A service agreement is a written deal between a business that does work and the client who pays for it. It pins down what gets done, by when, for how much, and what happens if plans change. Cleaners, IT support shops, bookkeepers, marketing agencies and repair businesses all use one, and this free template covers the terms most small service jobs need.
When do you need a service agreement?
You need a service agreement any time the work is big enough that a misunderstanding would cost you real money or a client relationship. A handshake works until the client remembers the quote differently than you do.
Say you run a small IT support business and a dental office asks you to replace six workstations and set up backups for $5,200. Without a written scope, “set up backups” can quietly grow into “manage our backups forever.” A two-page agreement that lists the deliverables, the price and what counts as extra work stops that argument before it starts.
A different document can fit better in some cases. If you’re an individual consultant selling advice or strategy, the consulting agreement template handles confidentiality and deliverables in a way that suits that work. If you’re a solo creative doing design, writing or development and you care about who owns the finished files, the freelance contract has a stronger intellectual property section. Photographers should look at the photography contract template, which deals with usage rights and event-day cancellation.
What should a service agreement include?
Our service contract template is short on purpose. Here’s what each section does, in plain English.
Services and scope
This is the heart of the agreement. Describe the work specifically enough that a stranger could tell whether it was done. “Monthly office cleaning” is vague. “Vacuum and mop all floors, empty bins and clean two restrooms every Tuesday evening” is not. The template also has a line for what’s excluded, which is often more useful than the list of what’s included.
Term and schedule
You pick either a fixed end date or an ongoing arrangement that runs until someone ends it. For one-off projects, put in the start date and the expected completion date.
Fees and payment
The template gives you a choice of a fixed fee, an hourly rate or a recurring monthly fee, plus a deposit line, payment due dates and a late fee. Keep the late fee reasonable and check your state’s rules if you charge interest, since limits vary.
Changes to the work
Scope creep is where small service businesses lose the most money. This clause says any change to scope, price or timing has to be agreed in writing (email counts if both sides confirm it) before the extra work starts.
Client responsibilities
Most service jobs depend on the client doing something: giving access to a building, a login, or timely answers. The template spells that out and says delays caused by the client move the deadline.
Warranty, liability and insurance
The provider promises to do the work in a competent and workmanlike way and to fix defects reported within a set window. There’s a cap on liability, usually the amount paid under the agreement, which is common in small business contracts. The cap deliberately doesn’t cover gross negligence or intentional misconduct. A clause that tries to excuse those is a trap for the client, and we left it out.
Termination
Either side can end the agreement with written notice, and the client pays for work done up to that date. There’s also a faster exit if one party seriously breaches the agreement and doesn’t fix it after notice.
Independent contractor status and boilerplate
The provider runs its own business and handles its own taxes. The standard clauses (entire agreement, governing law, notices, e-signatures) close it out.
What should you check for your situation?
The contractor clause describes the relationship, but it doesn’t decide it. The IRS says to look at the whole relationship across three kinds of evidence: behavioral control, financial control and the type of relationship. The Department of Labor goes further and says that signing an independent contractor agreement does not by itself make a worker an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you’re a one-person provider working mostly for a single client who sets your hours, read the independent contractor agreement guide before you rely on the label.
If you sell services to consumers in their homes, or at a temporary spot like a trade show booth, look at the FTC’s Cooling-Off Rule. It generally gives buyers until midnight of the third business day to cancel covered sales of $25 or more at their home, or $130 or more at temporary locations, and it doesn’t apply to sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone. Check the FTC page to see whether your sales fall under it.
Licensed trades (electricians, contractors, some home services) may also have state rules about what a written contract must say. Your licensing board is the place to check.
How do you fill it in and get it signed?
Download the template in Word or PDF and work through the blanks in order. A few habits help:
- Use each party’s full legal name. If you operate as an LLC, sign as the LLC, with your title, not as yourself.
- Write the scope first and the price second. Pricing is easier once the work is pinned down.
- Delete checkbox options that don’t apply so the final version reads cleanly.
- Send it to the client as a PDF, not an editable file, so nobody changes a number by accident.
Most service agreements can be signed electronically. The federal ESIGN Act says a contract affecting interstate commerce can’t be denied legal effect just because an electronic signature was used, and our guide on whether electronic signatures are legally binding covers the details. A common order is provider first, then client, so the client countersigns a version you’ve already committed to. Keep the signed PDF and the audit record together.
Download it, fill in the blanks, and send it for e-signature with any tool you like. (We’re building SignWren for exactly this; join the waitlist.)
This template is general information, not legal advice. For a specific contract or dispute, talk to a lawyer licensed where you are.