📝 Contract Template

Retainer Agreement Template

Monthly retainer for ongoing services. Example: 10 hrs/month @ $200/hr, rollover up to 5 hrs.

What a retainer agreement should set out

• The services covered by the monthly fee, and the services that fall outside it
• The hours or volume included, and the rate for work beyond them
• Whether unused hours roll over, how many, and for how long
• Response times or service levels, if any are promised
• The billing date, and whether the retainer is paid in advance or arrears
• The notice period for ending it, on both sides
• How the fee is reviewed, and how much notice a change requires
• Who the named contact is on each side

Rollover is where retainers quietly become unprofitable

Unlimited rollover turns a retainer into a bank account the client draws down at the worst possible time — usually a large project in a month you are already full. A cap solves it without being unfair: a small number of hours, expiring after a stated period, keeps the client’s goodwill and keeps your capacity predictable.

• Cap rollover in both hours and time, for example five hours expiring after one month
• Report usage monthly, so an over-run is visible before it is an invoice
• Say what happens to unused hours on termination — usually they lapse, but it must be written down

Keeping a retainer healthy

• Review it every six or twelve months against what is actually being used
• Do not let out-of-scope work become habitually absorbed; it resets the client’s expectation permanently
• Agree an escalation path for urgent work outside business hours, and price it

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General information only — not legal, tax or financial advice. For contracts and tax documents, confirm your obligations with a qualified professional or the relevant authority.