What to put in a software development contract

Disputes about software are rarely about a missing legal adjective. They are about scope nobody wrote down, code nobody owns, or a bill nobody expected. A short agreement that covers those is more useful than a long one that does not.

This is not legal advice. Have a lawyer read anything you will sign for a large sum. The list below is what we refuse to start without, because the project fails otherwise.

Scope, in and out

Name the deliverable. Name what is not included. “And related work” is how fixed prices die. If you are on hourly terms, say what the hours are for and how they are reported.

Change control

A new request is a new line: what it is, what it costs or how many hours it is expected to take, and whether the date moves. Verbal “while you’re in there” is the change people later call a bug.

Who owns the code

State that the client owns the source code and the documentation on final payment, and that the repository is in the client’s account. If third-party libraries are used, the client gets them under those libraries’ licences, not as if you wrote them. Say that in one sentence so nobody is surprised.

Payment

Amount or rate, currency, and when it is due. For milestones, the milestone is a demoable thing, and payment follows acceptance of that thing. For hourly, the log is attached. For clients outside India, name the rail: Wise, PayPal, Stripe, or a USD transfer. Our commercial page is pricing.

Confidentiality

If you need an NDA before the repository is shared, sign it first. The engagement agreement should still say what happens to credentials and customer data when the work ends: they stay in your systems, access is revoked.

Defects after launch

A support window with a length. Defects in the agreed scope are fixed inside it. New ideas are not defects. Write both sentences.

How it ends

Either side can stop. Say what is paid for work already accepted, and that the code for paid work is handed over. A contract with no exit is not protection. It is a trap.

What we do in practice

The sequence is on how we work: NDA if you want one, then a written scope, then the build. Templates are linked once you provide the files you want used. Until then, the clauses above are the minimum we will operate to.