Document 1
Service agreement
The main engagement contract. Scope, payment, IP, liability, revision process, and termination. The document that governs the relationship from kickoff to close.
Service agreement · SOW · NDA · retainer (if recurring). The four-document set that every client should sign before work starts. Free.
Free. No registration. No card. No catch.
What's in this stack
Client onboarding has four stages: confidentiality before the brief, main contract before work, scope document for clarity, and retainer for ongoing relationships. Each has its own document.
Document 1
The main engagement contract. Scope, payment, IP, liability, revision process, and termination. The document that governs the relationship from kickoff to close.
Document 2
Specific deliverables, milestones, timeline, and acceptance criteria for the engagement. Issued with or alongside the service agreement. The document that defines exactly what "done" means.
Document 3
Mutual confidentiality signed before the client shares their strategy, data, or unreleased plans with you — and before you share your methods and pricing with them.
Document 4 (if recurring)
For ongoing engagements: monthly fee, included services, rollover, and cancellation notice. The document that converts a one-time project client into a recurring revenue relationship.
Why this stack
Client expectations form during the sales conversation, not during delivery. The SOW captures what the client thinks they're getting before work begins — closing the gap that creates disputes at the end.
Client strategy shared without a signed NDA is unprotected. Your pricing and methods shared without one are too. The NDA makes the onboarding conversation safe for both parties.
Proposing the retainer at the start of the engagement — not six months later — makes it part of the relationship structure. The onboarding stack includes it by design.
When to generate each document
NDA if the client will share sensitive information or you'll share methods and pricing. Before the conversation happens.
Service agreement with payment, IP, and termination terms. Signed before any work begins.
SOW with specific deliverables, timeline, and acceptance criteria. Sent together with the service agreement as the complete onboarding package.
Retainer agreement if the engagement will be ongoing. Monthly fee, included services, and cancellation terms. Propose at onboarding, not after the project is complete.
How it works with BizDraft
Mutual confidentiality before the discovery conversation. Two minutes. Send before the call.
Describe the scope, rate, and IP terms. BizDraft generates the service agreement and SOW. Send as one package after the deal is verbally agreed.
Generate the retainer agreement if the engagement is recurring. Include it in the onboarding package. Client signs all three documents at once.
Free. Every document. Every client.
Draft your agreement