ScopeGuard

About ScopeGuard

ScopeGuard is a specialized AI-powered software platform and browser extension designed to protect freelancers and independent contractors from revenue loss due to scope creep. The core function of ScopeGuard is to analyze client communications and requests against the original project contract or Statement of Work (SOW) to automatically determine if a task is in-scope, out-of-scope, or borderline. It directly addresses the industry-wide problem where an estimated 73% of freelancers never charge for extra work, leading to average annual losses exceeding $5,000. The platform operates by allowing users to import their contractual agreements into a secure dashboard. From there, using a Chrome extension, they can right-click on any text within web-based tools like Gmail, Slack, Asana, or project management platforms to receive an instant AI analysis. When out-of-scope work is identified, ScopeGuard provides a complete workflow to log the work with associated hours and rates, send formal approval requests to clients via a dedicated portal, and generate corresponding invoices. This transforms ad-hoc, unbilled requests into billable change orders, ensuring freelancers are compensated for all work performed.

Features of ScopeGuard

AI-Powered Scope Analysis Engine

At the heart of ScopeGuard is its proprietary AI engine, which performs natural language processing on both the imported contract and any client request. It delivers an instant, contextual verdict—"in-scope," "out-of-scope," or "borderline"—with a detailed explanation for its reasoning. This analysis achieves a documented 95% accuracy rate, providing a reliable, objective basis for scope discussions and eliminating guesswork. The AI is trained to understand project deliverables, exclusions, and nuanced language commonly found in freelance agreements.

Universal Browser Integration via Chrome Extension

ScopeGuard's functionality is extended across the web through its dedicated Chrome extension. This tool enables the core "right-click to check scope" feature directly within the user's existing workflow. Without needing to copy-paste text between applications, freelancers can highlight any client message in email, chat, or project management tools and instantly trigger a scope analysis. The extension also facilitates one-click import of contracts from web pages and allows for seamless screenshot capture to document visual requests or changes.

Integrated Client Approval and Invoicing Portal

ScopeGuard includes a secure, branded client portal to formalize the approval process for out-of-scope work. When a scope change is logged, the system generates a secure approval link that can be sent to the client. This portal presents the request details, the AI's analysis, logged hours, and the proposed fee. Clients can review and approve the change with a single click, creating an auditable record of consent. Upon approval, the platform can automatically generate and send professional invoices for the additional work, closing the loop from request to payment.

Centralized Scope & Financial Dashboard

The ScopeGuard dashboard serves as a command center, providing a real-time overview of all projects and their financial health. It aggregates data across all client engagements, visually highlighting unbilled out-of-scope work, pending approvals, and recovered revenue. This dashboard allows freelancers to monitor potential scope creep across their entire business portfolio, track the status of change requests, and forecast income from scope changes, ensuring no billable work goes unmanaged or unreported.

Use Cases of ScopeGuard

Managing Incremental Feature Requests in Web Development

A freelance web developer has a contract to build a five-page website with a contact form. Mid-project, the client emails asking to add a client login portal and user dashboard. Using the ScopeGuard Chrome extension on the Gmail thread, the developer right-clicks the request. The AI instantly flags this as a significant out-of-scope addition. The developer logs the request in ScopeGuard, estimates 15 additional hours at their rate, and sends an approval link via the client portal. Once approved, the work is formally added to the project and an invoice is generated upon completion.

Controlling Scope Creep in Marketing Campaign Projects

A marketing consultant is hired to create a one-month social media campaign. In Slack, the client asks for three extra graphic designs and a last-minute blog post to support the campaign. The consultant highlights the Slack message and uses ScopeGuard to check scope. The AI identifies the requests as borderline, noting that "supporting assets" were mentioned but not quantified. Using this analysis, the consultant engages the client via the approval portal with a clear, data-backed proposal for the additional cost, turning a vague request into a billable change order.

Formalizing Ad-Hoc Consultations and Strategy Sessions

A business strategy freelancer's SOW includes two monthly check-in calls. The client frequently sends lengthy emails asking for deep-dive analyses on new data between calls, which the freelancer previously did not bill for. Now, the freelancer imports the SOW into ScopeGuard. For each analysis request email, they use the right-click analysis to confirm the work is outside the agreed advisory scope. They then log the time spent, send a pre-formatted approval request for the consulting hours, and automatically invoice for the additional strategic work.

Documenting and Billing for Revisions Beyond Contract Limits

A graphic designer's contract specifies three rounds of revisions for a logo design. The client requests a fourth and fifth round of changes via a comment in Trello. The designer captures the Trello card with ScopeGuard's screenshot tool and checks it against the imported contract. The AI clearly identifies the extra revisions as out-of-scope. The designer logs the time needed for the additional rounds, sends the client a formal change request through ScopeGuard's portal for approval, and ensures payment for the extra revision work before proceeding.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the AI scope checking work technically?

The ScopeGuard AI utilizes advanced natural language processing (NLP) models trained on a vast corpus of freelance contracts, SOWs, and project communications. When you import a contract, it extracts key entities, deliverables, limitations, and exclusions to create a structured "scope profile." When you check a client request, the AI compares the semantic meaning and intent of the request against this profile. It doesn't just keyword-match; it understands context, nuance, and project boundaries to provide a reasoned verdict with an explanation, achieving a consistent 95% accuracy rate.

What file formats can I import for my contracts?

ScopeGuard supports multiple import methods for maximum flexibility. You can directly paste text from proposals or emails into the dashboard. For formal documents, the system supports PDF upload, which the AI will parse and analyze. Furthermore, the Chrome extension allows you to import contract text directly from any webpage by simply right-clicking and selecting the import function, making it easy to capture SOWs from client portals, Google Docs, or other web-based tools.

How does the client approval portal work?

When you log an out-of-scope request, ScopeGuard generates a unique, secure URL for that specific change order. You send this link to your client. The portal page displays your professional branding, a clear summary of the original scope, the new client request, the AI's analysis, the hours/rate, and the total fee. The client can review all details and click a prominent "Approve" button. This action is recorded in your ScopeGuard dashboard and triggers notifications. It creates a clear, unambiguous digital record of client consent for the additional work and cost.

Is my contract and client communication data secure?

Yes. ScopeGuard employs enterprise-grade security protocols. All data transmission is encrypted via TLS/SSL. Your contract documents and analyzed data are stored on secure, access-controlled servers. The platform is designed with a privacy-first approach; your raw contract text and client communications are processed for analysis but are not used for training the core AI model without anonymization and aggregation. You retain full ownership of your data, and ScopeGuard's business model is based on subscription, not data monetization.

Pricing of ScopeGuard

ScopeGuard offers simple, transparent pricing with a single plan tailored for individual freelancers and independent contractors. The Solo plan is priced at $29 per month and includes all core features: unlimited projects, AI-powered scope analysis, the client approval portal, PDF and screenshot import, the Chrome extension, automatic invoice generation, a real-time dashboard, and priority support. Prospective users can start with a full-featured 14-day free trial with no credit card required, allowing complete evaluation of the platform. The pricing model is designed for a clear return on investment, as recovering the cost of one average scope change (valued at over $300) covers the entire year's subscription.