Freelance Contract Checklist: Terms to Discuss Before Work Starts

Before freelance work starts, discuss what will be delivered, how completion is judged, when money is due, what happens when the brief changes, who can use the work, and how either side can end the engagement. The signed wording should match how the project will actually run.

Parties and authority

• ✓Correct legal names, addresses and company numbers where relevant
• ✓Named contacts and who may approve work or changes
• ✓The effective date and entire-agreement position

Scope, deliverables and acceptance

• ✓Specific deliverables, formats and quantities
• ✓What is expressly outside scope
• ✓Milestones, deadlines and client dependencies
• ✓An objective acceptance process and review window
• ✓What happens if feedback or materials arrive late

“Website redesign” is ambiguous. A useful scope identifies pages, responsive states, content responsibility, browser support, handover files, integrations and post-launch support. Acceptance should refer to agreed requirements, not a new preference introduced at the end.

I would use the freelance proposal template to make the commercial scope concrete, then check that the agreement reflects the same deliverables, exclusions and revision process. A proposal example is not a substitute for resolving the legal terms.

Fees, expenses and payment

• ✓Fixed fee, day rate or other basis
• ✓Deposit and milestone amounts
• ✓VAT treatment where applicable
• ✓Approved expenses and any cap
• ✓Invoice timing, payment date and accepted method
• ✓Late-payment wording and recovery process
• ✓Whether work pauses when undisputed invoices are overdue

UK law may provide statutory interest and recovery costs for late commercial payments, but whether it applies and whether the contract sets another rate need checking. Put the practical reminder and escalation process in your operating notes as well as the agreement.

Use the invoice guide to issue the request and the overdue invoice emails for the operational reminder process.

Revisions and change requests

Define the number or type of included revision rounds. A change process should record the request, effect on price and timing, and approval before extra work begins. A small email approval can be enough operationally if the main contract permits it and the decision is clear.

Intellectual property, licences and portfolio use

• ✓Identify pre-existing tools, templates and third-party materials
• ✓State what is assigned or licensed, to whom, when and for which uses
• ✓Tie any transfer to full payment if appropriate
• ✓Address moral rights and open-source licences where relevant
• ✓Ask separately for permission to show the work in a portfolio

Do not assume the person paying automatically owns every underlying asset. UK copyright ownership depends on how work was created and what has been agreed. Record the intended commercial outcome precisely.

The portfolio case-study template helps distinguish your contribution, authorised evidence and unmeasured goals.

Confidentiality, data and risk

• ✓What information is confidential and the sensible exceptions
• ✓Security expectations and incident contacts
• ✓Controller and processor roles where personal data is involved
• ✓Insurance requirements
• ✓Warranties, indemnities and any liability cap
• ✓Subcontractor permission and responsibility

Termination and disputes

• ✓Termination for breach and a cure period
• ✓Termination for convenience and notice
• ✓Payment for work completed and committed costs
• ✓Return or deletion of information and access
• ✓Handover obligations
• ✓Governing law, courts or agreed dispute process

Turn the agreement into a project-start record

Once the terms are agreed, I would turn the practical commitments into a client onboarding checklist. Give each required input an owner, a due date and a status, and distinguish what has been requested from what has been received and checked.

For example, “the client will supply approved copy” needs a named person and a date before it becomes a workable dependency. Record the relevant scope version and raise changes through the agreed process. Keep passwords and sensitive client material out of the checklist itself.

Your terms, client terms or a jointly revised agreement?

I would use a suitable existing agreement as a starting point for routine work, then reconcile it with the actual scope. A client's contract may fit its purchasing process but allocate more risk to you. Your own template gives you a consistent starting position but does not settle terms the client has not accepted. A jointly revised agreement is the stronger route when either starting document leaves a material mismatch. For unusual liability, international work or extensive personal-data access, qualified review matters more than the document's length.

Make the exposure visible

In a hypothetical £1,200 fixed project, four unpriced extra hours valued at an illustrative £60 per hour consume £240 of planned capacity, equivalent to 20% of the fee. That calculation explains why the revision boundary matters; it creates no legal right to charge £240. Record the request, additional work, proposed fee and revised date, then obtain the approval required by the agreement before proceeding.

I would check the scenario rather than count clauses: can both parties explain what happens if the client asks for another deliverable or supplies essential material late? Resolve that example before signing. A complete-looking checklist is not evidence that the allocation of risk is fair or enforceable.

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