Consulting Agreement Template

We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to pull together a simple consulting agreement template (PDF and Word) to help streamline your practice and secure more clients.

Free Consulting Agreement Template

We’ve worked with legal experts and proofreaders to pull together a simple consulting agreement template (PDF and Word) to help streamline your practice and secure more clients.

What’s in this template?

Click below to download our sample consulting agreement

What is a consulting agreement, and why is it important?

Consultants are paid to give expert advice to individuals and businesses in professional or technical fields. You’ve spent years building up your experience to be in a position to help clients get the results they want.

How you approach your consulting work is dependent on your client’s needs and the industry they’re in. Every situation is unique, and you need a place to capture the essential details of every engagement.

A consulting contract is a formal agreement between consultant and client, which lays out the terms and conditions for which the work is to be performed.

Consultants need to get paid for their expertise, and clients want results for that investment. Without contractual agreement in place, this risk is that payments could be missed, inaccurate advice is given, and all parties walk away dissatisfied.

The worst-case scenario is the relationship between consultants and clients sour to the point of costly legal disputes.

A consulting services agreement keeps everyone accountable and focused on reaching professional goals.

DISCLAIMER: We are not lawyers or a law firm and we do not provide legal, business or tax advice. We recommend you consult a lawyer or other appropriate professional before using any templates or agreements from this website.

Get access to our Consulting Agreement

Pitching and tendering for consulting work can be a tedious process. That’s why we’ve designed a standard consultancy agreement to take some of the pressure off you when you’re trying to grow your client base.

Click below to download our free consultant agreement

When to use a consulting contract

A signed consulting contract represents a new paying client, which is an exciting prospect for professionals.

With such a powerful business document, it’s important to understand when to introduce your consultant agreement to potential clients.

Consultants usually source new business from client referrals, strategic networking, and content marketing. Hopefully, by the time a prospect reaches out to inquire about your services, you’ve already established some credibility to take the relationship further.

You do a thorough analysis of your client’s bottlenecks and put together a detailed proposal outlining all of the issues in their current practices and how you can improve their results.

It’s at this point you can start some dialogue about your contract. This is a critical moment in your client intake process as you need to draw the line between free advice and paid work. When a client is confident in your approach, naturally, they’ll want to know about the services you offer and your payment terms to get the job done.

Your contract is also a reference document to follow up on prospects to see if they had any concerns about your terms and conditions. It’s a great way to extract objections and find common ground to close the deal.

The elements of a consulting agreement

Consulting agreements can be long and confusing. However, we’ve found that they’re only a handful of components that really matter.

Below are five key elements when establishing your consulting contract.

1. Services

Services are at the essence of your consulting agreement. What are you offering in exchange for a premium fee? The quality of your offerings is going to come down to how well you’ve interviewed your client to understand all of the pain points and opportunities.

Be precise when summarizing your services, so your client clearly understands what transformation you’ll be delivering as part of your contract.

2. Retainer

A retainer is a fee structure where a consultant charges a client a particular amount each month. The fee amount is dependent on how much of the consultants’ time the project will take, as well as the complexity and resources involved.

From a cash flow perspective, communicate when you expect to invoice your client each month and how long they have to pay your fee.

3. Expenses

Consultants are often required to travel as part of their work. This comes with costs like meals, transportation, and accommodation.

It’s not feasible for consultants to pay for these expenses as part of their service fee, so it’s best practice to include a section in your contract covering the approval process to reimburse project-related costs.

4. Confidentiality

Client confidentiality is crucial to any successful business relationship and is only amplified when it comes to consulting work.

Consultants often have access to sensitive client data to perform their duties.

Therefore a confidentiality clause is essential in any consulting contract to hold all parties accountable to fraud and disclosure breaches.

5. Signatures

A consulting agreement is not legally binding without written consent from the client and consultant. Signatures are legal proof that all parties acknowledge and accept the terms of the consultancy arrangement.

Get access to our Consulting Agreement for Consultants

Click below to download our free consultant agreement

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ about our Consulting Agreement Template

What's the difference between a contractor and a consultant?

An independent contractor and consultant are terms that are commonly used interchangeably.
A contractor is a non-employee hired professional to carry out specific work in an organization.
A consultant is a type of independent contractor who is considered to be more specific and technical in their services.
For example, a client may hire a design contractor to redesign an internal system. However, that same designer may be utilized as a consultant to analyze the client’s overall user experience.

Can I modify your consulting agreement form?

Consulting is very dynamic, and we acknowledge that our template may need to be adjusted depending on your client’s requirements. We’ve made our form available in a Word so you can go in and make changes to the document to your liking.
However, if you plan on making significant edits to the template, we suggest you seek advice from a lawyer to make sure you’re still adequately protected.

How do I terminate a consulting contract?

Like any contract, a consulting agreement may be terminated in the following circumstances:

Any party breaches the terms and conditions of the contract.
Any party gives written notice to another party based on the agreed notice period.

What should be included in a consulting agreement?

Generally speaking, a consulting agreement sample should include:

Contact information of parties involved
Summary of services
Retainer and payment information
Expense reimbursements
Project end date
Termination details
Amendments
Confidentiality
An area for parties to sign

document preview

Consulting Agreement

Parties

– This Service Contract Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) is entered into on ______________ (the “Effective Date”), by and between __________________________, with an address of ______________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Consultant”) and ______________ with an address of ______________ (hereinafter referred to as the “Client”) (collectively referred to as the “Parties”).

Consideration

– The Parties agree that the Consultant will provide the services attached hereunder, whereas the Client will in return provide compensation for such services and expertise.

Services

– The Consultant’s services are summarized down below:

_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

Retainer

– A fee of ______________ will be invoiced to the Client by the Consultant on the first day of every month for all the services provided and performed as well as for all the pre-approved expenses incurred the previous month.

– The Client is required to pay the invoice within ______________ days upon receiving it.

– The Parties agree that the payments are to be made via ______________ and sent to the following address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ .

Expenses

– The Consultant is entitled to a reimbursement for all the reasonable and necessary expenses that have arisen when providing his/her services to the Client.

– The Client is required to pre-approve all the expenses/all expenses over ______________ (Choose one of the options).

– The Consultant is required to provide a proof and/or receipt for all the expenses he/she has made.

Term

– This Agreement shall be effective on the date of signing this Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the “Effective Date”) and will end on ______________.

– Upon the end of the term of the Agreement, this Agreement will not be automatically renewed for a new term.

Termination

– This Agreement may be terminated in case the following occurs:

1. Immediately in case one of the Parties breaches this Agreement.

2. At any given time by providing a written notice to the other party ______________ days prior to terminating the Agreement.

Relationship Between The Parties

– Hereby, the Parties agree that the Consultant in this Agreement is an independent contractor where the Consultant provides the services hereunder and acts as an independent contractor.

– Under no circumstances shall the Consultant be considered an employee.

– Whereas, this Agreement does not create any other partnership between the Parties.

Exclusivity

– The Parties agree and understand that this Agreement is not exclusive and that the Parties are entitled to enter into other similar agreements with other parties.

Ownership

– The Parties agree that all work created by the Consultant in terms of him/her performing the services will remain the exclusive property of the Client, who can use it without any restrictions.

Confidentiality

– All terms and conditions of this Agreement and any materials provided during the term of the Agreement must be kept confidential by the Consultant, unless the disclosure is required pursuant to process of law.

– Disclosing or using this information for any purpose beyond the scope of this Agreement, or beyond the exceptions set forth above, is expressly forbidden without the prior consent of the Client.

Dispute Resolution

– Any dispute or difference whatsoever arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be submitted to ______________ (Arbitration/mediation/negotiation) in accordance with, and subject to the laws of ______________.

Governing Law

– This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of ______________.

Severability

– In an event where any provision of this Agreement is found to be void and unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, then the remaining provisions will remain to be enforced in accordance with the Parties’ intention.

Entire Agreement

– This Agreement contains the entire agreement and understanding among the Parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all prior agreements, understandings, inducements and conditions, express or implied, oral or written, of any nature whatsoever with respect to the subject matter hereof. The express terms hereof control and supersede any course of performance and/or usage of the trade inconsistent with any of the terms hereof.

Amendments

– The Parties agree that any amendments made to this Agreement must be in writing and they must be signed by both Parties to this Agreement.

– As such, any amendments made by the Parties will be applied to this Agreement.

Signature And Date

– The Parties hereby agree to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and such is demonstrated throughout by their signatures below:

Client

Name: ______________________

Signature: ___________________

Date: _______________________

Consultant

Name: ______________________

Signature: ___________________

Date: _______________________

Related Proposals and Templates

Get access to our Consulting Agreement

Click below to download our free consultant agreement