Hello All-
I intend to use a client agreement contract along with an NDA, but get confused about the purpose of an Independent Contractor Agreement. Would a VA use the later at a client's request, or is it what I should lead with instead of my client agreement?

Thanks in advance,
Teri

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Teri Taylor
Allegro Business Solutions

Hello Teri,

Generally, the NDA is the first agreement that the two parties should sign. The NDA sets the ground rules regarding how a company's confidential info is handled (i.e. what is considered confidential, what's not, how you'd handle a breach of confidentiality, etc.) and the Client Agreement establishes the terms and conditions surrounding the project(s) and the relationship between the parties.

The Independent Contractor Agreement is usually utilized to establish that, although you are performing a service for your client, you are not an employee of the client's company. A company needs to clearly delineate this point to avoid penalties from the IRS. An employee carries more responsibilities/burdens for an employer, especially from a tax perspective, versus an independent contractor.

Also, to avoid using an excessive number of contracts relating to one client/project, you can always create independent contractor language and insert that language into the Client Agreement.

In my experience, the following independent contractor language works best inside of the agreement that will govern the terms and conditions of the relationship, in this case, the Client Agreement:

"The Virtual Assistant is and shall perform services under this Agreement as an independent contractor and, as such, shall have and maintain complete control over all of its employees, agents and operations. Neither the Virtual Assistant nor anyone employed by it shall be, represent, act, purport to act or be deemed to be an agent, representative, employee or servant of the Acme Corporation."

Hope this helps!

This is very helpful indeed. I actually do have language similar in my Agreement & felt the Ind Contractor would be redundant. But since I haven't the benefit of bringing on a new client yet, I want to be sure I do it right when I do.

Most important to me is a streamlined & clear statement of the working relationship with my clients, avoiding an excess of formalities.

I noticed you're new to the forum - welcome! What's your name?

Teri

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Teri Taylor
Allegro Business Solutions

Teri,

I am so glad that the info was helpful!

My name is Melanie and I will be launching my start-up business in the very near future. I plan to make my grand entrance on the forum soon. Thanks so much for the warm welcome! If ever you (or anyone on the forum) has any questions regarding contracts, feel free to tap me as a resource. I am not an attorney, however, I have a paralegal certificate and experience working with attorneys and in corporate legal/trust departments. So I've seen my fair share of contracts and currently negotiate the terms and conditions of various contracts in my current position.

Hi Melanie,

I also am launching my own business very soon and I was wondering if you have any resources for templates for VA contracts?

Thanks,
Evelyn

Hello Evelyn,

Thanks for your response. I do not have any agreements specifically tailored for a VA just yet. In preparing for my business, I've been gathering Service Agreements, Consulting Agreements, NDAs, etc. and plucking provisions from each agreement that fits the bill for my services. I am pulling the different agreements from my current employer as well as scouring the net for examples of agreements (Google/Yahoo/Lycos - Consulting Agreements, Non-Disclosure Agreements, etc.)

When I finally get my agreement finalized, if you'd like, I could send it to you via email or post it here. Just give me a PM if anyone is interested.

That would be great...I could share what I have if you are interested???

Thanks,
Evelyn