Cora is an AI co-founder and connected business operating system for agencies and service businesses. It connects leads, clients, proposals, projects, approvals, documents and billing in one workspace.

Who is Cora built for?

Cora is built for client-service businesses including performance marketing agencies, design studios, web and development agencies, SEO teams, creative businesses and other service companies.

Is Cora the same product as other companies named Cora?

No. HeyCora at heycora.in builds Cora for agencies and service businesses. Other unrelated products and companies also use the Cora name.

How is the suggested change-order quote calculated?

The suggested change-order amount is calculated using an explicit formula: (Unbilled Creep Hours × Agreed Out-of-Scope Hourly Rate) + (Extra Revision Rounds Beyond Limit × Standard Revision Round Fee). It provides an objective baseline for client discussions.

What is the difference between internal cost and effective hourly rate?

Internal hourly cost is what you pay your team (or your burdened cost per hour). Effective hourly rate is the quoted project fee divided by the total hours worked. When scope creeps, your internal cost stays the same while your effective hourly rate drops.

How does Cora help manage scope creep?

Cora provides an integrated proposal and document vault with digital e-signatures where original deliverables and revision limits are formally recorded. When a client requests extra work, agencies can issue a structured change-order addendum with 1-click digital client signoff.

Cora — The AI Co-Founder for Agencies

Currency:

Agency Scenario PresetsOne-click model setup

1. Project Contract & Planned Baseline

Quoted Project Contract FeeAgreed fixed price fee for the project scope (excluding out-of-scope additions).

Planned Delivery HoursTotal delivery hours originally scoped and budgeted for the team.

hours

Internal Hourly Burdened CostInternal labor cost per hour including team compensation, taxes, and operational overhead.

$/hr

2. Scope Expansion & Revision Overages

Unbilled Creep HoursExtra hours logged on out-of-scope tweaks, additional layouts, and informal feature requests.

hours

Included Revision RoundsRounds promised in initial scope.

rounds

Actual Rounds DeliveredTotal revision rounds delivered.

rounds

3. Change-Order Pricing Assumptions

Agreed Out-of-Scope Hourly RateHourly rate to apply to unbilled extra hours when issuing a formal change order.

$/hr

Standard Fee per Extra Revision RoundFlat fee to charge for full review rounds beyond contract limit.

Active Client Projects AnnuallyTotal similar projects delivered across your agency per year to model portfolio-wide impact.

projects/yr

Internal Unbilled Labor CostBrowser-Only

$1,320internal delivery cost of unbilled creep on this project

Planned Effective Rate:$119 / hr

Realized Effective Rate:$91 / hr

Earning Rate Decay:-24% dilution

Planned Gross Margin:54% ($5,100)

Realized Gross Margin:40% ($3,780)

Margin Contraction:-14 percentage points

Suggested Change-Order Quote

$3,330

Based on 24 unbilled hours @ $95/hr plus 3 extra revisions @ $350/round.

Portfolio Recovery Potential:$53,280 / yr

Diagnostic Findings & Bottlenecks2 items identified

Effective Hourly Rate Dilution

24% Rate Dilution

Your effective earning rate dropped from $119/hr to $91/hr due to 24 unbilled hours.

Fix: Set a formal out-of-scope rate (${sym}${inputs.agreedOutofScopeHourlyRate}/hr) in initial contracts and track hours transparently.

3 Unbilled Revision Rounds Delivered

+3 Extra Rounds

The project included 2 rounds but required 5. At standard fee rates, this represents ~$1,050 in unbilled review time.

Fix: Limit proposals to 2 structured feedback rounds; extra rounds require formal client addendum signoff.

Worked Example & Step-by-Step Calculation

Show details

A design and development studio contracts a custom client web application at a fixed price of $9,500. The project is planned for 80 hours with an internal cost of $55/hr and 2 included revision rounds. The client requests 24 hours of out-of-scope tweaks and 3 additional revision rounds.

Example Baseline Parameters

Contract Fee$9,500

Planned Hours80 hrs

Unbilled Creep24 hrs

Internal Cost$55 / hr

Computational Breakdown

Calculate Total Delivery Hours80 planned hours + 24 unbilled creep hours

104 total hours

Calculate Effective Hourly Rate Decay$9,500 ÷ 104 total hours vs $9,500 ÷ 80 planned hours

$91/hr (down from $119/hr, -24%)

Calculate Gross Profit Margin ContractionPlanned margin was 54% ($5,100 profit); realized margin is 40% ($3,780 profit)

-14 percentage points lost

Calculate Suggested Change Order Quote(24 creep hours × $95 out-of-scope rate) + (3 extra revisions × $350/round)

$3,330 suggested change order

Outcome Analysis:By establishing formal change-order protocols before commencing out-of-scope revisions, this studio preserves its 54% profit margin and recovers up to $3,330 in authorized project billings.

Methodology & Formulas

v1.2 (October 2026)

Core Computational Formulas

Realized Effective Hourly RateRate_realized = Fee_quoted / (Hours_planned + Hours_creep)

The actual dollar earnings generated per delivery hour after absorbing unbilled client revisions.

Gross Margin ContractionContraction = ((Fee - (Hours_planned × Cost)) / Fee) - ((Fee - (Hours_actual × Cost)) / Fee)

Direct contraction in project operating margin resulting from uncompensated delivery time.

Suggested Change Order FormulaQuote_change_order = (Hours_creep × Rate_agreed) + (Revisions_extra × Fee_revision)

Explicit mathematical basis for billing out-of-scope additions fairly and objectively.

Baseline Assumptions

Internal hourly cost reflects fully loaded team compensation, payroll taxes, and baseline agency operational overhead.
Unbilled hours represent productive working capacity that could otherwise generate billable client revenue.

Analytical Limitations

Does not measure client relationship goodwill that may occasionally lead to long-term retainer renewals.
Fixed-price milestone contracts are modeled against internal time tracking.

The SOW Protection Alternative

Lock Deliverables in E-Sign. Issue Structured Change Orders in 1 Click.

Cora provides an integrated proposal and document vault where deliverables, milestone scopes, and revision limits are formally recorded with digital e-signatures. When clients ask for extra revisions or new features, generate an interactive change-order addendum with 1-click client signoff.

Record explicit deliverable scopes in digital proposals with legal e-signatures

Issue 1-click change-order addenda when out-of-scope requests arise

Track client revision rounds and milestone approvals in a unified workspace

Explore Cora Features Review Documentation

Works alongside your existing WordPress or custom stack

Frequently Asked Questions

Scope creep occurs when client deliverables, technical features, or revision rounds expand beyond the initial contract or Statement of Work (SOW) without a corresponding budget adjustment or timeline extension.

Privacy Guarantee & Data Handling Notice

100% Client-Side

All numerical inputs, pricing assumptions, rates, and configurations entered into Agency Scope-Creep Calculator are computed in real time inside your browser session using local JavaScript execution.

Zero Server Logging

We do not transmit, log, store, or serialize your financial models, agency figures, or client metrics to Cora backend servers or third-party cloud data warehouses.

No Account Required

Full diagnostic findings, band scores, formulas, and actionable remedies are provided freely without requiring an email address, login, credit card, or lead gate.

Realized Effective Rate

$91/hr(-24% decay)

Agency Scope-Creep & Margin Erosion Calculator