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Freelance consultancy agreement (England and Wales)
England and Wales · in English
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Made for use in England and Wales
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For a client and a self-employed consultant or freelancer in England and Wales, working on their own account or through their own limited company. The agreement covers the services, fees and invoices, expenses, the right to send a substitute, who owns the work, confidentiality, liability, ending the contract and the off-payroll working rules (IR35) for medium and large clients. Its wording does not decide employment or tax status, which follows how the work is actually done, so each party should take advice if the status is unclear.
- Made for use in England and Wales
- Last updated October 28, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- You are a freelancer in England or Wales starting work for a client and want a written contract.
- A company is engaging a consultant and wants it clear that the consultant is not an employee.
- You want the fees, the deliverables and ownership of the work agreed before the project starts.
- You work through your own limited company and need a consultancy agreement with the client.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Date
- Client's name (business or person)
- Client's company number, if a company
- Client's address (number and street)
- Town or city
- Client's postcode
- Consultant's full name, or their company's name
- Company number, if the consultant works through a company
- Consultant's address (number and street)
- Consultant's postcode
- Start date
- Payment term (days)
- Cap on each party's liability (for example the fees paid in the last 12 months)
- Insurance the consultant holds (professional indemnity, public liability)
- Notice period
- Services
- Deliverables, deadlines and timetable
- Fees (day rate or fixed price, in pounds)
- Person signing for the client (name and position)
- Consultant, or person signing for the consultant's company
Common questions
- Does calling someone a consultant make them self-employed in the UK?
- No. Employment status, and tax status under the off-payroll working rules, depend on how the work is actually done: who controls it, whether a substitute can be sent, and whether either side must offer or accept work. A contract that says one thing while the work runs another way is judged on what happens. HMRC's free Check Employment Status for Tax tool gives a view for tax purposes.
- Who decides IR35 status for a freelancer who works through a limited company?
- A medium or large client decides, and must give the worker, and any agency in the chain, a status determination statement with its reasons. If the client is small, the freelancer's own company decides. Whether a client is small depends on the Companies Act size tests (turnover, balance sheet and employees); HMRC's off-payroll guidance gives the current thresholds.
- Who owns the work a freelancer produces for a client in England and Wales?
- Unless the contract says otherwise, a freelancer who is not an employee usually owns the copyright in what they create, even though the client paid for it. An assignment of copyright must be in writing and signed by the person assigning it (section 90(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988), which is why this agreement contains one, taking effect on payment.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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