Terms and conditions as a freelancer: why you want them and how to set them up

What belongs in them

Good terms cover at least: your payment term and what happens on late payment, a limitation of liability (for example to the invoice amount or what your insurance pays out), how you handle extra work and changes, what applies on cancellation, and who owns the work until payment. Creative professions should add intellectual property clauses; construction and trades a provision for material and price increases.

How to make them binding

This is where it often goes wrong: terms only apply if the client was able to review them before or when the agreement was concluded. So send them by default with every quote, as an attachment or clear link, and have your client approve quote and terms together. Referring to them only on your invoice is too late: the deal is already done and a court will easily set your terms aside.

Filing them with the Chamber of Commerce is neither required nor sufficient; what matters is that this specific client received them in time. If you serve consumers, note that the law prohibits certain clauses that are allowed between businesses.

Draft them yourself or have them made?

For straightforward services you get far with a good template from your sector, adapted to your own way of working. If you work with large amounts, liability risk or consumers, tailor-made terms by a lawyer quickly pay for themselves. In any case combine your terms with a clear quote per assignment: the quote covers the what, the terms cover the how. Together they prevent most disputes, and therefore most unpaid invoices.