Most contract problems do not come from missing legal language. They come from missing agreements. The client and the freelancer each had a picture of what the project included, how payment worked and who owned the result, and nobody wrote the shared version down.
This checklist is about making sure those agreements exist in writing before you start work. It covers the clauses that come up again and again in freelance disputes, and what each one needs to say in practical terms.
This is not legal advice. Contract law varies between countries and regions, and the enforceability of any clause depends on where you and your client are. Use this as a checklist for the conversation, then have a lawyer in your jurisdiction review your contract template, especially before larger projects or work with clients in other countries.
TL;DR
Before starting work, confirm your contract covers six things: a specific scope with deliverables and exclusions, payment terms including deposit and due dates, a limit on revision rounds, a change-request process for anything new, when intellectual property transfers (commonly on full payment), and how either side can end the agreement. Get it signed before any work begins. Have a local lawyer review your template once, then reuse it.
1. Scope of work
The scope clause defines what you are being paid to deliver. Most disputes start here.
Check that it includes:
- A list of specific, countable deliverables
- The format each deliverable is delivered in
- What "complete" or "approved" means for each one
- An explicit list of exclusions
- Any client responsibilities (supplying content, access, feedback by a date)
- The timeline, with key milestones
If the scope lives in a separate document, such as a proposal or statement of work, the contract should reference it clearly so it forms part of the agreement. The post on how to scope a fixed-fee project covers writing deliverables and exclusions that hold up.
2. Payment terms
The payment clause should leave no room for "I thought we would pay at the end".
- Total fee, or rate and billing basis (hourly, fixed fee, retainer)
- Currency
- Deposit amount and when it is due
- Milestone or billing schedule
- How long the client has to pay each invoice
- Accepted payment methods
- What happens if payment is late (for example, work pauses)
- Who pays third-party costs such as stock assets, fonts, hosting or software licenses
Late-payment interest, fees and tax treatment are governed by local rules, so take advice before including specific figures. The post on how to get clients to pay invoices on time covers the practical side of payment terms.
3. Revisions
Without a revision limit, a fixed-fee project has no ceiling.
- Number of revision rounds included per deliverable
- What counts as one round (consolidated feedback, delivered at once)
- The difference between a revision and a change of direction
- The price for additional rounds
- How long the client has to give feedback before a deliverable is treated as accepted
4. Change requests
Scope changes are normal. The contract should make them visible and priced rather than forbidden.
- Anything outside the written scope is a change request
- Change requests are quoted in writing before work starts
- The client approves the quote in writing
- Approved changes can adjust the timeline and fee
This clause is what turns "can you just add…" into a quick decision instead of a slow erosion of your margin. When a change is big enough to need a budget increase, the post on how to ask a client for more budget covers the conversation.
5. Intellectual property
Who owns the work, and when, is one of the clauses most worth getting reviewed locally, because the default position differs between jurisdictions.
- Which rights transfer to the client (all rights, or a license for specific uses)
- When they transfer. A common approach is on receipt of full payment.
- What you keep: your pre-existing tools, code libraries, templates and know-how
- Third-party materials (fonts, stock, open-source code) and their license terms
- Whether you may show the work in your portfolio, and any confidentiality limits on that
Tying the IP transfer to full payment gives you a meaningful position if a final invoice goes unpaid. Whether and how that works in practice depends on local law, which is why this clause deserves a lawyer's eye.
6. Termination
Projects end early for all kinds of reasons. The contract should say what happens when they do.
- How either party can end the agreement (notice period, written notice)
- What the client pays for work completed up to that point
- Whether the deposit is refundable, and in what circumstances
- What happens to work in progress and IP on termination
- Grounds for immediate termination (for example, non-payment)
Other clauses worth considering
Depending on the work, you may also want:
- Confidentiality, if you will see sensitive client information
- Liability limits, capping your exposure, often to the fees paid
- Communication and response times, so "urgent" has a shared meaning
- Subcontracting, whether you can bring in help
- Governing law and disputes, which matters most when you and the client are in different countries
These are exactly the areas where a local lawyer adds the most value.
Get it signed before work starts
A contract only protects work done after it is signed. Starting "while the paperwork catches up" is how freelancers end up with three weeks of unprotected work.
In COLO, contracts are sent to the client and signed through the client portal, alongside the proposal they accepted. COLO also refuses a proposal or contract that exceeds the project budget, which helps keep the paperwork consistent with what was agreed. If you are starting from scratch, the service contract template is a reasonable baseline to take to a lawyer, and the freelance contracts guide explains each clause in more depth.
FAQ
Do I need a contract for small projects?
A short, clear agreement is worth having for almost any paid project. It does not need to be long, but scope, payment and IP should be written down and agreed.
Can I use a template I found online?
A template is a useful starting point, but it may have been written for a different jurisdiction or type of work. Have a local lawyer review it once, then reuse your reviewed version.
Is an email agreement enough?
Whether an email exchange counts as a binding agreement depends on local law and the specifics. A signed document is clearer and easier to rely on if something goes wrong.
What if the client wants to use their own contract?
That is common with larger clients. Read it against this checklist, flag anything missing or one-sided, and get advice before signing anything you are unsure about.
The checklist is the conversation
The real value of a contract checklist is that it forces the conversation you would otherwise have in the middle of a dispute. Agree scope, payment, revisions, changes, IP and termination up front, write them down, get them signed, and have a lawyer check your template. Then start the work.