The overrun email that nearly lost the client.

They listed all the extra work they’d done. The client called within the hour, and not to say thanks.

Here’s how it happened. A client was several months into a big project when they realized they were roughly 40% over budget. The work had grown. They’d said yes to things along the way, the way you do when you want the client to be happy.

So they wrote it all up. Here’s everything we did beyond the original scope, and here’s what it cost.

The client’s response was immediate, and it wasn’t about the list. It was about everything else. Quality. Rework. The team being slow. Not enough project management.

I’ve seen this play out a lot. When you ask for money after the fact, the client doesn’t hear “we did extra work.” They hear “we’re surprising you with a bill.” And once they feel surprised, every frustration they’ve had on the project comes out at once.

Three things would have changed the outcome.

One, flag it before it happens. The moment you see the scope growing, say so, while the client can still make a choice.

Two, make extra work a decision. “We’d love to go further on this, here’s what it would take” is a completely different conversation from “we already went further and now we’re here to collect.”

And finally, my favourite. Build in some room up front for extra work along the way. I like a small discretionary fund, maybe 10% of the budget, that’s approved at the start and only used if it’s needed. It’s easy for the client to approve because technically it’s already in the budget.

None of this is complicated. It’s mostly timing.

“We went over and here’s a surprise bill” is a negative confrontation 100% of the time. But showing you’ve prepared for overages and slight deviations on the plan? That’s a great way to look like experts.