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Contract template

A free freelance and agency contract template in plain English: scope, payment, revisions, intellectual property, confidentiality and termination, with notes on what each clause protects.

Best for
Freelancers and small agencies starting a client project
Length
3 to 5 pages
Sections
10

A services agreement is the document you hope nobody reads again after signing. Its job is to settle, in advance, the questions that cause disputes: what exactly is included, when you get paid, how many changes the client gets, and who owns the work.

This outline covers the clauses a typical creative or technical services contract needs. It is a starting point, not legal advice: laws differ by state and country, so have a lawyer review your final version once and reuse it.

  1. 01

    Parties and date

    The legal names of both businesses, their addresses and the effective date. Use the registered company name, not the brand name, if they differ.

  2. 02

    Services and deliverables

    Refer to the accepted proposal or statement of work rather than repeating it. That keeps one source of truth for the scope.

    Example wordingThe Studio will provide the services and deliverables described in Proposal 014 (the "Scope"), which forms part of this Agreement.
  3. 03

    Fees and payment

    Total fee, deposit, milestones, due dates and what happens when an invoice is late. A deposit before work starts is standard and reasonable.

    • Deposit due before work begins
    • Remaining invoices due within 14 days
    • Late payments may pause the work until settled
  4. 04

    Revisions and changes

    How many rounds of revisions are included and how extra work is priced. Name the process: a written change request, a quote, an approval.

    Example wordingThe fee includes two rounds of revisions per deliverable. Further changes are quoted in writing and start only once approved.
  5. 05

    Client responsibilities

    What you need from the client and by when: content, feedback, access, a single decision maker. Note that delays on their side move the timeline.

  6. 06

    Intellectual property

    Usually ownership of the final deliverables transfers to the client on full payment, while you keep rights to your tools, templates and unused concepts, and may show the work in your portfolio.

  7. 07

    Confidentiality

    Both sides keep each other's non-public information private, during the project and for a set period after it.

  8. 08

    Warranties and liability

    You deliver the work professionally; liability is capped, typically at the fees paid under the agreement. Exclude indirect and consequential damages.

  9. 09

    Termination

    Either side can end the agreement with written notice. The client pays for work done to date; the deposit covers your reserved time.

    Example wordingEither party may terminate with 14 days' written notice. The Client will pay for all work completed up to the termination date.
  10. 10

    Governing law and signatures

    Which state's law applies and where disputes go, then a signature line for each party. Electronic signatures are valid for most commercial contracts in the US under the ESIGN Act.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Copying the whole scope into the contract, then editing only one of them.
  • "Unlimited revisions". Always set a number.
  • Transferring IP on signature instead of on payment.
  • No written process for change requests.

Questions about this template

Is an e-signed contract legally binding?
For most business contracts in the United States, yes: the ESIGN Act and state UETA laws give electronic signatures the same effect as handwritten ones. Some documents, such as wills, are exceptions.
Do I need a lawyer to use a contract template?
A template gets you most of the way. It is worth paying a lawyer once to review your version for your state and industry, then reuse it on every project.
What is the difference between a contract and a statement of work?
The contract sets the rules of the relationship and rarely changes. The statement of work describes one project. Many studios sign one master agreement and a new SOW per project.

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