Professional Services Agreement

A plain language, highly structured agreement for professional services. Use for single or multi-project engagements with or without deliverables.

A higher standard

Common Paper agreements help you get on the same page, faster.

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Industry-standard terms

Written by a committee of experienced attorneys to make negotiations simple and streamlined.

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Easy to negotiate

No more endless pages of redlines. Key agreement terms live upfront on a single, easy to adjust Cover Page.

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Free and open source

You shouldn’t need to start a new engagement from square one. Our agreements are available for anyone to use and modify.

Using this agreement

Common Paper agreements consist of a signed Cover Page and Standard Terms that are hosted online and incorporated by reference. Creating and executing an agreement is easy:

Fill out your Cover Page

Use this document to describe the services being provided in the SOW, plus the legal details of the agreement in the Key Terms section.

Send for signature

Once both parties have agreed on the terms, send the Cover Page for signature using your preferred method.

Getting started with Common Paper

How was this agreement created?

The Common Paper PSA was created by a committee of dozens of attorneys representing technology vendors, procurement teams, boutique firms, and Big Law.

I see this agreement is hosted online. Does that mean it will change?

Version 1 of this agreement will remain unchanged and hosted at commonpaper.com/standards/professional-services-agreement/1.0. Over time, we will create new versions to accommodate changes to the law and additional use cases. We expect future changes to occur infrequently, and they will be posted as a new version. However, any new versions will not change agreements that incorporate prior versions.

How do I use this agreement?

To execute an agreement using the Common Paper Professional Services Agreement, first download a copy of the Cover Page in your preferred format. Then finalize the terms of the agreement with your counterparty and input those terms into the corresponding bracketed section of the Cover Page. Finally, sign your Cover Page with your counterparty via the signing process of your choice. The Cover Page incorporates the Standard Terms by reference, completing the executed agreement.

Do I have to incorporate the Standard Terms by reference?

You can also download the longer version of the agreement here and include the Standard Terms in the agreement itself.

Can I customize the Cover Page?

Yes, you can feel free to change the Cover Page any way you like. Some companies decide to add their company branding or logo and edit some of the text. The only thing you are required to keep is the license information and link to the Standard Terms.

Can I customize the Standard Terms?

All modifications to the Standard Terms should be made by addendum on the Cover Page. Incorporating the Standard Terms by reference from the Common Paper website gives both sides assurance that all key details and modifications are explicitly called out in the Cover Page.

What license is this agreement released under?

Common Paper agreements are free to use and modify under CC BY 4.0.

Available formats

This agreement is free to use or modify under CC BY 4.0. The agreement is available in the following formats.

Configuration guide

Set up this agreement by answering a few questions.

Standard Terms

 Full text:
Standard Professional Services Agreement posted at commonpaper.com/standards/professional-services-agreement/1.0

Cover Page

Cover Page &
Standard Terms

Optional info sheet