Project Change Desk

Early prototype. Not for sale yet.

Handle project changes, client approvals and payment adjustments in one clear workflow.

For web design agencies, branding studios, creative agencies and freelance designers. When a client asks for more (or less) after the deal is agreed, a change desk prices each change, gets a decision on every line and shows the updated payment schedule.

Try Interactive Demo Request Early Access

Fictional project data. Nothing is sent, signed, charged or saved. “Project Change Desk” is a working title, not a final brand.

Example from the demo: one client email, three requested changes
Payment schedule for a brand identity and five-page website, $12,000 agreement
MilestoneDueAmount
Deposit Paid, lockedSep 2$3,600
Design approvalOct 21$3,600$4,100
Site build completeNov 18$3,000
LaunchDec 2Dec 3$1,800
Agreement total$12,000$12,500
  • Press page+$900, +2 daysApprovedRequested
  • French version of Home page+$650, +1 dayDeclinedRequested
  • Drop the logo animation−$400, −1 dayApprovedRequested

The client approved two lines and declined one. The declined line costs nothing and moves nothing.

The agreed schedule before any change. Paid milestones are locked and never change.

Approved scope doesn’t stay approved.

The proposal is signed, the deposit is paid, and then the client writes back. One email can add pages, drop deliverables and shift the launch date.

Now the project no longer matches the agreement. Nobody is sure which requests are in, what each one costs, or which invoice should change. The follow-up emails, the revised quote and the arguments about what was agreed all happen in different places.

  • Scope Which of the requests are actually part of the project now?
  • Price What does each change cost, and what is credited for work that is dropped?
  • Payments Which invoice moves, and does the launch date move with it?
A made-up client email, taken from the demo

From Dana Fennel, Fennel & Co.
Sent Oct 12

Can we add a Press page? And a French version of the Home page. Also, we won’t need the logo animation any more.

Three requests, two charges, one credit, and two dates that may move.

How Project Change Desk works

Four steps, in this order, from the client’s email to an updated schedule.

  1. Create a change request

    Split the client’s email into separate lines: one line per change, instead of one lump the client has to accept or reject whole.

  2. Price additions or credits

    Give each line a charge or a credit and the days it moves. Choose how it reaches the schedule: on the next invoice, spread across unpaid invoices, or as its own invoice.

  3. Get the client’s decision

    The client approves or declines every line. Partial approval is normal, and the schedule recalculates as they choose.

  4. Review the updated schedule

    See the new agreement total, the next payment and the launch date, with a written summary of exactly what was approved and declined.

What the prototype does

Everything below works in the interactive demo, with fictional data.

Itemised approvals
Each requested change is approved or declined on its own. A declined line costs nothing and moves no dates.
Payment milestones
Paid milestones are locked. Unpaid ones change by the billing rule you choose, and the schedule updates as you edit.
Credit handling
A credit lowers upcoming invoices and never takes one below $0. Whatever is left carries to the next invoice.
Clear change summaries
A plain-language record of what was approved, what was declined, the new total, the next payment and the launch date.
Mobile-friendly client review
The client’s review screen is built to be read and decided on a phone as well as a desktop.
Refund authorisation
If a client’s choices could ever mean paying back money already paid, the studio sees the largest possible amount and sets a limit before sending. Anything above it is blocked.

Why refund authorisation matters

Say a client asks to cancel the website build (a $9,000 credit) and to add a printed guidelines book (a $5,000 charge). Only $8,400 is still unpaid. If the client approves only the credit, $600 of money they already paid would have to go back, even though the studio never agreed to that.

The prototype checks all four ways the client could decide, shows the studio the $600 before it sends, and blocks that outcome unless the studio authorised it.

The four ways the client could decide, and the refund each would create
Client approvesRefund
Both linesNone
The $9,000 credit only$600 needs authorisation
The $5,000 charge onlyNone
Neither lineNone

Try it yourself in two minutes

The demo is the working prototype. Play the studio, send a change, then switch to the client and decide on each line.

  • Price a change and watch the payment schedule update
  • Approve two lines and decline one
  • Try a credit that is bigger than the next invoice
  • Cancel most of a project and see what happens to money already paid
  • Load a ready-made scenario from Test scenarios

Try Interactive Demo

Interactive demonstration. Fictional information. No real emails, approvals or payments are processed. Nothing is saved, and reloading the page resets it.

The Project Change Desk demo in Client view: the client has approved the Press page and the logo credit and declined the French Home page. The schedule shows the agreement total moving from $12,000 to $12,500 and launch moving from Dec 2 to Dec 3.
Client view, partial approval
The same client decision screen on a phone.

Early access: we’re testing, not selling

Project Change Desk is a working prototype, and we want to know whether it fits how agencies and freelancers actually handle changes. There are no accounts, no subscriptions and no paying customers. Nothing is for sale yet.

If you run a design, branding or creative business, a few honest minutes are the most useful thing you can give us. Tell us what you use today, where the demo confused you, and whether you’d be willing to test it.

The form is hosted by Tally (tally.so), a third-party service, and is only loaded if you choose to open it. What you submit is handled under Tally’s own privacy policy. This site itself sets no cookies and runs no analytics scripts.

Request early access or give feedback

The early-access form isn’t open yet. This section will show it as soon as it is ready. In the meantime, try the demo and note anything that confuses you.

When it opens, the form will ask for:

  • Your business email
  • Your type of business and country
  • The project or proposal software you use now
  • Roughly what you spend on software each month (optional)
  • Your biggest frustration with project changes
  • Whether you’d like to test it, and whether you’d consider a paid pilot
  • Permission to contact you about testing

It will not ask for client details, invoices or any financial records.

Try the demo meanwhile

Questions and honest answers

What is Project Change Desk?

A prototype of a workflow for project-based businesses (“Project Change Desk” is a working title that describes what it does): when a client asks for changes after an agreement, the studio prices each change, the client approves or declines each line, and the payment schedule updates. It is not a released product.

Is that the final name?

No. “Project Change Desk” is a descriptive working title for this demonstration. A final product name has not been chosen and has not been legally cleared. Please don’t treat the name as a brand, and expect it to change.

What does the prototype do?

In the demo you can open the Studio view, change pricing, add and remove lines, choose charges or credits, pick how they hit the payment schedule, and preview the result. You can send a simulated change request, switch to the Client view, approve or decline individual lines, review partial approvals, see the revised agreement totals, explore refund-authorisation scenarios and reset the demo.

What is simulated?

Almost everything outside the calculations. No email is sent. A typed name is not a legal signature. No payment is taken, no invoice is created and no refund is paid. The project, the people and the amounts are made up. Nothing is saved, and reloading the page resets the demo.

What isn’t available yet?

Accounts and saved projects. Sending real emails or links to clients. Legally valid e-signatures. Creating invoices, taking payments or issuing refunds. Connections to accounting or payment tools. Tax handling and currencies other than USD. Team members and permissions. Subscriptions. None of these exist today, and we haven’t set a price.

Can I use real client details in the demo?

Please don’t. Use the made-up data it starts with, or invent your own. The demo page contains no code that sends data anywhere or stores it, but it is a demonstration, not production software.

Can I rely on the calculations for real invoices?

No. The billing calculations have been tested in this prototype, but Project Change Desk is not accounting software and does not give financial or legal advice. Check any real invoice or contract yourself.

Who is it for?

Web design agencies, branding studios, creative agencies, freelance designers and other small project-based service businesses that bill in stages and handle mid-project changes.

How do I give feedback or ask about a pilot?

Use the short form in Early access. We are looking for businesses willing to test the workflow and tell us what doesn’t work. The form never asks for financial records.