Software Development Agreement Template

The Software development agreement must include the following points:

Work Phases: A work phase specifies when your software team will complete a certain task. It includes the development process of software. The questions which you must keep in your mind while preparing an agreement are:

• How will the specification for the software be agreed upon or elaborated?
• How will change to the software specification affect charges and other contract terms?
• What will be the client’s involvement in the design and development process?
• What is the timetable for the development of the software?

Payment Time and Amount: Due dates for payments and the amount to be paid should be clearly mentioned in the contract.

It includes:

• Fixed-price is a price paid for the whole project.
• Time and materials that your client will pay you for time spent and the cost of materials.

Intellectual Property and Moral Rights: The agreement should clearly state who will own the right of intellectual property, that in the case of the software development project will be your development team. Moral rights are the rights of the creators of copyrighted works. You must mention the ownership of the moral rights of the project in your contract.

Open-Source Software: When you are compiling an agreement you must add the details about open-source software if you are using it for your project. It will keep your client updated.

Warranty: A warranty is to ensure that a product will work in a particular way for some specific time period. Software warranties usually last for 90 days to a year.

Developer and Client Testing: The software development agreement must highlight the required testing. You should add the details if your client has requested a reduction in the testing phase. You must state the outcomes if your client fails to test something you asked them to.

Software Installation and Integration: A good software development agreement should clearly state if you are supplying DevOps as well as providing the software.

Ongoing Support: Your agreement should outline the channels that are open for support. Common support channels usually include phone, email, or a dedicated channel in Slack.

Maintenance Services: Your agreement should clearly specify what is general maintenance and what is extra work.

Termination : The termination terms are a very important part of every agreement. You must keep the following questions while preparing the termination clause of your contract:

• How can the termination happen?
• What happens to money owed?
• What is the required amount of written notice?
• Does your client need to stop using your code?
• Do your developers need to hand over code?
• What provisions of the software development agreement should survive the termination?

Dispute Resolution: It is very important to add the dispute resolution section in your contract to handle the situation in case of any dispute. You must outline all the laws and rules for settling down the matter.

Source Code Escrow: Source code escrow ensures maintenance and security in the event of a breakdown between the developers and your client.

Adding a section of source code escrow in your agreement will show your concern about the long-term success of the project.