Most freelancers especially first-timers, quickly jump at projects with clients. It is important to draft and sign a freelancer agreement document before working with any client as a freelancer.

This is due to the fact that, without a contract, you are subject to concerns such as nonpayment, scope creep, and copyright conflicts. Not signing a freelance agreement form can be a potentially devastating decision with far-reaching consequences.

Hence, it is important that every influencer draft and sign a freelance agreement before taking up any freelancing gigs, irrespective of who the client is; an independent client or a mutual friend.

This guide contains Freelancer agreement templates, what should be included in a freelancer agreement document, and some myths about freelancer agreement documents.

What is a freelancer agreement?

A Freelance Agreement is a contract between the customer (the person or organization engaging the freelancer) and the freelancer (the party providing the services). The freelancer agrees to supply specified freelancing services in exchange for a fee under a Freelance Agreement.

This agreement is sealed with a document simply showing this agreement. This document can be used by a freelancer who is about to start a new relationship with a client or by a client who is about to engage a new freelancer.

The form filler will be able to include relevant identifying facts in this document, such as whether the parties are people or corporations, as well as their respective addresses and contact information. Also, he/she should input the most significant aspects of the parties’ agreement, such as the type of freelancing services, fee information, and, of course, how the agreement will end.

What should be included in a Freelancer agreement?

Some important non-negotiables that should be in a freelancer’s agreement are:

• A concise introductory statement: This merely introduces the primary parties to the independent contractor agreement and briefly describes the arrangement.
• Terms and conditions of employment: As a freelancer, you can’t afford to doubt crucial customer expectations, whether they’re activities you’re expected to complete or products you anticipate getting from the client (that help you accomplish your job). As a result, make certain that all gray regions are well-defined here.
• The Project’s Scope: This will help you prevent scope creep and allow you to devote more time and effort to paid employment. To avoid this, you should include the scope of the task in your freelancing contract template.
• Salary and perks: You should describe the entire payment system for a typical project or role. This should include the following information: the cost of each delivery, the overall cost of the project, the payment mechanism the customer will use, perks, late payment costs, and what will happen if payment is not made on time. All of this should be well-defined.
• Modifications and Revisions: Closely connected to the scope of your project, here is another part where you must specify how you will handle requested adjustments, revisions, or additions to your initial freelancing contract.
• Legal binding or/and a non-disclosure agreement, known as NDA: A legal disclaimer releases you from accountability for various issues that clients may hold against you. This should include lost profits, NDAs, savings, and other indirect losses. Make sure a lawyer reviews this section of your contract.

Other important things that should be included in a freelancer agreement are:

• Copyright
• Termination
• Signatures

Freelancer agreement template

There are different freelancer agreement templates. Here are some websites that provide free freelancer agreement templates:

1. Jotform: Using a template saves freelancers time, but most online generators have limited capabilities. Jotform has a library of ready-made freelancer agreements in PDF format that are entirely customizable and free to use in order to solve the challenges and less featured templates.
2. RyobRobinson:
3. Wonder.legal: This website is a legal company based in the USA that provides several free legal document templates, including a freelancer agreement template. This template can also be modified to meet the needs of the freelancer.

Demystifying myths about Freelancer agreement

There are certain myths about freelancer agreements that need to be demystified. They include

1. Word of mouth also serves as a freelancer agreement: Word of mouth does not serve as a freelancer agreement because, except if recorded, it does not have any legal backing, and it is highly contestable. the purpose of a freelancer agreement document is to protect both or all parties involved in the contract.
2. A freelancer agreement is the same as an employment agreement: A Freelancing Agreement is not an Employment Agreement; freelance partnerships are independent contractor relationships that may or may not be organized in employment relationships.
3. Freelancer agreements are also service agreements: They are both similar, but they vary in that they are written particularly for a freelance partnership, as opposed to any form of service arrangement.