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Freelance consultancy agreement (Ireland)
Ireland · in English
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18 questions · about 8 min
Made for use in Ireland
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For a business or public-body client and a self-employed consultant or freelancer in Ireland, working on their own account or through their own company; not for a private person hiring for personal use. The agreement covers the services, fees and invoices, expenses, the right to send a substitute, who owns the work, confidentiality, liability, insurance and ending the contract, under Irish law. Its wording does not decide employment status, which follows how the work is actually done under the Supreme Court's five questions in Karshan, so each party should take advice if the status is unclear.
- Made for use in Ireland
- Last updated November 4, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- You are starting work as a freelancer for a client in Ireland and want the terms in writing.
- Your business is hiring a self-employed consultant and needs a contract for the project.
- A client wants to own the work you create and you want the fees settled first.
- You work through your own company and want a consultancy contract with a client in Ireland.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Date
- Client
- Client's company number (CRO), if a company
- Client's address
- Town and county (e.g. Ennis, Co. Clare; or Dublin 8)
- Consultant (name, or the consultant's company)
- Consultant's company number (CRO), if a company
- Consultant's address, with Eircode
- Start date
- Payment term (days)
- Liability cap
- Insurance the consultant will hold (blank if none agreed)
- Notice period
- Services
- Deadlines and deliverables (blank if none)
- Fees (rate or fixed price, and when invoiced)
- Person signing for the client
- Person signing for the consultant
Common questions
- Does calling someone a consultant make them self-employed in Ireland?
- No. Since the Supreme Court's decision in Karshan (Domino's Pizza) in 2023, status is decided by five questions about how the work is actually done: is there a wage-for-work bargain, does the worker provide the services personally, does the client have enough control, does the whole arrangement point to employment, and does any law call for a different approach. The Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status, updated in 2024, is free on gov.ie.
- Who owns the work a freelancer produces for a client in Ireland?
- 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. The Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 requires an assignment of copyright to be in writing and signed by the person assigning it, which is why this agreement contains one, taking effect on payment.
- Who pays the consultant's tax and PRSI under this agreement?
- The consultant. A self-employed consultant pays their own income tax, Universal Social Charge and PRSI through Revenue's self-assessment, filing a Form 11 online through ROS; the client deducts nothing from the fees. A consultant working through their own company pays that company's taxes instead. If the facts make the consultant an employee, the client may owe PAYE regardless of what the agreement says.
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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