A client contract is where a freelancer's accepted proposal becomes something both sides can hold each other to. The proposal set the scope and the price; the contract says what happens when the scope moves, when the client is late with what they owe, when a revision becomes a redesign, and when either side wants out. Freelancers who skip it are not saving time, they are lending the client money on unwritten terms. The proposal and contract template tool on this site works the deposit, milestone and cancellation schedule from your own fee, free and without an account, so the money clauses are decided before the contract is written.
Scope as accepted, changes priced
The contract restates the scope exactly as the client accepted it, option and all, and says how a change is requested and priced, using the hours-and-rate arithmetic the proposal used. A client contract with a change clause turns scope creep into invoiced work.
Deposit, schedule, late payment
The deposit that starts the work, the milestones or the retainer dates, the balance, and what happens after a due date passes. Under New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act a hiring party must pay a freelance worker by the date in the contract or, if it names none, within 30 days of the work being done; a contract that names the date is the one that protects you.
Revisions, ownership, ending it
How many revision rounds are included, when ownership of the work passes to the client, usually on final payment, and how either side ends the engagement with what notice and what is owed for work done. These three clauses settle most freelancer disputes before they start.
Keep the record
A contract you can find, attached to the proposal it follows, with the acceptance dated. Proposal suites charge per seat: from the vendor's own pricing page, Proposify Basic is $29 per user per month and Team is $49 per user per month on monthly billing. Scopedly Pro is $29 per month for the whole studio, and every tool on this site works free with no account.
Questions people ask about client contract
What should a freelancer's client contract include?
The scope as accepted, change control, the deposit and payment schedule, late terms, the revision cap, ownership on final payment and the notice for ending it.
Do I need a separate contract if the proposal was signed?
A signed proposal with the money terms, revisions, ownership and notice clauses on it is a contract. If the proposal carried only the scope and the price, the contract supplies the rest.
Can the tools here write it?
They work the deposit, milestone and cancellation schedule from your figures and print them; the legal wording is yours or your lawyer's. This site publishes no legal advice.