Freelance Service Agreement

What a good one includes

• A detailed, itemized description of the deliverables and services to prevent scope creep throughout the project.
• Clear payment terms, including deposit requirements, milestone schedules, late fees, and accepted payment methods.
• Explicit clauses defining when intellectual property rights transfer to the client, ideally only after full payment is received.
• A termination clause outlining how either party can end the contract and how completed work will be compensated up to that point.
• A specific limit on the number of revision rounds included in the initial price, along with the billing rate for extra modifications.
• Mutual non-disclosure terms to protect both your proprietary methods and the client's sensitive business information.
• A designated governing law and step-by-step process for resolving disagreements before they escalate to litigation.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Commencing project work based on a verbal agreement or informal email thread before the contract is formally signed.
• Writing a vague scope of work that allows clients to demand extra revisions and additional deliverables without extra pay.
• Transferring the copyrights of your work to the client upon creation rather than delaying the transfer until the final payment clears.
• Failing to include a late payment interest clause, which leaves you without leverage when a client ignores your invoice due dates.

Frequently asked questions