4 top tips to protect yourself using a contract for freelance work

In this guide, our legal team will delve into their four top tips to safeguard yourself, your freelance work and your revenue by using a water-tight freelancer contract. From establishing clear expectations to securing your payment terms and intellectual property (IP) rights, these tips will equip you with the knowledge and tools necessary to navigate the intricacies of freelance work terms confidently.

1. Good contract management

Good contract management is crucial to a successful freelance career. Essentially this boils down to three things: have a written contract, get it signed and store it safely. When it comes to doing freelance work, remembering these three golden rules sets the stage for an organised, professional working relationship with your clients. We know this is actually 3 tips - so we'll break down the importance of each one by one:

• Have a written contract

As a freelancer, your contract is your main form of protection when it comes to your revenue, your time and your liability with your clients. Having a written contract for freelance work is therefore essential. Even if the project is small, relying solely on a verbal agreement provides little to no protection and introduces significant uncertainty for both parties.

By agreeing to a freelancer contract in writing, you establish clear expectations regarding the services and deliverables you will provide, outline the project details along with your payment terms, and clarify the terms of your engagement. Without a written contract, you risk misunderstandings, disputes, and potential loss of income.

An easy way to ensure that you remember to provide your clients with a written contract for freelance work is by having a ready-made template that will streamline this process. You can find Docue's fully customisable template here. All you need to do is answer a series of questions and the contract will be tailored to you, so you can focus on securing and providing top-quality freelance work!

For a deeper dive into the benefits of ensuring you have a written contract in place for freelance work, read this guide.

• Get it signed

Once you’ve created your contract detailing the freelance work along with your terms of engagement, ensure that you and your client sign it. This shows that both parties have accepted the terms of the contract and are legally bound by them.

In the absence of a signed contract, this leaves room for ambiguity in the project scope and IP rights in the deliverables, as well as the client's payment obligations which can lead to disputes later on.

For example, if you and your client verbally agreed that the client would pay 50% of the full fee at a halfway milestone and the remaining 50% on completion of the project, without a signed contract, it may be difficult to prove that this was agreed if your client refuses to pay you. If these payment terms were recorded in a written freelancer contract which both parties have signed, it serves as evidence of the agreed-upon terms and strengthens your position in case of disputes.

Using an electronic signature is a quick and efficient way to agree to the terms of your freelancer engagement – for more information about Docue’s e-signature feature, click here.

• Store it safely:

Freelancing for multiple clients inevitably results in an accumulation of numerous folders on your desktop, or worse—buried in a reclusive e-mail in your inbox. Without a centralised document repository, it's easy to misplace crucial documents when you need them most. By securely storing your signed legal documents, you can swiftly find a specific contract with just a click—providing peace of mind in case any issues with a client need to be resolved by referring to a certain clause later on.

A great advantage to using Docue is the ability to store the freelancer contract in Docue’s storage vault, Docue Drive, to ensure you always have quick and easy access to your contracts in one place with handy reminders.

2. Be precise about the services and deliverables you will provide

Your contract should outline exactly what is expected of you and the timeframe for completion. You should be specific when it comes to each of the parties’ responsibilities, along with the tasks, deliverables, and any deadlines, to ensure that you set clear expectations with your client from the outset. This clarity helps to prevent the scope of work from creeping beyond what was initially agreed upon and ensures that both parties are on the same page regarding project requirements.

For example, if you're offering advice on a specific project, launching a campaign, or developing a piece of code for the client, it's crucial to outline these tasks explicitly in the contract. Additionally, detailing the deliverables, such as the advice, report, or code, helps the client understand what tangible materials they can expect on completion of the services. This prevents a client from saying "I thought you were also going to do [XYZ] within the fixed fee?".

It's important to communicate your preferred method of communication to your client. Additionally, depending on the nature of your freelance services, you should also establish any limits on edits or revisions per project. For instance, many freelance content creators or freelance copywriters may only offer a set number of editing rounds per project. These kinds of terms should be set out in the contract to avoid misunderstandings and save each party's time in the future.

Being precise about the scope of work demonstrates your commitment to delivering quality work and ensures that both parties are aligned on the project objectives from the outset. For more information about what should be included in your scope of work, read this step-by-step guide.

3. Include crystal clear payment terms

Cashflow is crucial in the freelance game, and your payment terms should dictate exactly how and when you will receive payment from your clients. When freelancing, your focus should be on delivering top-quality services, not chasing late payments. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that your payment terms are crystal clear in your contract.

Your contract should eliminate any ambiguity regarding payment expectations. Specify the amount to be paid, the agreed-upon payment schedule, method of payment, and any upfront deposits or milestone payments.

As a freelancer, defining these terms before starting any project is essential. Whether you work on an hourly/day rate basis or prefer fixed rates with upfront or milestone payments, clarity is key to smooth operations. Docue's sample contract for freelance work contract ensures that you include these terms in each of your client contracts.

Finally – what happens if your client doesn’t pay on time? Although it’s the bane of most freelancers’ lives, there may be occasions when you need to chase clients who have failed to pay your invoices on time. For this reason, it’s essential that your contract addresses the consequences of late payments, providing a mechanism for recourse if necessary.

4. Ensure your IP clause aligns with your intentions

Intellectual property rights are legal rights that protect creations of the mind, such as copyrights, trademarks, and patents. When you create original intellectual property as part of your freelance work, you, as the creator are automatically the owner of the IP. However, depending on the terms of your contract, ownership of the IP may be assigned or licensed to the client so they can use it.

As a general rule of thumb, a freelancer’s terms will usually confirm that the freelancer owns the intellectual property rights in the freelance works until the client has made full and final payment. After this, the IP rights will be assigned to the client. This ensures that the client pays you before they use your work without your permission.

It is also common for freelancers to include terms that state any intellectual property created by the freelancer will continue to be owned by the freelancer but will be licensed to the client, either for the duration of the project or perpetually (i.e. forever).

The structure of your intellectual property clause is entirely up to you (and to some degree, based upon your client’s wishes). However, you should ensure that the wording of the clause aligns with your intentions. As a freelancer, you may create or utilise important IP as part of your freelance work that you would not want to inadvertently assign to anyone else by way of your own contract terms. For this reason, freelancers must take the utmost care when drafting or agreeing to IP clauses to ensure the terms reflect their intentions to protect themselves, their intangible assets and ultimately, their revenue.

Why choose Docue to create your contract for freelance work?

Simplicity: Docue offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for you to a create high-quality freelance work contract that looks professional and safeguards your interests. Say goodbye to complex, fragmented contract processes and hello to an efficient contract creation and management system.

Secure: Once you've customised the template to suit you needs, you can safely send it to your clients via the platform for e-signature. With Docue's robust security measures, you can rest assured that your contracts are protected throughout the signing process. Additionally, storing your contracts with Docue Drive, ensures quick and easy access to your documents whenever you need them.

Organisation: With Docue, you'll never miss a contract deadline again. The platform offers convenient reminders that keep you informed of upcoming deadlines, ensuring that you stay on top of your contractual obligations. Docue alleviates the stress of tracking and managing important contract deadlines manually, so you can focus on providing top-quality freelance work.

Sign up now to use Docue's templatefor freelance work.