A critical piece of event planning is developing the initial contract that your client will enter into. A contract legally binds your client to your company. This contract assists your company to prevent monetary losses. There are a few necessary clauses to include in your contracts like the Payment Terms, Cancellation Terms, and Indemnity Clause.

Payment Terms

It is crucial to establish when your client will pay for your company. It is typical for there to be an initial deposit, and then the rest of the money is paid after the completion of the event. The contract should include a due date for the initial deposit. The contract should additionally include a clause that says that no event planning will be done until the initial deposit is put forth.

Cancellation Terms

Cancellation terms should be established in the contract to protect from the monetary losses from work that has already been done. The contract should include that the initial deposit is non-refundable in the event of cancellation from the client. It is equally beneficial to state that the client will be responsible for any event costs that came up before they decided to cancel. It is necessary to include clauses for cancellation by your part. The clause should include in what situations your company can back out of the event. The contract should additionally include provisions for the client like reimbursing the initial deposit and referring them to a different third-party planner. Another clause your contract should contain is one for terminations due to a situation out of your control, like weather or a pandemic. These scenarios are unlikely, but you should include this clause in your contract to stay protected.

Indemnity Clause

An indemnity Clause is important to protect you from liability. It secures you from getting sued because of negligence by the client. For example, if an attendee is injured, they won’t be legally qualified to sue your company. Or if there is damage to the venue, the indemnity clause will have the venue hold the client responsible.

Payment Terms, Cancellation terms, and the Indemnity clause are all critical pieces of an initial contract that you create with your client that will avert most monetary losses