "we assumed that was included", the scripts and the change-request template are in stopping scope creep.
When the included rounds are used up
Say so before you start the extra round, not after.
Hi [Name], Thanks, these are clear. We've used the two revision rounds included for [deliverable], so this would be a third round at ₹[amount], as in the statement of work. I can turn it around by [date]. Shall I go ahead?
Most clients say yes. If the changes are tiny and the client has been easy to work with, doing them free is your call, but say so out loud: "These are small, so I'll fold them in at no charge." A free round the client knows about builds goodwill; one they did not notice sets the expectation for next time.
Close with a sign-off
When a deliverable is done, ask for a one-line written approval: "Approved as final, thanks." Save it in the project doc. Anything asked for after that is a new request, which is much easier to say when you can point to the date it was approved. If a client keeps reopening signed-off work, or refuses to approve anything, dealing with a difficult client has the next steps.
Common questions
How many revisions should a freelancer offer?
Two rounds per deliverable is a common default for design and writing: the first for bigger changes, the second for polish. Offer one for small, well-briefed jobs and three for work with several stakeholders or a brand-new identity. Development work often uses a bug-fix window after delivery instead of rounds. Whatever you choose, write it in the statement of work and price extra rounds.
What counts as one revision round?
One consolidated set of changes, sent at one time, that you work through and return together. Ten separate messages over three days are still one round only if you agree that in advance; otherwise they become ten small rounds. Define it in the contract: "a round is one written list of changes from the client's approver, delivered within five working days".
Should I offer unlimited revisions?
Rarely. Unlimited revisions on a fixed fee means the client controls how long the project takes and you carry the cost. It also removes the reason for the client to consolidate feedback. If a client insists, price the work by the hour or day instead, or offer unlimited small text and colour edits within a time window, such as two weeks after delivery.
How much should I charge for extra revisions?
Either a fixed price per extra round or your hourly rate. A per-round price is easier for the client to approve; work it out from how many hours a typical round takes you. Put the figure in the statement of work so you are quoting an agreed number, not inventing one when the client is already unhappy.
What if the client hates the first draft?
Do not start revising. Get on a call and find out what is wrong at the level of the brief: wrong audience, wrong tone, a reference you misread. If the brief itself has changed, that is new scope. If you missed something that was in the brief, treat the redo as your cost and do not count it as one of their rounds.
