Contract templates

Every contract in Folnaro starts from a template. A template is made of clauses, and your answers to a few questions decide which clauses appear on the page and how they read. You can put any clause in your own words or hide optional clauses.

Note Templates you adapt. They put the legal rules into clear sentences; what fits your case is your call. Folnaro does not review your contract.

The template library

In Contracts, open the library with the Contract button in the toolbar, with File > New > Contract or with ⌥⌘N. The window is called New contract from template. Each template is listed with one line on what it’s for. Use Search templates to find a template by name.

Template	For
Wedding photography	A wedding day or a celebration: date, hours on site, deposit, the couple calling it off, a replacement if you’re ill, picture selection, delivery date and use in your portfolio. Plus both people of the couple, the schedule and the vendors as attachments, and a separate consent to publication that the couple can revoke at any time.
Photo job	A shoot for a company or a person: scope, usage rights by medium, term and territory, credit as the author.
Fixed-price software project	A project with a defined result: description of the work, milestones, acceptance, defects, usage rights in the code and open source parts.
Development by time	Ongoing work billed by time: hour budget, billing, term and notice.
Design project	Logo, web design or layout: drafts, revision rounds, usage rights and what happens to drafts that weren’t chosen.
Non-disclosure agreement	Before you receive or share confidential information, mutual or one way.
Data processing agreement	When you process personal data for a customer, for example in hosting or in a customer database.
Model release	A person’s consent that you may publish pictures of them.
Addendum	A change to a signed contract. You start it from the contract, not from the library, see Change something: the addendum.
Cancellation agreement	End a contract by mutual consent. You start it from the contract too, see End a contract.

At the top, under For what you do, are the templates that match what you entered under What you do. Below come For everyone with templates such as the non-disclosure agreement and More templates with the rest. At the bottom you choose the customer and, if there is one, the quote for it. Create Contract or ↩ creates the draft. Change what you do under Settings… > Business, see What you do.

The template library with the photography templates first.

Reuse a contract

If you need a similar contract again, select it in the list and duplicate it with File > Duplicate (⌘D). The new draft has the same answers, your own wording and the same hidden clauses. Folnaro leaves dates that are already past empty. Check customer and amounts for the new job.

When you start a new contract from the same template, Folnaro suggests your answers from last time. You recognize them by Same as last time.

Clauses

A clause is one part of a template, printed on the page as a numbered section, such as “Services”, “Fee and deposit”, “Calling off” or “Usage rights”. Folnaro numbers the clauses in order and updates references like “see section 4” when a clause is added or removed.

Some clauses are always in the contract, such as the parties and the work.
Others appear only when an answer needs them. Answer “Is there a deposit?” with Yes and the deposit clause is added.
Some clauses come in several versions. Whether calling off is staggered by date or a flat rule, you choose with a question.

Contracts address your customer formally, just like your invoices. If the customer is set to the informal form of address, Folnaro uses the informal version of every clause. Set the form of address on the customer, see Customers, products and projects.

The fill-⁠in questions

The fill-in help asks only what the contract really needs. A question that no longer matters because of an earlier answer is hidden.

Details: date, place, hours, fee, deposit or milestones. Much of it comes from the customer or the quote and is filled in already.
Choices: Yes or No, or one of a few options. Below each question a short hint says what the choice changes on the page.
Usage rights: which media, how long, which territory, exclusive or not, whether changes are allowed and whether you’re credited as the author. Folnaro turns your answers into one readable paragraph on the page.

Under View you choose Step by step, which shows one topic after another, or All questions in one column. If a detail that must be on the page is missing, such as the date, you can’t send until it’s there.

Next to an answer you see where it comes from: Same as last time for your value from the last contract with this template, From quote for details from the quote and Suggested by the template for a usual value you should check.

Notices and errors

Under Notes, Folnaro collects what stands out in your answers. There are two kinds.

Errors are about details without which the contract can’t be sent or contradicts itself: no date, a deposit above the fee, payments that don’t add up to the fee. An error can’t be hidden, only fixed.
Notices name a general rule that belongs to your answers. For example: anyone who sells to consumers gives them withdrawal instructions. Or: a flat fee due on every cancellation holds only within limits towards consumers. A notice says what the law provides in general. It doesn’t judge your contract.

Each entry says which section it belongs to. Click it to jump to the matching question or clause. If it’s fine for you as it is, choose Hide… on the notice and answer Why is it fine like this? in a few words. Folnaro keeps your reason with the contract. If the answer behind it changes, the notice comes back.

You can send once no error is left and every notice is fixed or hidden. The inspector shows under Still open how many points are left.

Your own wording on the page

You can put the text of any clause in your own words.

Click Your Own Wording (the pencil) on the clause.
Write the text the way you want to say it. Your wording replaces the template text in this contract only.
Click Apply.

Folnaro marks the changed clause with Your own wording. The PDF for your customer shows nothing of it.
Use the Template Text in the same window brings back the original wording.
If you later change an answer that affects this clause, Folnaro keeps your wording. Adjust it yourself then.
If your wording excludes all liability or declares a deposit non-refundable, for example, Folnaro shows a notice with the general rule.
Texts marked Statutory model text with the lock come word for word from the law. They can’t be changed.

Hide takes an optional clause out of the contract. It then appears under Hidden at the end of the page. Show brings it back.

Template versions

Every template in Folnaro has a version. When a law changes or a clause gets clearer, a Folnaro update brings a new version of the template.

A sent contract always keeps the version it was sealed with. An update doesn’t change it.
A draft gets the current version when you send it. Your answers and your own wording stay. After an update, read the contract through once more before you send it.

Where a clause comes from

Under What does this cover? every clause names the statutory rule it rests on, such as § 631 BGB for a contract for work, § 31 UrhG for usage rights or Art. 28 GDPR for data processing. That way you can look up where a sentence comes from and talk it through with your tax advisor or a lawyer.

Folnaro takes the withdrawal instructions and the model withdrawal form for consumers word for word from the law. You can’t change these two texts, because only the official wording carries the statutory protection of the model. More in Contracts with consumers.

Legal background Contract templates that put general rules into sentences and that you fill in yourself are not legal advice. Only lawyers may assess an individual case (§ 2 RDG). That’s why Folnaro sticks to templates and general notices.

Common problems

There’s no template for my work: Look under More templates in the library or use Search templates. If none fits, take the closest one, such as Design project for copywriting or illustration, and adapt the clauses with your own wording. For the next job of this kind, duplicate the contract.
A clause is missing from the page: It appears only with a certain answer. Click the question about that topic in the fill-in help and check your answer. If you hid the clause, you find it under Hidden at the end of the page.
The notice about withdrawal instructions doesn’t go away: The customer is set up as a private person and the contract wasn’t made on your business premises. Keep the withdrawal instructions on. If they don’t belong, hide the notice with Hide… and say why.
My own wording no longer fits after an answer: Folnaro never overwrites your wording. Adjust the text yourself or choose Use the Template Text.