Consultancy Agreement

Consultancy Agreement for Microsoft Partners
Law 365 Consultancy Agreement

Why do you need a Consultancy Agreement?

Sometimes a business wants to hire an individual contractor for the purpose of a project or to solve a particular problem. But you don’t want to bind them into a full employment contract, right? Instead, you use a Consultancy Agreement.

A consultancy agreement is useful when hiring a contractor or consultant, as it formalises the relationship between those involved and avoids any IR35 issues! 

What is a Consultancy Agreement?

IR35 and Off-Payroll rules kicked in in April 2021, meaning that employers will be responsible for spotting “disguised employees” (a self-employed individual whose relationship acts as a normal employee).

Therefore, this must be reflected in the wording of a Consultancy Agreement that defines the rules of the contractor’s engagement with a company.

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Table of contents

View the contents of a Consultancy Agreement

Key facts

Get the key facts for a Consultancy Agreement

Frequently Asked Questions

A: Lots of information needs to be included in a Consultancy Agreement. The top priority for both parties will be the terms of the engagement (the job), payment, termination, responsibilities and liabilities. View our table of contents or request our 'key facts' below to see the key sections to include.

A: It is possible to make a verbal contract between parties. But the question is, what if something went wrong? In a court you would need to prove your case; if there is no proof, the case will fail. Verbal contracts are a risky game. Companies can mitigate risk by having a document in place, with agreed terms and signatures on a dotted line.

A: A Consultancy Agreement will either end because a consultant has finished the “job” or delivered the deliverables they were contracted for, or it is terminated by a party. Usually, a party must a give notice period that will be defined in the agreement. The client will be able to terminate the agreement with immediate effect for cases where the consultant has materially breached the contract including fraud, misconduct, or causing the client to lose money.

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This is a “Forever Template”

We will continually update this template with the frequent Microsoft updates such as CSP and other flow down terms, plus we will update the relevant terms to ensure you can claim as many rebates as possible, and get recognised by Microsoft such as CPoR, (Claims Partner of Record) DPoR (Digital Partner of Record), and PAL (Partner Admin Link).

We will also continually update this template as the law changes, for example, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the effects of Brexit on our laws, as we untangle ourselves from the European Union.

Used by
  • Managed Services Providers
  • ISV, Software, Apps and IP
  • System Integrators Professional Services Consultancy Partners
  • Hosting Partners
  • Licensing Partners
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