Build your own consulting contract using this sample form

Overview Both independent consultants and their clients benefit when they're working with a solid contract. Download this sample contract from TechRepublic member and IT consultant Randy Barger as a guide for preparing your next consulting agreement.

E-mail makes it easy to assume a fairly informal relationship with your clients. But some interactions, such as business agreements, still call for a degree of formality. Without a written contract, you're completely without recourse no matter what the event--if the client refuses to pay, the project is changed or killed midway through, or the client tries to lower the price after you've done the work.

A contract specifies exactly what you'll do as the consultant, what the client must give you, and provisions for getting your money if the project is stalled solely because the client isn't giving you the proper resources to complete it. This sample contract can serve as a guide for creating your own contract documents. It addresses issues such as:

• Duties, terms, and compensation
• Expenses
• Written reports
• Confidentiality and conflict of interest
• Termination

Join the discussion of this download.