Protection for Your Business
Written terms and conditions of business can often just be regarded as a standard boilerplate document that is the same for all businesses but they are essential to protect your business and in may ways they are the “unsung heroes” of commercial agreements.
What are Terms and Conditions of Business?
We encounter terms and conditions of business all the time – on the backs of invoices and on contractual documents but more commonly these days, we have to click to accept them whether we are accepting services from mobile network providers or broadband internet providers. Sometimes they are a positive nuisance as you cannot move forward with a provider until you accept their terms and conditions but whilst you may understand why a global service provider has standard terms and conditions of business you may not think it is necessary for your business.
Why are Terms and Conditions of Business Essential?
Every transaction you have with a customer, whether that customer is another business or a consumer is a contract or a bargain that you have struck with that business or person. It is important that you understand fully the terms of that contract so both parties are clear what terms apply to that contract to avoid later disputes. You will also want to ensure that if the other party does not comply with the terms of the contract that you can take legal action to force that party to comply with their part of the bargain. The presence of clear contract terms will also help you to comply with the law.
Every business needs to have a strong set of contract terms and conditions to govern the contract between that business and its customers for the protection of the business. The terms and conditions need to be accepted by the customer to form part of the contract with the customer. It is not good enough to have the terms and conditions at the back of the invoice with the customer as most likely the customer will only see the terms and conditions after the goods or the services have been provided. The customer needs to see and acknowledge the terms and conditions before the goods or services have been provided.
What Should be Included in the Terms and Conditions of Business?
The following is not an exhaustive list as you may need to include specific terms and conditions depending on the nature of the contract but at the very least the following should be included:
- The name and address of your business and the name and address of the customer.
- The date when the contract becomes legally binding.
- The product or service that is being provided including any time limits and any special terms that apply to the product or services.
- The cost of the product or service and when payment needs to be made. Depending on the payment terms and the nature of the goods being sold, you may need to include terms making it clear when ownership and risk in the goods passes to the customer.
- Terms dealing with late payment including interest terms and the costs of recovery.
- The date or time period during which the contract can be terminated and how the contract can be terminated.
- How complaints will be handled.
