Just remember what the purpose of the contract is. (For me) its "what do I want to happen when things go horribly wrong?". High level would be: - Payment term

Just remember what the purpose of the contract is. (For me) its "what do I want to happen when things go horribly wrong?". High level would be: - Payment terms. Fixed price, with 50% deposit? Time and materials? Something else? - When will payment be made? (End of month, +30 days after invoice submitted) - Just what are you delivering? What do they get for their money? - What aren't you delivering? (Out of scope) - What happens when there is a disagreement? (Jurisdictions) - Who owns what? - Where is the work done (onsite / offsite). What hours are you expected / agreeing to? Depending on how big the project is, sometimes the above can be broken up into several documents. This can help with negotiations. Eg things like payment terms and jurisdictions can be in a "Master Services Agreement" type document. While scope can be in a "Scope of works" type document. You may want to split the document into expectations & actuals. Expectations are your estimates (I estimate this piece of work will take xx hours / days / weeks / months) and actuals are the hard facts. $1,000 per day / Invoices submitted fortnightly and paid within 14 days etc. In the end, you really should consult a lawyer...