The Service Agreement Checklist

Working from email threads means every argument is a search through a scroll. This checklist gives you a one- or two-page service agreement you can write yourself in about an hour, in the order that matters: scope before money, money before signature. It covers the clauses that actually stop scope creep and payment fights, and it flags the four clauses you should not write yourself — so when you do pay an attorney, you're paying them to review a finished draft instead of building one from scratch.

Order matters here. Most homemade contracts start with the money and never pin down the work, which is exactly backwards — a payment term is only enforceable against a definition of what you agreed to do.

1. Write the scope as two lists, not a paragraph

Paragraphs invite interpretation. Lists don't.