Free contract template generator

Which contract do you need?

The generator covers the four agreements a small service business uses most. Pick the one that matches how you are being paid and how long the work runs; you can switch type at any time and keep the details you have entered.

The key clauses in a contract

A contract does not need to be long to work. It needs to answer, clearly, the questions that cause disputes. These are the clauses the templates include and why each one is there.

• Parties: the full legal names, with the CAC registration number for a company (RC) or business name (BN). A contract with a trading name and no registration number makes it harder to prove who agreed to what.
• Scope and deliverables: what you will do and what the client will receive. Anything not listed is a change, and the change clause says changes need written agreement on price and timing.
• Fees and payment terms: the amount, the currency, when invoices are issued and how many days the client has to pay. A deposit clause protects you on fixed-fee work.
• Tax: whether VAT is added on top, and what happens when the client deducts withholding tax.
• Intellectual property: the client owns what you made for them once they have paid for it; you keep your own tools and templates.
• Confidentiality and data protection: both parties protect each other’s information and comply with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
• Limitation of liability: caps what either side can claim, usually at the fees paid in the last twelve months.
• Term and termination: how long the agreement runs, the notice period, and what is paid for if it ends early.
• Governing law and disputes: Nigerian law, the state whose courts hear disputes, or arbitration instead.
• Signatures: who signs for each party, in what capacity, and when.

VAT and withholding tax in the fee clause

Two taxes affect what a Nigerian client actually pays you, and the fee clause should deal with both. VAT is 7.5% and is added on top of your fee if you are registered; registration becomes mandatory once taxable supplies reach ₦25 million in twelve months. If the contract says nothing, a client can argue the quoted fee already included VAT. The template states that fees are exclusive of VAT, or that no VAT is charged, depending on the option you choose.

Withholding tax works the other way. A company paying you deducts a percentage, remits it to the tax authority in your name, and pays you the rest. It is an advance on your own income tax, not a cost, but only if you receive the receipt or credit note that proves the deduction. The template’s WHT clause obliges the client to deduct only the amount required, remit it on time and give you the evidence within 30 days. The rates below come from the 2024 withholding regulations; our withholding tax rates guide has the full table.

Worked example: a ₦1,000,000 consultancy fee to a VAT-registered provider. The invoice is ₦1,075,000 including ₦75,000 VAT. The client deducts 5% WHT on the fee, ₦50,000, and pays ₦1,025,000. The provider records ₦50,000 as a tax credit, not a bad debt. WHT is calculated on the fee before VAT. If the payee has no valid Tax ID, the regulations allow deduction at double the rate, so put your TIN on the contract and the invoice.

Is a generated contract legally valid in Nigeria?

A contract is binding because of what the parties agreed, not because of who typed it. Under Nigerian law a valid contract needs an offer, acceptance, consideration (something of value on each side), an intention to create legal relations, parties with capacity, and terms certain enough to enforce. A template can supply clear terms; it cannot confirm that the deal itself is lawful or that it suits your circumstances.

Some agreements carry extra formalities. Contracts dealing with land, guarantees and some regulated activities have specific requirements, and certain documents attract stamp duty; an unstamped instrument can face difficulty being admitted in evidence until it is stamped and any penalty paid. For high-value work, employment relationships, or anything you would struggle to walk away from, have a lawyer review the draft. The templates here are written for routine service work between businesses.

Signing electronically

Section 93 of the Evidence Act 2011 deals with electronic signatures: where the law requires a signature, an electronic signature can satisfy that requirement, and it may be proved in any manner, including by showing the procedure the signer had to go through. Section 84 sets out how computer-generated evidence is admitted. The Cybercrimes Act 2015 also recognises electronic signatures, while excluding certain documents such as wills and instruments dealing with land. In practice, the strength of an e-signature as evidence depends on being able to show who signed, when, and what they agreed to.

The template’s general clause records that the parties agree to sign by electronic signature. That agreement helps, but it does not replace legal advice on whether electronic signing suits a particular contract.

Sending a contract for e-signature with ereQa

This generator gives you a document to download, print or paste elsewhere. If you would rather send it for e-signature, ereQa’s Contracts & E-Sign on the Business plan lets you paste this text into a new contract, or start from one of its 10 templates, which include service, consulting and freelance agreements and an NDA. eQ AI can draft a first version from a short description for you to edit.

You email the client a signing link from ereQa or copy the link to share it yourself. The client opens it in a browser without creating an account, types their full name and ticks a confirmation to sign, or declines. ereQa keeps a timestamped record of when the contract was sent, opened and signed, with the signer’s typed name and IP address, emails you when it is signed, and locks a signed contract against editing.

A signed contract usually leads to a quote or an invoice. If you price work before you contract it, quotes in ereQa let the client accept online, and the free invoice generator handles the first invoice without an account.