These guides explain common practice. They are not legal advice. Contract law differs between countries and states, so have a local lawyer check any contract before you rely on it.
Who is agreeing to what
Start with the basics: your business name and the client's legal name, contact details for each, and the date. If the client is a company, make sure the person signing can actually commit it. Then a one-line description of the project, so anyone reading later knows what this agreement is about.
The scope: what is included, and what is not
This is the clause that prevents most disputes. List the deliverables in plain terms: "a five page website", "twelve social posts a month across two platforms", "a logo with three initial concepts". Then say what is not included. Writing down the exclusions feels negative, but it is the line you will point to when a request falls outside the job.
The timeline, and what the client has to provide
Give the key dates and milestones, and make them depend on the client's side as well as yours. If you need content, logins or feedback by a certain date, say so, and say what happens to the schedule if they arrive late. Without this, a client's delay quietly becomes your missed deadline.
Payment, deposit and late fees
- ✓The total fee, or how it is calculated (hourly, daily, per project, monthly retainer).
- ✓The deposit, and that work starts when it is paid.
- ✓When the rest is due: at milestones, on delivery, or monthly.
- ✓How to pay, and the payment terms, such as 14 or 30 days.
- ✓What happens if payment is late, including any late fee or interest you are allowed to charge where you work.
Revisions and changes
Say how many rounds of revisions are included and what counts as one round, for example one set of combined feedback from the client. Then say how extra rounds and new requests are handled: quoted separately, at your hourly rate, or as a written change to the agreement. This is what lets you say yes to a change without working for free.
Who owns the work, and when
Decide who owns the final work and when ownership moves. A common approach is that the client owns the final deliverables once they have paid in full, while you keep your working files, tools and the right to show the work in your portfolio unless they ask you not to.
Do not leave this out because it feels obvious. In the United States, for example, a freelancer usually owns the copyright in what they create unless a signed written agreement transfers it, as the US Copyright Office explains. Clients expect to own what they paid for, so put it in writing.
Use of AI tools
Clients increasingly ask about this. Say whether and how you use AI tools in the work, and how you will tell the client. A short, honest clause now avoids a difficult conversation after delivery.
Cancellation, confidentiality and liability
- ✓Cancellation: how either side can end the agreement, the notice needed, and what the client pays for work already done.
- ✓Confidentiality: that you will keep the client's private information private.
- ✓Liability: a sensible limit on what you can be held responsible for, often capped at the fees paid.
- ✓Signatures: both sides sign and date it. An electronic signature is usually fine.
Add a one-page summary
Most clients will not read twelve pages carefully. A short plain-language summary at the front, covering scope, dates, price, payment and revisions, means the important terms actually get read, and gives you something simple to refer back to.
Seven contracts with these clauses already written. The Creative Contract Bundle has contracts for social media managers, videographers, web designers, graphic and brand designers, copywriters, consultants and virtual assistants. Each covers deposit, revisions, scope, late fees, ownership, AI use and cancellation, opens with a one minute summary for the client, and comes with a clause library of alternative wording.
View in the StoreFrom the Stelaah Store
- ✓Creative Contract Bundle. Seven freelance contract templates in Word and PDF (social media, video, web design, graphic design, copywriting, consulting and virtual assistant) plus a clause library.
- ✓Web Designer Contract. A web designer contract template in Word and PDF with a one minute client summary, covering deposit, revisions, scope, late fees, ownership and AI use.
- ✓Social Media Manager Contract. A social media manager contract template in Word and PDF with a one minute client summary, covering deposit, revisions, scope, late fees, ownership and AI use.
- ✓Trade Contract Packs. 32 editable Word documents for eight service trades: a service agreement, client intake form, invoice and receipt each for photographers, cleaners, event rentals, tutors, caregivers, contractors, designers and personal trainers.
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