Business Advice for a Consulting Agreement

When providing consulting services, having a formal agreement in place protects both the consultant and the hiring company. Business advice for a consulting agreement includes explaining the project tasks, duration, fees and expectations in regards to protection of proprietary or confidential information.   

• Meet to discuss project expectations. As a consultant, you might be required to be on-site daily to assess business processes. Alternatively, the bulk of your work may involve review of documents that can be created from home. Discuss the details of the particular project with the employer, including project due dates, travel requirements and expenses.


• Write a document that includes basic information. Include your name, address and contact information as well as that of the employer. Indicate that the consulting agreement is between the two parties/entities.


• Create a section for tasks and deliverables. This may be a list or in paragraph form, depending on the specific assignment. Describe the required tasks in detail. If you will be required to deliver a large number of documents at the end of the project, indicate those in a bulleted list.


• Indicate the project dates. Some consultancy projects do not have a set end-date and depend on how things progress. If that is the case, indicate that it is an open-ended project.


• State your fees. You might charge by the project, the hour or the day. It typically is better to discuss the fee with the employer to agree on a figure before listing it on the agreement.


• Ask the employer to review the agreement. Some employers develop their own agreements for consultants and might include verbiage related to confidential information. In either case, ensure that what you are signing is acceptable to both parties.