Freelance Statement of Work
Project-scoped agreement for independent contractors and freelancers.
What it is
A freelance Statement of Work captures the specifics of a single engagement: scope, deliverables, timeline, fees, and acceptance criteria. It can stand alone or sit under an MSA.
When you'd use one
- Short, fixed-scope freelance projects (design, copy, development).
- Milestone-based engagements with clear deliverables.
- When you want a lightweight contract that can be signed in minutes.
Clauses a good one has
- Scope of Work
- A concrete description of deliverables and what is out of scope.
- Timeline and Milestones
- Dates or durations for each milestone, with dependencies from the client.
- Fees and Payment
- Fixed price, hourly, or milestone payments; invoicing and payment windows.
- Acceptance Criteria
- How deliverables are reviewed and signed off, and what counts as rejection.
- IP Assignment
- Client generally owns deliverables on full payment; freelancer retains background IP.
- Independent Contractor Status
- Explicit statement that the freelancer is not an employee and handles their own taxes.
Jurisdictional variants
The same contract type looks different depending on where it will be enforced. Pick a jurisdiction to see required clauses and a worked example.
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