Services
General Service Agreement
Engage someone to provide a service, with scope, payment, ownership of the work, and a clean way for either side to end it.
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$29.99Guided questions and tailored clauses for agreements that need specific protections.
When to use this document
- Hiring a freelancer, consultant, or contractor for a defined engagement
- Providing services and wanting the terms in writing
- An ongoing arrangement that needs renewal and termination terms
- Work where who owns the output actually matters
Information you will need
- Provider and client details
- What the service includes, and expressly what it excludes
- Compensation, invoicing frequency, and payment terms
- Reimbursable expenses and any approval threshold
- Who owns the work product, and any licence back
- Confidentiality scope and duration
- Termination notice, cure period, and what is handed over
What you receive
- A General Service Agreement
- Signature blocks for both parties
- Completion instructions
- PDF and editable DOCX export
Special situations
- Exclusions matter more than inclusions. Scope disputes are almost always about something the client assumed was covered, and writing what is not included is cheaper than arguing later.
- Decide who owns the work product before it exists. Retaining ownership and granting a licence is legitimate, but the client needs to know that is what they are getting.
- Whether someone is a contractor or an employee is determined by how the relationship actually works, not by what the agreement calls it. Misclassification carries tax and employment consequences.
- A cure period protects both sides: the provider from immediate termination, the client from losing a project mid-delivery.
- Set out what is handed over on termination — files, credentials, work in progress. Without it, ending the engagement can leave the client unable to continue.
Jurisdiction
Contract interpretation, permitted remedies, limitation periods, worker classification, and whether particular services require licensing are set by state law and vary. This agreement applies no subject-specific regime and states no jurisdiction-specific rule.
Frequently asked questions
Does this make someone a contractor rather than an employee?
No. Classification depends on how the relationship actually operates — control, integration, and economic dependence — not on the label in an agreement. Getting it wrong carries tax and employment consequences, so if the arrangement looks like employment, take advice.
Who owns the work when it is finished?
Whoever the agreement says, which is why it is an explicit choice. Clients often assume they own everything they paid for; providers often assume they retain rights to reuse. Both assumptions are common and they cannot both be right.
What is a cure period?
A window to fix a breach before the other side can terminate. It stops a single missed deadline ending an engagement, and it gives the client a remedy short of walking away.
Should the confidentiality obligation be mutual?
Usually, if both sides are sharing anything sensitive. A one-way obligation is appropriate where only one party is disclosing, but it is worth being deliberate rather than defaulting.
What happens to my files if we part ways?
Whatever the closeout terms say, which is why they are there. Agree in advance what is delivered, in what format, and by when — after a falling out is the worst time to negotiate access to your own material.
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Last reviewed July 29, 2026.