Comments on: Writing your Service Contract

By: Friday Links « The Fight Sequence

Friday Links « The Fight Sequence — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 13:21:09 +0000

[...] A nice and concise guide to Writing a Contract. Helpful for [...]

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:58:39 +0000

Thanks for the information, I found it very useful, and it really took the fright out of creating our company’s service contract.

By: A Teenager’s Guide to Effective Freelancing | Alex Kessinger

A Teenager’s Guide to Effective Freelancing | Alex Kessinger — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:00:20 +0000

[...] Writing a contract may seem really scary, but it’s probably a lot more simple than you think. If you want to know more about what should go in it, I’ve done an article on my blog about Writing Your Service Contract [...]

By: Matt Pealing

Matt Pealing — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:38:01 +0000

I see what you mean! Thanks

By: Anna Debenham

Anna Debenham — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:35:20 +0000

Hi Matt,

It means that courts in England would recognise it as a legal document because you are treating it as such. Anyone can write a contract, although it’s got to be watertight in case you did need it to stand up in court.

By: Matt Pealing

Matt Pealing — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:22:37 +0000

Great article! I agree with most of what you said. I have similar details in a terms and conditions document that I’ve recently been sending to my prospects. But I think I’m going to re-do it and add a lot of things that you’ve mentioned above.

Just wondering though, the bit which states “under exclusive jurisdiction of [English] courts”. Wouldn’t this need some sort of approval by the courts to be able to state on a contact? I’m not much of a law junkie though so I wouldn’t know!

By: Paul Randall

Paul Randall — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:36:54 +0000

A great overview. I can certainly pick up some points here.

I agree that there is no ‘generic’ service contract, just as there is no generic company, and everyone will add or omit their own little touches.

By: Yaili

Yaili — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:56:59 +0000

Wow, thanks for this detailed post, I’m loving it!

I can’t think of anything else you could add to your contract, actually I may have to check if I mention all of these things in mine :)

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:13:53 +0000

Err, ‘If I do it in one go, it may well only take an hour’ should be ‘If I do it in one go, it may well only take a day’!

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:14:52 +0000

A very in-depth overview, Anna! We’re currently looking again at our contract, which has probably become a little out of date, so this will be a useful start.

The bit that hit a chord with me is charging for an hour or ‘part thereof’: the task may take 5 minutes, but you (or your friend) is right – more time is spent switching between tasks. I find this is especially true when I’m implementing templates in to software: if I have to stop halfway through theming an ecommerce store and come back to it, it’s 2 days of work. If I do it in one go, it may well only take an hour.

Our payment terms are usually 10 days unless agreed otherwise: there are some clients who always pay early anyway, and those who don’t are never going to pay within any deadline you give!