My first hourly contract! Let me know what you think.

Hi all,

I'm about to present my first hourly contract to my client. This is a very flexible client, one I have a good relationship with, so having an an airtight contract isn't a must.

But it IS my first hourly contract and I am really wondering whether or not my language and offer for hourly work is reasonable and appropriate.

Is it common to use the language and hourly payment terms I have written up? Would it be reasonable to present it in that format (estimation and reevaluation for +/- 10% of estimation)

Check out my contract here. All feedback is appreciated.

Thanks!

I can't view the document, it tells me there was a conversion error.

Odd, it's working for me.

Here is the doc on MediaFire:
http://www.mediafire.com/?z32z1nvtlth

I'll tell you that the language we use for our customers is pretty strict. We let them know that we can't always estimate total cost, and that it is common in this business for projects to take longer, and that we charge for time including troubleshooting and communication. We then repeat some of these things on our job pages throughout the communication while the job is in progress.

Any chance you could post an example contract of this?

Thank you.

Josh

3 points:

1) You may understand what you're offering, and your client may understand what you're offering, but if you need to invoke the contract--if you have some dispute and have to call in someone to mediate, your client turns the project over to another person, or other dire situation--this could be voided for being insufficiently clear. It may be a question of just adding a statement like "the goal of this project is..." to the top. (Forgive me if it's there already; I didn't recognize it. Point made?)

2) How likely is your client--or any client--to look at this and say "why is it going to take you so long to do X"? You work in a field where I don't know the standards well, but this is a common problem reported by people I do advise. Also, you could be opening yourself to problems if, for example, your client asks to look at your timesheets--as they might if you go over the estimate by the 10% you say is your leeway.

3) It might be a good idea to tie payment more closely to your completion of stages and continued work to your receipt of payment. (I'd revise the payment terms to "inception payment* 20% ($208); due on submission of first demo 20% ($208); ...second demo 20% ($208); ... third demo 20% ($208); final payment of all remaining fees and expenses due on submission of final demo.)

Cheers!

Sarah

*what's the word among you about "deposit" vs "inception payment"? It's probably minor but I have been told that a deposit is in theory returnable and can be subject to escrow/interest.

For starters that is not a contract, it is a proposal. It does not bind anyone to anything. As for language, the word "I" should never be used to refer to you. A contract is a statement that the signer makes that is put down on paper, if the signer could not read it out loud and have it make sense you are doing something wrong. It's not exactly what you need, but this is an example of an hourly wage contract for a law firm, perhaps this could be a point of reference. http://www.lectlaw.com/forms/f028.htm

The law is a complicated thing, contracts are not simple. I would advise getting some actual legal help and writing up a real contract.

good points, Village Genius. If the job is significant enough that you want to codify its details, then you should get real legal advice from someone who understands your field. Appropriate legal language is important -- those phrases they use have a specific meaning, tested in the courts, and so save and $$$ if something bad happens.

I often work on a letter of agreement rather than a contract or (when I have repeat clients) a memorandum of understanding. A little more wobbly, but still enforceable and sometimes less threatening to the client.

(Of course if any client says s/he won't sign an agreement or contract . . . you should turn around and walk out the door.)

I would say don't bother about the rate at the initial stage. Once you establish yourself as a good freelance provider, then only consider hiking the price.