Agreements with Suppliers and Clients – Are your contracts up to date?
Your agreements with clients and suppliers should be already be recorded in writing. But arrangements often change over time, so you need to ensure that the terms of your agreements with suppliers and clients are up to date and varied legally. What are the key risks in these types of agreements?
Customer and client contracts
The most common business contracts are agreements to sell goods or provide services for income. If a business is dealing with the same type of transaction, generally at low cost, it may be sufficient to issue the same agreement with the same terms of trade to every customer.
When it comes to more valuable transactions, however, failure to be cautious when entering into supply relationships can result in disastrous consequences if you unknowingly agree to unfavourable contractual terms.
Terms of a supply agreement should reflect the realities of the transaction. Where each transaction is sufficiently different, it would be wise to create particular terms to cover issues unique to each agreement.
Supplier Contracts
A supplier contract is a legal document and is used as the basis upon which to measure the supplier’s performance. In addition to listing the items to be supplied, the Supply Contract states the time-frames, responsibilities, pricing and payment clauses to administer the relationship.
All of your commercial arrangement should be reduced to writing to avoid ambiguity and to ensure all parties are on the same page.
Customers should beware of the supplier’s terms of trade and you should have your own terms of trade that you understand and are comfortable to use.
If you have any questions relating to supplier contracts or terms of trade, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced lawyers at Butlers Business and Law on (02)49 7002 or fill an enquiry form out on our website.
From drafting new agreements to advising you of your rights under existing contracts, we can assist you at every stage of the supply agreement.
