What Is a Consultant Agreement?
A consultant agreement is an agreement between a consultant and a client. A consultant is a person who is being paid because of his expertise and he helps his customers about a product or service. A client is a person who uses the services of the professionals or experts. This consultant will provide services to the client under the terms and conditions set in the agreement.
How to Write a Simple Consultant Agreement
May it be a consulting agreement, marketing agreement, sales agreement, retail agreement, or a construction agreement, it is favorable to start everything with an agreement agreed by both parties. If you are stuck at wondering where to start a consultant agreement, perhaps these steps can help you start a consultant agreement professionally. You can also download consulting agreement templates online.
1. Basic Information
List down the people or parties included in the simple contract. You should write the basic details about them like their names or address. If your contractor is an individual, write down his full name and location. If your consultant is a company, provide details about the company, like the company name and the company address.
2. Services Contributed by the Consultant
Write down the services that your consultant will provide to you. Make sure to be specific and do not include here some of the profitable services; place it another part of the basic agreement. It is important to be direct about the services you would like the consultant to give you in order to avoid future problems.
3. List down the Necessary Submissions by the Clients
Sometimes clients fail to contribute the requirements on a given date and schedule. Worse, they blame the consultant for having slow progress. So if you want them to submit on time, you can include the possible effects if they fail to submit on time.
4. Compensation
Be specific with your payment schedule to the contractor. Make sure you engrave details about how they are going to be paid. Do not be uncertain about writing the payment, you don't want to have a misunderstanding especially with cash.
5. Project Schedule
It is salient to have a specific date on when the project will start or when it will end. You may include what will happen if there is a failure to achieve the given schedule of the project.
6. Termination
What are the possible reasons for the termination agreement? What are the grounds for bailing in the project? Do you still give out compensations? Are there refunds? Write it down.
7. Ownership Rights for Made Materials
It is important to give details to the possession of the products or materials made. Make sure to specify what materials are yours and what materials are owned by the other party.
8. Extra Services
You should add the terms for some extra services that are requested by the clients. This is a must because sometimes clients ask for some additional requests and work for the project that are not part of the original plans.
9. Signatures
This is the last part of the basic agreement, make sure to leave spaces for the client's signature and the consultant's signature. These signatures signify that both parties agree to the terms. A study by Gable and Sharp states "that client involvement does not have a direct effect on consultant engagement success, but that has a large, positive indirect effect through client/consultant relations."
