Wiki Home business/consulting (starting) questions

[mraymond74]

I'm preparing to begin my home coding/consulting business and I have a few questions for those of you who have started your own business. My first client will be an office that I have built a relationship with for the past four years. Until recently, she has always had an in-house coder. Understandably, she has some slight reservations about using an outside service. One of those concerns is her preference to involve a lawyer and/or an accountant in our agreement.

1. Did you use any professional services to get started, like a Lawyer or Accountant? I'm expecting, at the very least, to have our contract notorized.

2. Did you use month-to-month contracts, annual, etc?

3. I have a sense of what I would like to included in my contract (and proposal), but would love to see some other examples as well as to hear about what you wish you would have included and what you wish you would have left out. If someone has some examples, I would love to see them. Please pm me if you do.

Thanks in advance and any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[flacoder2001]

billing agreement

Here is a link I gave to another post you can try:

http://www.accudataservice.com/SiteDocs/ACCUDATA-BILLING-SERVICE-CONTRACT07.pdf

or just Google Accudata billing service agreement.

It is geared towards billing, but will give you some ideas.

I hired a lawyer to prepare my contract. My accountant was clueless as to the content of contracts, but an excellent accountant. The best thing I put in my contract (I feel) was the client is ultimately responsible for the coding. The client gives you the documentation and/or superbill for you to assign the code, but they are responsible to give you accurate information. I stated that I could not be held accountable for their error. In essence, I could not be held responsible for incorrect information given to me by them or their staff.

You might also look into needing a Business Associate Contract.

Good luck and much success!