Contract templates

Contracts about what may be repeated, by whom, and for how long.

• Two-way confidentiality agreementIn the libraryBoth sides expect to hear things they should not repeat, so both sides promise.
• One-way confidentiality agreementIn the libraryOne side does the telling and the other side does the listening, and only the listener promises.
• Employee confidentiality agreementThe confidentiality promise a person gives their employer, covering what they learn on the job and what happens to it when they leave.
• Investor confidentiality agreementThe confidentiality contract used around a fundraise or a diligence process, where one side opens its books and the other reads them.
• Non-circumvention agreementUsed when one side makes an introduction and wants the other side not to go around them and deal direct.

Work done for somebody else: the scope, the money, the ownership, the exit.

• Services agreementIn the libraryThe contract behind ongoing work for a client: what you will do, what it costs, who owns the result, and how either side ends it.
• Statement of workThe short contract that names one job under a services agreement: what is being made, by when, and for how much.
• Consulting agreementFor advice and expertise rather than a delivered object: what the consultant does, what they are paid, and who owns what comes out of it.
• Independent contractor agreementBetween a business and a person working for themselves: the work, the pay, the ownership, and the fact that this is not a job.
• Freelance agreementA short services contract for one freelancer and one client: the job, the fee, the revisions, and the point at which the work changes hands.
• Retainer agreementA recurring fee for a standing arrangement: what is included each period, what rolls over, and how either side stops it.
• Design services agreementFor design work: The brief, the rounds, the source files, and who owns the marks and drawings at the end.
• Development services agreementFor software being built to order: scope, acceptance, source code, open-source components, and what happens after launch.
• Marketing services agreementFor marketing work: the services, the fee, who holds the ad accounts, and who is responsible for what goes out.
• Subcontractor agreementWhen a supplier hires another supplier to do part of the job, and the terms above have to reach all the way down.

Hiring, the terms of a job, and the contracts that end one.

• Offer letter, CaliforniaIn the libraryThe letter that turns a decision to hire into something written down: the role, the pay, the start date and the terms.
• Employment agreementThe full terms of a job: duties, pay, hours, holiday, notice, and the promises that carry on after the person leaves.
• Fixed-term employment agreementEmployment with an end date written in: what ends it, whether it can be cut short, and what happens if the work carries on.
• Internship agreementFor an intern or a placement: what the work is, what is learned, what is paid, and who owns what gets made.
• Separation agreementThe contract that ends an employment relationship on agreed terms: the last day, what is paid, and what each side gives up.
• Non-compete agreementA restriction on where somebody may work or trade next.
• Non-solicitation agreementA promise not to approach named customers or staff for a period after a relationship ends.
• Remote work agreementHow working away from an office runs: where the work happens, what equipment is provided, and what security applies.

Goods and stock moving between businesses, and the terms they move on.

• Sales agreementOne party sells and the other buys: what is being sold, for how much, when title passes, and who carries the risk on the way.
• Purchase order termsThe buyer's standard conditions attached to every order it places, and the reason an order is not simply accepted as written.
• Terms of saleThe seller's standard conditions, published or attached to every quote and invoice, so each sale runs on the same terms.
• QuotationA priced offer with a shelf life: what is included, what it costs, how long the price holds, and what turns it into a contract.
• Distribution agreementA distributor buys and resells in a territory: exclusivity, targets, pricing freedom, branding, and what happens to stock at the end.
• Reseller agreementA partner sells your product to its own customers: margin, who holds the customer contract, support, and how the brand is used.
• Supply agreementA standing arrangement to keep supplying: volumes, lead times, prices over time, quality, and what happens when supply fails.
• Agency agreementAn agent sells on your behalf for commission without taking title, which is a different legal animal from a distributor.
• Manufacturing agreementSomebody else makes your product: specifications, tooling, quality, minimum runs, and who owns the design.

Subscriptions, licences, interfaces and the promises made about uptime.

• SaaS subscription agreementAccess to hosted software for a fee: what the subscription includes, what the customer may do with it, and whose data is whose.
• Software licence agreementPermission to use software that is installed rather than hosted: scope, seats, term, source code and what may not be done to it.
• End-user licence agreementThe terms a person accepts when installing an app: what they may do with it, what they may not, and what is not promised.
• API terms of useThe rules for developers calling your interface: what the keys allow, rate limits, data handling, and when access can be cut off.
• Service level agreementThe measurable promises attached to a service: availability, response times, how they are measured, and what happens when they are missed.
• Beta testing agreementFor software that is not finished: what the tester may do, what feedback is worth, and the plain warning that things will break.
• Pilot agreementA short evaluation before a full contract: what is being tested, how success is judged, and what happens next either way.
• Referral agreementSomebody sends business your way for a fee: what counts as a referral, when the fee is earned, and how long it is paid.
• Affiliate agreementTerms for a tracked-link programme: how commission is attributed and paid, what promotion is allowed, and what gets an account closed.
• Maintenance and support agreementKeeping something working after it is delivered: what is covered, how issues are raised, and what counts as new work.

What happens to somebody else's personal information while you hold it.

• Data handling agreement, USIn the libraryThe data half of a services relationship, written for United States practice: what changes hands, what may be done with it, how long it is kept.
• Data handling agreement, globalIn the libraryThe same job as the US data contract, written for work that crosses borders — the version a European customer usually asks for.
• Health data agreementIn the libraryThe contract a company asks for when work touches health information belonging to somebody else's patients.
• Data sharing agreementTwo organisations exchange data as equals rather than as customer and supplier: what is shared, why, and what each may do with it.

Written to be posted on a site rather than sent to one person.

• Website termsIn the libraryThe rules of your site or app, addressed to the people using it: what they may do, what you promise, and how it ends.
• Privacy policy, USIn the libraryThe public page saying what you collect from the people who use your product, what you do with it, and who else sees it.
• Privacy policy, US and EuropeIn the libraryThe same public page, written for a product with users on both sides of the Atlantic — the version to publish when readers are in Europe.
• Cookie noticeIn the libraryThe short public notice saying what your site stores in a visitor's browser and why, and how they change their mind.

Who owns a thing that was made, and who is allowed to use it.

• IP assignment agreementOwnership of something made moves from one party to another: what is assigned, from when, and what the assignor promises.
• Intellectual property licencePermission to use somebody else's intellectual property without owning it: scope, territory, exclusivity, term and royalties.
• Trademark licence agreementPermission to use somebody else's name or logo, with the quality control that keeps the mark worth using.
• Work-for-hire agreementThe client commissions work and takes ownership from the start, with an assignment behind it in case the concept does not apply.
• Content licence agreementPermission to publish somebody else's photographs, writing, music or video: where, for how long, and in what form.
• Invention assignment agreementThe contract making clear that work made on the job belongs to the company, with a list of what the person already owned.

Founders, shareholders, advisors, and money lent or invested.

• Advisor agreementIn the libraryFor somebody giving time and judgement rather than delivery work, usually for equity or a small fee.
• Founders' agreementWhat the founders agreed between themselves: the split, the vesting, the roles, and what happens when one of them leaves.
• Shareholders' agreementHow the owners of a company deal with each other: decisions, share transfers, information rights and what happens on an exit.
• Convertible loan agreementMoney lent now that is expected to become shares later: what converts it, on what terms, and what happens if nothing does.
• Agreement for future equityAn investor pays now for shares issued later, without a loan or a repayment date.
• Board consentA decision of a board or of shareholders recorded in writing instead of at a meeting.
• Loan agreementMoney lent on terms: how much, what interest, how it is repaid, what security there is, and what counts as default.
• Promissory noteA one-sided written promise to pay a sum: how much, to whom, when, and what happens if it is not paid.
• Partnership agreementTwo or more people running a business together without a company between them: contributions, profits, decisions and exits.

Space and equipment held for a time under somebody else's title.

• Commercial leaseBusiness premises taken for a term: the rent, the repairs, what the space may be used for, and how the lease ends.
• Residential tenancy agreementA home let to a tenant: rent, deposit, repairs, house rules, and how either side ends it.
• Sublease agreementA tenant lets part or all of its space to somebody else, with the head lease still sitting above the whole arrangement.
• Licence to occupyPermission to use space without a tenancy: no exclusive possession, shorter notice, and none of the protections a lease carries.
• Equipment leaseMachinery, vehicles or kit held for a period: the hire charge, who maintains it, who insures it, and what happens if it breaks.

The everyday agreements that still deserve to be written down.

• Personal loan agreementMoney lent between people rather than businesses: how much, whether interest is charged, and how it comes back.
• Roommate agreementBetween the people sharing a home rather than with the landlord: rent shares, bills, chores, guests and moving out.
• Pet care agreementFor somebody looking after an animal: the dates, the routine, the vet arrangements, and what happens in an emergency.
• Event vendor agreementFor a supplier at an event: what they provide, when they arrive, what happens if it rains, and what happens if it is cancelled.
• Photography agreementFor a shoot: the date, the deliverables, who owns the images, what the client may do with them, and what the photographer may show.
• Tutoring agreementFor lessons: the schedule, the rate, the cancellation rule, and what is expected of a student and, where relevant, a parent.
• Coaching agreementFor a coaching engagement: the programme, the sessions, confidentiality, and a plain statement of what coaching is not.
• Bill of saleA short record that an item changed hands: what it was, what was paid, the condition it was in, and who sold it.

What is signed before a deal, alongside it, and when it stops.

• Letter of intentThe shape of a deal written down before the real contract: mostly not binding, except for the parts that are.
• Memorandum of understandingA written record of what two organisations intend to do together, usually without creating obligations either can enforce.
• Term sheetThe commercial terms of an investment or a deal on a page or two, agreed before the long documents are written.
• Settlement agreementThe contract that ends a dispute on agreed terms: what is paid or done, what each side gives up, and what may be said about it.
• Release and waiverOne party gives up a claim, or accepts a known risk before taking part in something.
• Power of attorneyOne person authorises another to act for them.
• GuaranteeOne party promises to answer for another's obligation if it is not met — commonly a director or a parent company.
• Amendment agreementA short contract that changes an existing contract: which clauses move, what they now say, and what stays exactly as it was.
• Termination agreementEnding a contract by agreement rather than by notice: the last day, what is still owed, and which terms carry on.