Independent Contractor Agreement Template

Description

As an independent contractor, you work for yourself (but also work for other people). You get to choose how to perform your job (or services), but the clients get a final say-so on the outcome of the job (or service).

Will I own the products I deliver to my client? Or will they own it? What should be included in an independent contractor agreement?

Yeah, it gets confusing. That’s why these contract templates include an additional Plain-English guide to make your life simple.

This independent contractor agreement template is for any person that performs general services, e.g., professional services. So, you can use this general template if you provide a service to another company or client (as an independent contractor).

However, not all independent contractors are the same. So, this independent contractor agreement template comes in 3 versions.

The first version is a basic independent contractor agreement template. It applies to all services that don’t involve creating or delivering a product for the client (under the agreement), e.g., reports, software, proprietary system, or method (Professional Services).

The second version applies to all services that require a product to be delivered to the customer (under the agreement), but you need to maintain your ownership of the product (Deliverable Services).

Some customers may want to own the product. However, depending on the nature of the services or product, this may not be possible. For example, you create a proprietary system or method that allows each client to increase their sales by 70%.

It doesn’t make sense to give away your ownership in this product or system, because you resell (and customize) it for other clients.

Also, this independent contractor agreement avoids the “work for hire” language. So, it allows the contractor to “assign” (or give) their ownership of the product to the Client. Using the “work for hire” language can convert an independent contractor to an employee, e.g., California law.

The third version involves any service that will result in a custom product that the customer will own (Custom Deliverable).

This independent contractor agreement can be used for any of the following services:

• Professional services = any self-employed person hired by a company or person to provide a service or product for a certain time period, e.g., a specific project, specific task, etc.
• Deliverable = any self-employed person hired to create (or deliver) a specific product or service for the client. This agreement allows you to keep your ownership of the product or service you’re selling.
• Custom Deliverable = any self-employed person hired to create (or deliver) a specific product or service for the client. However, the client will own all rights to the delivered product and/or service.

*Please Note: This contract template is for a self-employed contractor who needs a contract to give to their clients. So, if you’re hiring an independent contractor to work for your company, this agreement isn’t designed for that purpose.

About this template:

Each Independent Contractor Agreement Template is 4 pages. These templates can be uploaded to any Word or PDF reader.

You will receive your documents immediately. You can access your documents via the order confirmation page or your email.

*Special instructions: Please download the document(s) immediately. The download link(s) will expire after you download it three (3) times OR after 30 days from your purchase date, whichever happens first.

This template includes: 

• Paragraph(s) that describes how and when fees and expenses for your services will be paid
• Paragraph(s) that describes any warranties (or guarantees) for your services and any limits on these warranties (or guarantees)
• Paragraph(s) that describes what’s considered confidential information and how to handle all confidential information
• Paragraph(s) that describes any damages (and any limits on those damages) that a client can pursue in any lawsuit or claim against you and/or your business
• Paragraph(s) that describe when you will not be legally responsible for completing the contract or services
• Paragraph(s) that describe how long the contract will last
• Paragraph(s) that describe when the contract can be terminated (or ended)
• Paragraph(s) that describe where (or what state) a contract will be settled, disputed, or litigated
• Paragraph(s) that describe how to make any changes to the agreement
• Paragraph(s) that says you own any products that you deliver to the client (Deliverable only)
• Paragraph(s) that says that all ownership in the deliverables (or products or services) and work product will be only owned by the Client (Custom Deliverable only)

What’s included:

Independent Contractor Agreement + Plain-English Guide

• Template:
  • 4 page Independent Contractor Agreement Template (Word format & Fillable PDF)
• C.I.T.E. Guide: the Contract Instructions and Thorough Explanations Guide explains the highlighted fields of the template and provides a Plain-English translation for all the legal terms.

Refunds:

We pride ourselves on delivering the best product possible. And we also stand by our products. So, if for any reason you’re not happy with the purchase, we would love for the opportunity to make it right, even if that means a full refund. We will guarantee a refund if it’s within 14 days of the purchase date. Please visit our Refund Policy for more information.