Consulting Services Agreement Template
Free Word template for independent consultants.
Project-based consulting work lives and dies by a clear scope of work. Without specific deliverables and milestones written down, "consulting" can quietly expand to cover far more than either side originally intended.
This template covers scope of work with milestones, payment terms (including expense reimbursement), ownership of work product, and a limitation of liability clause that caps exposure to the fees actually paid, standard practice for independent consulting engagements.
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Questions
How is this different from the freelance agreement template?
This one is built around milestone-based project delivery and expense reimbursement, more typical of strategic or advisory consulting. The freelance template is closer to fixed-deliverable creative or technical work with a kill fee for early cancellation.
Should I bill hourly or by milestone?
Either works with this template. Just be specific in Section 2 and 3 about which deliverables trigger which payments if you're using milestones, or state your hourly rate and billing cadence if you're not.
What happens to my methodology or frameworks after the project ends?
Section 6 is written so that only the specific deliverables created for the client transfer to them, your underlying frameworks, tools, and methodology remain yours to reuse with other clients.
Keep every client document in one place.
startbuddi keeps your documents next to the client, the project and the invoice, so nothing lives in a stray folder.
Start with the one thing you need. The rest is there when you're ready.
