1. Having a contract helps prevent issues of nonpayment.

This is, again, very unfortunate, but there ARE people out there who are extremely unscrupulous and will do their best to avoid paying the people who work for them. When there is no contract or paper trail involved, unscrupulous clients will find doing just that very easy. How many freelancers have done work for a client, put all their effort into it, and ended up with part, or even all, of the promised fees unpaid? I guarantee you, there’s quite a few out there. You may be one of them. While a contract may not prevent a situation where you have to hound after a client to make them pay, it does cut down on the amount of dishonest people who just want to get the project done for free.

2. The client knows what they’re going to receive

Generally, clients read the contracts before they sign them. Or, at least, I hope they do. A good contract will list the freelancer’s duties, and what the client should expect to receive (and what they will be charged for it). This prevents a number of issues, because the client and the freelancer will most likely go over the project’s requirements several times before signing the contract. In turn, this helps to cut down on client complaints about the work being not what they wanted, or the price being higher than what they agreed on – though, those obviously won’t be eliminated entirely.

Additionally, you can add a clause against scope creep. A scope creep clause typically states that the freelancer has the right to charge the client for any extra work the client may request that was not originally requested or required as part of the project. If you keep allowing more and more things to be added to the project, you’ll spend hours working on it and end up being paid much, much less per hour than you would have if you’d just denied the requests or charged extra.

3. Contracts will outline contingencies for worst-case scenarios

There might come a time when you’ll need to fire your client. Yes, you can fire your clients, and you should, if they ever turn out to be a nightmare client from freelancing hell. The contract you and your client sign should cover what happens in the eventuality that you no longer want to work with that client.

Additionally, there may also be a case where the client may no longer require your services for whatever reason. A good contract will cover the procedure for severing the business relationship. Do you intend to charge a kill fee? Does the client have to pay for whatever amount of work you’ve already completed? This is, of course, up to you, but just between you and I? If it’s a long-term project, totally charge a kill fee.

You can also outline consequences for late payment and nonpayment for fees in the contract. You should probably do that. That’s a good life choice. You don’t want people to just pay you whenever, right?