Consulting Agreements and Statements of Work, Signed Online
Independent consultants sell expertise, which makes their contracts unusual: the deliverable is often advice, the client is often a company with a procurement team, and the risk is often that the client uses your methods without continuing to pay for them. Codec Document helps consultants send a master agreement once and a short statement of work for each engagement, signed by whoever needs to approve it.
Enterprise clients move slowly, and so does their paperwork
A consultant can agree on an engagement with a vice president in one meeting and then wait weeks for the contract to be signed by legal and procurement. Meanwhile the client wants you to start, and you have to choose between working without a signed agreement or losing momentum. A master agreement signed once, followed by short statements of work for each project, shortens that cycle dramatically, and sending both electronically removes the printing and scanning that slow it further.
How it helps consultants
Master agreement plus statements of work
Legal terms signed once, then a short statement of work for each project with scope, deliverables, fees and timeline.
Multiple approvers on the client side
The sponsor, legal and procurement each sign from their own link, and you can see exactly who is holding up the contract.
Confidentiality both ways
A mutual NDA protects the client data and your frameworks, templates and methods, which are the assets you sell.
Retainers and expenses
Monthly retainers, hourly overages and reimbursable expenses stated in writing, so invoices are approved without questions.
Independent contractor status is judged by substance
Consultants are usually independent contractors, and clients who pay $600 or more in a year generally report the payments on Form 1099-NEC. Whether a consultant is truly independent depends on the facts, not the contract title: the IRS applies a common-law control test, and some states apply stricter tests, such as the ABC test in California Labor Code § 2775, with specific exemptions for certain professional services in § 2778. A written agreement that reflects real independence helps both parties. Electronic signatures are valid under the ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001.
Three signatures, nine days faster
A supply chain consultant in Chicago used to send contracts as Word attachments to client sponsors, who forwarded them to legal and procurement. The average time to signature was two and a half weeks. After switching to a master agreement signed once and short statements of work sent for electronic signature to all three approvers at once, the average time dropped to under a week, and she could see exactly which department had not signed yet.
What to put in writing in every engagement
- The objective of the engagement and the specific deliverables or advice expected.
- Fees, retainer, hourly overages and which expenses are reimbursable.
- Who at the client can approve changes in scope and additional fees.
- Ownership of your pre-existing methods and templates, licensed rather than transferred.
- Confidentiality obligations in both directions, and how long they last.
- A limitation of liability appropriate to the size of the engagement.
Questions people ask about this
Can the client legal team sign after the sponsor?
Yes. Add each approver as a signer; you can see who has signed and who is pending.
Can I protect my methods and templates?
Yes. Include an intellectual property clause that keeps your pre-existing materials yours while licensing them to the client for the engagement.
Can I use my own consulting agreement?
Yes. Upload your own PDF and send it for signature, or start from a consulting agreement template.
Does the client need to install anything?
No. Signing happens in the browser from a secure link.
Should I sign the client paper or my own?
Large clients often insist on their own agreement. That is fine, but read the intellectual property and limitation of liability sections carefully, because they are usually written for vendors, not advisers. If you negotiate changes, send the final version for electronic signature so there is no doubt about which draft everyone agreed to.