Change orders are where a lot of contractors lose money — not because the work wasn't done, but because there's no clean record connecting the change to an approval, a price, and a photo of what actually happened. Here's how to tighten that process up.
Get the change in writing the moment it happens
A verbal "yeah, go ahead and do that" from a client is not a change order. It's a memory that two people may recall differently in a month. The moment a change is discussed, log it — even a quick voice note with the date, the change, and who approved it is far stronger than nothing.
Tie every change order to visual proof
Photos and video of the actual condition that triggered the change (unexpected framing, a hidden pipe, a client-requested swap) make a change order nearly impossible to dispute later. Without it, you're relying entirely on trust.
Price it before you do it, not after
Whenever possible, get a number in front of the client before the work happens, not after. If timing doesn't allow that, document the scope immediately and follow up with pricing the same day — the longer the gap, the more likely the client's memory of "what was agreed" drifts from yours.
Keep a running log per job
Change orders that live in scattered texts, emails, and sticky notes are hard to invoice against and easy to lose. A simple running log per job — even just a chronological list of change, date, approval, and price — makes end-of-job invoicing dramatically faster.
Make the capture effortless
The best change order process is the one you'll actually use in the middle of a busy day. Tools that let you voice-log a change and snap a photo without stopping work, like the Ruck Anvil, mean the record gets created in the moment instead of reconstructed from memory that evening.