We’ve worked with lawyers and proofreaders to create a simple independent contractor agreement (PDF and Word) to help save you time and headaches doing compliance in your business.
We’ve worked with lawyers and proofreaders to create a simple independent contractor agreement (PDF and Word) to help save you time and headaches doing compliance in your business.
What’s in this template?An independent contractor is a person or business that provides products or services to other businesses. Unlike employees, contractors don’t have regular work hours and invoice clients to complete specific jobs.
An independent contractor agreement is a legally binding document between the contractor and client that sets forth the terms and conditions for which work is to be completed.
The independent contractor agreement is there to hold all parties accountable for the success of the agreed work.
DISCLAIMER: We are not lawyers or a law firm and we do not provide legal, business or tax advice. We recommend you consult a lawyer or other appropriate professional before using any templates or agreements from this website.
That’s why we’ve designed a fully modifiable independent contractor agreement to streamline your client intake and get on with delivering incredible work.
Click below to grab a copy of our templateYour contract is an essential tool in your business toolkit. After a prospective client inquires about your services, you’ll likely be up against some competition.
This is your moment to send a personalized proposal outlining all of the ways you can help your prospective client reach their goals and stand out from the crowd.
We recommend you attach your contract agreement to your proposal. So not only will your prospects get a clear idea of what value you’ll be adding if they were to hire you, but they also learn about your working conditions to see if they can meet your standards.
Your independent contractor agreement is also a resource to raise client concerns about your conditions. With this knowledge, you can negotiate your contract until you and your client are happy to accept the terms.
Contract agreements can quickly get wordy and confusing; however, there are only a handful of things that really matter to start a contractor relationship.
Below are five key elements when establishing your independent contractor agreement.Sometimes the work of an independent contractor closely resembles the work of an employee. The overlap of responsibilities between contractors and employees can cause a lot of confusion for clients.
Often unknowingly, clients can start treating independent contractors like employees, especially if contractors and employees are working together on projects.
It’s generally understood that the client directs the scope of the work to be completed for a contractor, but they cannot tell the contractor what to do or how to do it. This is what separates employees from contractors.
So it’s essential to mention the nature of the relationship between you, the independent contractor, and the client to mitigate any grey areas of how different roles are treated within the organization.
Your responsibilities are the foundation of your contract agreement. You need to effectively communicate what role you’ll be playing to fulfill the goals of the project.
What are you offering in return for a fee? Your duties could be ongoing or one-off, depending on the nature of the project.
Also, by stating your duties, you can hold your client accountable to stay within the scope of the services you promised.
This is the part of the agreement where you write down your payment terms. There are a few things to consider when it comes to compensation.
How will you be charging the client? The two options are a fixed fee or hourly rate.How will you be paid? Consider all payment methods, including cheque, direct deposit, credit card, etc.
When will you be paid? Communicate to the client how often you expect to be paid.As an independent contractor, you’re regularly exposed to sensitive client information. This could be customer data, team data, or proprietary product design or company processes.
Similarly, your approach to work may be considered proprietary to your business, and you want to keep that confidential.
It’s critical to make mention of confidentiality in your contract to protect sensitive information for all parties.
As much as we’d like our business relationships to last forever, at some point, the work will come to an end.
There needs to be a dedicated section in your independent contractor agreement that outlines the situations in which the contract can be terminated and what notice needs to be provided.
That’s why we’ve designed a fully modifiable independent contractor agreement to streamline your client intake and get on with delivering incredible work.
