What is a Master Service Agreement for?
It is the long document you sign with a client once. It sets terms for every job you do for them. It covers who owns the work, what is confidential, and how changes are charged. It does not carry money. The fee lives on each Statement of Work issued under it. The app refuses to put a fee or payment schedule on an MSA.
How do I write my first agreement?
- Press New agreement. It opens with fourteen clauses already in it.
- Pick the client, then read down the clauses. Every word is editable.
- Update the numbers that are yours to decide: the hourly rate for out-of-scope changes, the notice periods and the arbitration venue.
- Delete a clause with the bin beside its heading, or press Add clause for your own.
- Save. The agreement is a draft until you issue it.
How do I save my wording as a template?
- Click the row to open the agreement and press Keep as my template.
- The clauses are copied into a template filed under a number ending in TPL.
- The template has no client, does not appear in your list of agreements, and cannot be issued.
- You can keep several templates for different types of clients.
How do I start a new client from a template?
- Press Start from a template.
- Pick the template and the client, then press Create agreement.
- The wording is copied into the new agreement. It is not linked.
- Edit anything specific to this client, then issue it.
How do I issue and revise an agreement?
- Press Issue when the agreement is ready. The wording locks.
- To change it later, press Create a revision. You get a new one ending in -R1.
- The old version is kept and marked Superseded.
- Use Download PDF to get the document with a cover page and signature page.
What this does to your books
Nothing here touches your accounts. An MSA refuses a fee and a payment schedule. Your Trial Balance should not move when you sign a master agreement. It only moves when you bill work done under one.