Freelance contract template

Freelance contract

Starting text for counsel. Replace every bracket. Do not ask anyone to sign until a lawyer has adapted this text to the parties and to the law that will govern it.

This freelance contract is made on [Effective date] between [Freelancer legal name], of [Freelancer address] ("Freelancer"), and [Client legal name], of [Client address] ("Client"). It covers one project. It is not an offer of employment and it does not promise a later project.

1. The project

The Freelancer will deliver [Deliverables] for the project named [Project name]. The fee covers only that list. A new page, a new feature, or a new direction is a change, and it starts only after both parties sign a written change that states the extra fee and the new date. The Freelancer chooses the hours and the method, and supplies the tools, unless [Tools note] says the Client will provide a specific access or file.

2. Revisions

The fee includes [Revision rounds] rounds of revision. A revision is a correction of the deliverable against the written brief. A new concept, a new audience, or a request that throws away the approved direction is a new assignment, not a revision. The Client gathers comments into one set per round. Extra rounds are billed at [Extra revision fee] and start only after the Client approves that fee in writing.

3. Fee and pause

The Client pays [Fee] in [Currency]. [Deposit] is due before work starts, and the rest is due [Balance timing]. The Client pays within [Payment days] days of the invoice. If a payment is overdue by more than [Overdue days] days after notice, the Freelancer may pause and withhold unreleased files until the overdue amount is paid. The pause does not waive the fee for work already done.

4. Portfolio and credit

After the Client has published the work, or after [Portfolio delay] days from final payment if the Client has not published it, the Freelancer may show the work in a portfolio unless [Credit rule] forbids it. If the Client requires anonymity, the Freelancer follows that rule and does not name the Client. The Freelancer does not show drafts the Client rejected.

5. If the Client stops

The Client may stop the project with written notice. The Client then pays for work done through the stop date, plus [Kill fee] if counsel keeps a kill fee. The Freelancer delivers the paid work in the state it has reached. Fees already earned are not refunded because the Client changed its mind. If the Freelancer stops without cause, the Freelancer delivers the paid work and counsel writes the refund rule at [Freelancer stop rule].

6. Status and ownership

The Freelancer is an independent contractor, handles their own taxes, and does not receive employee benefits. That sentence does not decide employment status. Counsel compares it with the real working relationship. On full payment, the Client receives [Ownership grant] in the final deliverables. The Freelancer keeps preexisting tools listed at [Preexisting tools]. The laws of [Governing law] govern this text, and the parties name the courts of [Courts].

7. Materials and delay

The Client supplies the brief, the brand files, the access, and the decisions by [Materials date]. If the Client is late, the delivery date moves by at least the same number of days, and the Freelancer may pause. The Freelancer is not responsible for a claim in the Client's own words. The Client checks those words before they are published. When the Freelancer gives notice of a delay, the missing items are listed at [Missing materials], so the cause of the delay is written down and not argued later.

8. Private information

Each party keeps the other's non-public information private and uses it only to do this project. The duty lasts for [Confidentiality period] after the project ends. The Freelancer does not show the Client's unreleased product, prices, or customer names in a portfolio. A law may require a disclosure, and when the law allows notice the party gives it. At the end, on request, each party returns or deletes the other's files, except one copy that a law or a backup requires.

9. When a delivery is accepted

The Client reviews each delivery within [Review days] days and accepts it or rejects it in writing, pointing to the brief. A new wish is a change, not a rejection. If the Client uses the delivery in public during the review, counsel decides whether that use counts as acceptance and writes the rule at [Use rule]. Silence is not acceptance unless that sentence is in the PDF. After acceptance, further changes are extra work at the extra revision fee.

Signatures

Freelancer

Name: [Freelancer signatory name]

Title: [Freelancer signatory title]

Signature: ______________________________

Date: [Freelancer signature date]

Client

Name: [Client signatory name]

Title: [Client signatory title]

Signature: ______________________________

Date: [Client signature date]