8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

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8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance

Without
By Samar Owais(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/author/samarowais/). Filed in Web
2.0(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/category/web-20/)

This article is part of our "Guide to Freelancing series" - consisting of guides and tips to help you
becoming a better self-employed. Click here to read more from this
series.(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tag/freelance-guide/)

Quick question: Did you have a freelance (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/out/freelancer) contract when you first
began freelancing? Yeah, me neither. Well, you should. Working without a contract is an invitation to be taken

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8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

advantage of. A contract doesn’t just save you from being fleeced, it also helps streamline your work around a
schedule as well as all those clarified details of what was agreed between you (the provider) and the client from
the beginning. More importantly, it prevents you from double work and headaches down the line.

(Image Source:

Fotolia(http://en.fotolia.com/id/34373212))

If you started freelancing without a contract, I bet it wasn’t long before you felt that you needed one. Maybe a
client reneged on their payment, or asked you to revise your work so many times that you wished you had a
contract with a clause that charged for revisions. All it takes is that one client.

Read Also: 9 Things You Should Know About Freelancing Full-Time (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/things-to-
consider-before-fulltime-freelancing/)

The fear of contracts

We know the importance of contracts but we’re just so intimidated by them! Unless you’re a legal writer, it’s
natural to fear drawing up the document we know as the contract. But here’s the thing: Using simple language is
the best way to avoid confusion. You don’t need a lawyer to draft a contract. You just need to know what works
for you. So grab a paper and pencil (or open up a Word document) and begin drafting your first contract. Don’t
miss out on any of these clauses because you really, really shouldn ‘t freelance without them.

1. Pricing/Rates

The most important thing to ensure sustainability in your services is to make your rates clear. Put them down in
writing during the intiial stages of the project. Do you charge by hour, or by complete project? Make sure your
client is agreeable to the way you charge them, so they wouldn’t dispute and withhold payment thereafter.

If you’re charging by the hour, include a minimum and maximum work-hour clause. "Project Red won’t take less
than X hours and no more than Y." The X is for your security – you’ll get paid for these hours even if you finish
early. The Y is for your client’s security. He won’t have to pay for more than Y no matter how long it takes for you
to finish the job.

2. Payment/Invoicing

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8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

Spell out a payment schedule. Do you work with a half now, half after payment schedule, or with 3 installments of
40-40-20? Some freelancers(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/out/freelancer) prefer 50-25-25. Everyone has a
reason for their preferences. Personally, I prefer to be paid in 3 installments on bigger projects. Usually 40%
upfront, 40% when I send the first draft and the final 20% when I send over the finished copy.

How you get paid also needs to be included in the contract. Do you accept payment via direct deposits, checks
or PayPal? How long a grace period do you give when receiving payment? Some organizations issue payments a
period of time after they receive the invoice. Make sure you have ironed out all these kinks before you start work.

Related: 10 Tips To Invoice Your Freelance Clients Professionally(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/invoice-

freelance-clients-professionally/)

3. Single Point of Contact

Oh boy! This clause is a lifesaver. If you’ve ever worked with a client where you had two or more people giving you
feedback and requesting changes, you will know that this is necessary. By including the ‘single point of contact’
clause, you’re limiting your communication to one person. All the feedback and revision requests need to go
through that one person – whether your client is a soloprenuer or a manager in a big firm.

The larger the team that deals with you, the more internal conflicts they have to iron out. Having a single point of
contact saves you from confusion and double work. You don’t have to waste time and energy trying to satisfy
three points of contact (a.k.a. people with authority to make changes) with different ideas of what they need.

4. Kill Fee

Sometimes, for reasons beyond our control, a project gets canceled after you’ve started working on it. For
freelancers without a contract, it might mean that they won’t get paid for the work they have already done until the
notice of cancellation. A kill fee clause saves you from being the disadvantaged party in case a project gets axed.
It makes sure you’re paid for how much of the work already done since you have spent your time and effort on it,
both of which could be spent on other projects that you may have on the side.

Different freelancers charge different kill fee. Some have an elaborate stage by stage kill fee schedule. Others
charge a flat 50% and some charge as low as 25%. It depends on what seems fair to you – the point is to deliver
some form of compensation on the work that has been done but won’t be put to use.

5. Revisions and rewrites

We’ve all had a client or project where we just can’t seem to get what they want right due to various reasons. It
could be that the client is confused or fickle-minded, or a perfectionist – one who can never be satisfied no matter
how many revisions you do. The worst kind is the one who changes the entire focus or direction of the project,
halfway through the timeline. All prior work poured into the project could become useless, and you will be starting
from scratch but without a revised deadline.

Instead of spending much of your time revising, rewriting, redesigning, recoding etc for hours, a clause in your
contract can make this a painless procedure. Offer a number or free revisions/rewrites and then charge for any
more the client wants done. This would at least reduce the client’s inclination to make changes as he likes, and
start doing revisions that are only necessary. Most freelancers offer 2 free revisions, 3 at most depending on
the nature of the work they offer.

6. ‘Scope Creep’

A ‘Scope Creep’ is exactly what you think it sounds like. It refers to that nasty little bugger who seems innocent
at first but grows into a monster fast. Image a client who pays on time and appreciates your work. It’s the perfect

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8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

client, right? Eventually the Scope Creep will start saying things like, "Hey, we were going through the work and
realized that this will be even more awesome if xyz was added to it. Can you include that too?" You say, "Sure, it
won’t take long, I’ll just quickly add that in." And that’s how it begins.

During the course of the project, this will keep repeating, and over time it will accumulate to a point where you’re
doing more work than you signed up for and you’re not getting paid for it! A scope creep clause is your protection
against it. Reserve your right to adjust the rates of the project should the scope of the job, or amount of work you
have to do is increased significantly. This way the client knows that they are liable to pay extra for any additional
requirements they want to throw in.

7. Copyrights

Depending on the kind of freelancing you do, there are different copyright options available. Freelance writers have
the most copyright options such as first serial rights, print rights, electronic rights etc. For most freelancers
though it boils down to owning the rights until the final payment is made.

(Image Source:

Fotolia(http://en.fotolia.com/id/37390482))

Copyrighting your work is a must if you want to avoid having a client run away without paying for your work or use
it without permission. On the other hand, It’s also a form of protection for your client. If they have made full
payment, they have already bought the copyrights from you, hence they know, and should expect to not find the
work done anywhere elsewhere.

8. Deadline

No freelancer signs on a project without a deadline. A deadline is necessary. A lot of times, freelancers can set
their own deadlines; other times the work is time sensitive so the client sets their own deadline. Either way,
getting it down in writing is a security measure for both you and your client. For the client this prevents the

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8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

freelancer from delaying the completion of the project. For the freelancer it allows for a change in the deadline in
case the client does not get back with the required feedback/information/approval in time.

Having deadline will also allow you to schedule your future work even before you start working on them yet. This
ensures that you don’t take in two projects that need to run simultaneously and yet stil be able to keep your
working schedule filled, giving your income a bit more stability.

Related: Freelancers: 3 Ways to Motivate Yourself When You’re Running

Low (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/freelancers-motivation-tips/)

Conclusion

Now that you know which clauses to include, it shouldn’t take you long to draft out a simple contract. Contrary to
what you might think, this contract doesn’t have to look like a legal document. In fact, you can collect all the
emails you’ve exchanged with the client, transfer the results of your discussions into the document, hammer out
all the details, and compile them. Both of you should acknowledge that you have both read and agreed to the
contents of the contract, sign it and each keep a copy for future reference.

Have I missed anything? Is there another clause that you think one should not freelance without?

You might like:

1. Useful Tips and Guidelines to Freelance Writing

(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/writing-freelance-documents-tips-and-
guidelines/)
2. 10 Tips to Invoice Your Freelance Clients
Professionally
(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/invoice-freelance-
clients-professionally/)
3. Leveraging
Twitter for Your
Freelance
Business

(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tips-leverage-twitter-for-freelance-business/)
4. Freelance Designers: How to Balance Your Work Life
(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/freelance-designers-balance-work-life/)

Author: Sam ar
Ow ais (http://w w w .hongkiat.com/blog/author/samarow ais/)

Samar is a freelance writer, blogger and social media

enthusiast. She offers rock-solid tips for freelance writing
success on her blog The Writing
Base (http://www.thewritingbase.com/) or
SamarOwais.com (http://www.samarowais.com/) and can be found on Twitter talking about writing, freelancing,
productivity (or lack thereof) and travelling at odd hours of the day.

Tags:

clients(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tag/clients/)

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8/19/12 8 Contract Clauses You Should Never Freelance Without

contracts(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tag/contracts/)
freelance (http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tag/freelance/)
Guide to Freelancing(http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tag/freelance-guide/)

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3 comments • 181 reactions 3 Stars

Leave a message...

Discussion Com m unity

L i s a KW • 2 days ago
Yes 8 times, Samar! I've been all the more successful (and happy) because of these
clauses. :)
0 • Reply • Share ›

Rajiv • 3 days ago

Great Samar. I have read one article of yours in the past, and also checked your site. I
appreciate the way you think. Keep it up.
0 • Reply • Share ›

s a m a ro w a i s • 2 days ago • parent

Thank you for the kind words Rajiv :)
0 • Reply • Share ›

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