Freelance agreement template

Businesses often hire freelancers to support on projects that they don't have the expertise or capacity to do in-house. This means that companies can manage numerous of freelancer contracts at any one time.

This guide will explore how you can manage these freelance agreements more efficiently. We'll also give you a freelance agreement template that you can use to get started.

What is a freelance agreement?

A freelance agreement is a legally binding contract between a business and an independent contractor, often referred to as a freelancer.

The freelancer agreement outlines the specifics of the services to be performed, the compensation, deadlines, confidentiality, and other terms and conditions.

Also known as an independent contractor agreement, this legal document helps both parties to understand and agree on their respective obligations and expectations, ensuring they are fully aligned.

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What is the purpose of a freelance agreement?

The primary purpose of a freelance agreement is to outline the rights, responsibilities, and expectations of both the client and the freelancer.

This agreement is designed to provide a clear roadmap for the project, minimizing potential disagreements and helping to maintain a smooth working relationship between both parties.

Who is responsible for managing freelance work agreements?

The responsibility of managing freelance agreements typically falls on the client's shoulders.

More specifically, freelance agreements will involve input from HR, procurement or legal teams, depending on the company's risk appetite, structure and capacity.

But in some instances, the freelancer will manage and initiate the contract themselves.

No matter who drafts the contract, it's beneficial for both parties to maintain copies of the agreement and to revisit it regularly to ensure compliance with the outlined terms.

What does a freelance agreement template typically include?

The contents of a freelance agreement can vary considerably depending on the service the freelancer is providing and the implications of this.

However, most freelance agreements will have the same main components:

• ‍Parties involved: The agreement should clearly state the names and contact information of both the client and freelancer.‍

• Services to be provided: This section outlines the scope of work or project description in detail. It includes the type of work, tasks to be performed, deliverables, quality standards, and possible revisions.‍

• Duration of the contract: This outlines how long a contract lasts. It might also include information about project milestones or deadlines for individual tasks

• ‍Payment terms: This part covers the payment amount, method, schedule, and any additional expenses. It might also address what happens in case of late payments or non-payment.‍

• Confidentiality clause: This clause ensures the freelancer will not disclose sensitive information they might gain access to during the course of their work. You should also get your freelancer to sign an NDA.‍

• Intellectual property rights: This section addresses who will own the rights to the work produced. Usually, the client will want full ownership, but this should be explicitly stated to avoid any future disputes.‍

• Termination conditions: This part outlines the circumstances under which the contract can be terminated, by either party. It should include notice period details and consequences for breach of contract.‍

• Dispute resolution: This clause outlines the steps to be taken if a disagreement arises. It might specify negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or litigation, and possibly the jurisdiction that will govern the dispute.‍

• Liability and indemnity: This section is designed to protect both parties from legal liability. It may include an indemnity clause, in which one party agrees to compensate the other for any harm, liability, or loss.‍

• Force majeure: This clause frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond their control prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their contractual obligations.‍

• Amendment provision: This provision explains how changes to the contract can be made, usually requiring written agreement from both parties.

Note that for some professions like accounting, law and consulting, a Letter of Engagement may be preferable to a freelance agreement.

What is the traditional workflow for managing freelance agreements?

Understanding who manages freelance agreements is one thing. But how do you actually create and manage them?

Well, this depends on how businesses structure their relationships with freelancers, what their internal process looks like, and whether they use a freelance contract template or not.

The process can be particularly painful for businesses that operate without a freelance agreement template.

It means drafting each contract from scratch, reviewing it internally, and obtaining necessary approvals. In businesses with a lot of stakeholders, this can require a lot fo time and resource.

Imagine the project manager or HR department having to do this every time they contract a new freelancer. It's not a sustainable approach, especially for businesses planning to scale with the help of freelancers.

How can a freelance agreement template help?

Fortunately, many businesses will have a freelance agreement template to hand today.

Having one stored and ready to be customized means no more waiting wait around for legal support to draft an agreement every time they hire a new freelancer. Instead, project managers can self-serve on creating freelancer agreements.

This streamlined process helps to reduce the time between finding the right freelancer and getting the project started, capturing the best talent before they are snapped up elsewhere.

But the process of managing freelance agreements still isn't painless. There's still quite a bit of manual work required to get the freelance agreements over the line.

When these agreements are managed in Word, project managers or HR teams have to manually add all of the freelancer's data and update the conditions within the contract to reflect the terms of arrangement.

This can be a painstaking process as Word documents are static files. Adjusting a freelance agreement template usually entails creating new versions and copying certain sections of the agreement into a new file to update the conditions.

This means that, even with a freelance agreement template in place, managing these contracts manually can be a repetitive and time-consuming task.

Can you automate freelance agreements?

Fortunately, freelance agreements are among the routine contracts that can be automated quickly and easily in Juro. This is made possible through a few different features.

Automated contract templates

‍Juro's automated contract templates empower project managers to generate freelance agreements in seconds using terms pre-approved by legal. This empowers project managers to self-serve confidently on contract creation.

AI legal assistant

Juro's AI legal assistant can also be used to draft entire contracts or individual contract clauses. This makes it quick and easy to customize freelancer agreement templates to reflect the requirements and risks of specific projects.

Seamless integrations

Juro integrates seamlessly with popular project management platforms like Monday.com and Asana, allowing seamless data transfer from these systems into the contract's smart fields, effectively doing away with manual data entry.

Browser-based redlining

It's natural for freelancers to negotiate the terms of a freelancer agreement, especially if the scope of work increases during the contract process. Fortunately, Juro's browser-based contract negotiation features make it easy for freelancers can easily clarify doubts or propose changes as they can add comments directly onto the contract.

Legally binding eSignatures

‍Juro's mobile-responsive eSignature functionality allows freelancers to promptly review and sign agreements, no matter where they are.

By automating the management of freelance agreements, businesses can save time, increase accuracy, and focus more on the projects at hand.

Generate freelance agreements in seconds with Juro

Hiring a freelancer is all about reducing the workload for your team, so don't let clunky, manual contract processes add to your plate.

Juro’s AI contract collaboration platform enables your team to create, execute and manage contracts 10x faster than traditional tools. With Juro, you can:

• Agree contracts 10x faster with AI
• Safely automate 75 per cent of routine contract admin
• Keep control of contracts as volumes grow
• Get instant insight into your contracts’ data

To find out more about how Juro can speed up the process of creating, signing and managing contracts, hit the button below.