Freelance Contract: What to Include (11-Point Checklist)

What to include in a freelance contract. A freelance contract covers parties, scope, deliverables, dates, payment, late fees, revisions, ownership, confidentiality, a kill fee, liability and signatures. This is general information, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer in your country. A contract isn't about distrust.

It's the plan you both agreed to, written down. Without one, every question becomes your word against theirs, usually by text, late at night. It answers three questions up front: what you'll deliver, when you'll get paid, and what happens if plans change. Short is fine. Two pages in plain English beat twenty pages nobody reads.

Use one for every client, including friends and repeat clients. Freelance agreement, freelance contract, independent contractor agreement: here, it's the same document. It also tells a new client they are dealing with a professional. And if a client sends you their contract, use this same checklist to review it. First, the parties and scope: who's hiring whom, and the project in one sentence.

Use full business names and addresses, not just first names. Name your contact, and who can approve the work. Add one line saying you work as an independent contractor, not an employee. Describe the scope in plain words, the way the client would. Then the deliverables: exactly what they get, down to the file types.

Say what is not included too: printing, stock photos, or a website. If it's not written down, it's open for debate. Got a detailed scope of work or proposal? Attach it, so both documents match. Next, the timeline: key dates, and how fast the client gives feedback.

Your dates depend on theirs. Tie each deadline to their feedback arriving on time. If they are late, the schedule moves, and the contract says so. Start the clock only when the deposit and the signed contract are in. And say what happens if you are late too.

Fair terms go both ways. Then payment terms: a deposit to start, and when the rest is due. Spell out the amounts, the due dates, what triggers each payment, and how they pay. Size the deposit to cover your first stage of work, like half the fee. No deposit, no start date.

Put that in writing. Also name the currency, list costs you'll pass on, like printing or travel, and whether they need approval first. Add a late fee: what is charged, and when it kicks in. A flat fee is the simplest to explain. Some places limit late fees, so check the rules where you work.

The point isn't the money. It's a clear reason to pay on time. On the timeline: the invoice goes out, it falls due, a reminder goes out first, then the late fee applies. Repeat the fee in your invoice terms, so it is never a surprise. Set the revision rounds, say two, and the rate for extra rounds.

Define a round: one set of feedback, sent together. Without that, one round turns into twenty small emails. Quote extra rounds before you start them, not on the final invoice. And two rounds of revisions don't cover a new page or a new logo. That's new work, with a new quote.

Then ownership: the final files pass to the client once they're paid in full. In the US, copyright starts with the person who creates the work. And a transfer of ownership only counts if it's written down and signed. So spell out what transfers, and when. Keep the right to show the work in your portfolio, and say so.

Some freelancers keep ownership and grant a license instead. Say which one you mean. Other countries have different rules, so check locally. Add confidentiality: what's private, and how long it stays private. Keep it mutual.

You protect their plans, they protect your methods and prices. Give it a time limit, like two years after the project ends. Bigger clients may send their own NDA. Read it before you sign. Then termination: how either side can end it, and a kill fee if they cancel.

A kill fee pays for the time you blocked out, and the work you turned down. Finished work gets paid either way. The kill fee covers what's left. Set it as a share of the unpaid balance, like 25 percent. Set the notice period, what's paid for work done, and the kill fee percentage.

A kill fee agreed up front is easier to ask for than one you raise later. Add a liability cap: the most you could owe, for example the fees paid. It protects you from a claim far bigger than the job. Add that delays caused by the client aren't on you. Same for events outside your control.

Two more lines worth adding: which country's or state's law applies, and how you'll settle a dispute. These are the clauses most worth a lawyer's look. Last, signatures: both of you sign and date it, before any work begins. A contract signed after the work starts is a contract signed too late. Keep a signed copy each.

A signed PDF beats a handshake every time. Signing online through a link is common. For anything unusual, check the rules where you work. That's the checklist: every clause ticked, both names signed, ready to send. Starting from a free template online?

Check it against this list first. Make sure it has a kill fee, ownership on payment, and a limit on revisions. Then check that it fits your country, your kind of work, and how you get paid. A template from another country can get key terms wrong for you. Have a lawyer review your template once.

Then reuse it for every client. Here's how it works in Workspace369, the tool we use to show it. Save your contract as a template once. The client details fill in for each new contract. Review it, send it for signature, your client agrees to sign online, signs where it says sign here, and it's done.

Each contract sends email reminders on its own, keeps a history of when it was opened and signed, and emails everyone the completed copy. You can also attach a contract to a proposal. On Specialist, you send the proposal, they open it, accept and sign it, and pay the deposit. The moment they accept, the attached contract goes out for signing. Contracts are on every plan, starting with Cadet at $29 a month.

The wording is still yours. Have a lawyer check your template once. Four mistakes: starting before it's signed, vague deliverables, no deposit, and a template you never read. Another one: changing the deal by email and never updating the contract. If the scope changes, put it in writing, and both of you agree to it.

Review your contract once a year, the same day you review your rates. Which clause would have saved you the most trouble? Tell me in the comments. The full checklist is in the description.