1. Liquid Support
  2. For Businesses
  3. Master Contracts / Onboarding Vendors

What is a Master Contract?

A Master Contract is a contract between two parties that establishes most of the terms between the parties to the agreement. 

Liquid makes it easy for Master Contracts to be created and agreed to with your Vendors. In Liquid,  you can use Liquid's standard templates or you can use your own templates or use your own signed contracts.

Benefits of using Master Contracts

  • Save time and money every time you start a new project with a vendor – legal terms only need to be negotiated one-time, not for every project
  • Provide clarity on terms as the Master Contract takes priority over any conflicting or additional legal terms that might be included in SOWs, Work Orders, or invoices
  • Help reduce litigation risks and contractual disputes through more a more robust and standardized contracting process

Using Master Contracts allows you to separate out SOWs or Work Orders

When you sign an overarching Master Contract with each of your vendors, you are able to agree to project-specific details via individual SOWs or Work Orders (WOs). This means you no longer have to renegotiate the overall engagement each time you want to start a project. Using Liquid’s Work Order creation form you can quickly send off and agree to project-specific terms such as milestones, deliverables, rates, fee schedule, and more. This allows you to start new projects when you need them because the Work Orders are automatically tied to your Master Contract. 

Work Orders are tied to Master Contract automatically in Liquid

When you use Liquid, the specific Master Contract you have in place with a vendor is automatically tied to every Work Order for that vendor. That means that the overall terms of your engagement — payment terms, confidentiality, etc — automatically apply to every Work Order. In addition, all invoices in Liquid are tied to Work Orders so you’ll reduce the risk of paying an invoice outside of the scope of work. The Master Contract supercedes any conflicting legal terms in your work orders, so it’s important to use a Master Contract that has been reviewed by legal counsel.