Business agreements are the contracts a company signs with other businesses, as distinct from the consumer contracts it offers customers, and the distinction matters because the law assumes two businesses can look after themselves. A commercial agreement is any of them: the services agreement with a client, the supply agreement with a vendor, the partnership, the licence, the lease, the NDA. Commercial agreements share one skeleton whatever the subject, and a small business that learns it once writes the next one faster. This page lists the kinds a small business actually signs, walks the skeleton, and says what a commercial agreement template must leave as figures rather than fill in, with the business agreement template guide on this site for the money clauses.
The kinds a small business signs
With clients: the services or consulting agreement and the statement of work. With suppliers: the supply or purchase agreement and its terms. With partners: the partnership, joint venture or collaboration agreement, and the founders agreement in a company. With anyone who sees the numbers: the NDA. For premises: the lease. For the brand and the product: licensing, affiliate and reseller agreements. For software sold as a service: the SaaS agreement and the end-user licence. Six or seven kinds cover most of a small business's year, and each has its guide on this site.
The skeleton they share
Parties and recitals; the subject, what one gives and the other pays; the money, fee, deposit, schedule and late charge; the term, renewal and notice; confidentiality; warranties and limits on liability; what ends the agreement and what survives it; governing law; signatures. A commercial agreement between two businesses can limit liability and set terms a consumer contract cannot, which is why the same clause set should not be reused for customers. The skeleton is the template; the subject clause and the figures are the agreement.
What the template leaves as figures
The fee and the rate, the deposit share, the milestones, the payment days, the late rate, the term in months and the notice in days. A commercial agreement template that fills those in with a sample number is a template that will be signed with the sample number in it. The worksheets on this site work the lease, the partnership and the services fee from your own figures, and Termslane Pro keeps every business agreement against its counterparty with those figures as the record and the document generated from them.
Questions people ask about business agreements
What is a commercial agreement?
A contract between businesses, as opposed to a consumer contract: services, supply, partnership, licensing, lease, NDA and the like. Two businesses may agree terms and limits a consumer contract cannot carry.
What business agreements does a small company need?
A services or consulting agreement, an NDA, supplier terms, a partnership or founders agreement if there is more than one owner, a lease, and licensing, affiliate or SaaS agreements where the product calls for them.
Can one template cover every commercial agreement?
The skeleton, yes: parties, subject, money, term, confidentiality, liability, ending, law. The subject clause and the figures change with each deal, and the worksheets on this site work the figures.