Terms of Trade (Terms & Conditions)

If you operate any type of business where you supply goods and or services to customers it is a smart idea to have a standard set of terms of trade (or sometimes called terms and conditions) which your customers agree to at the time of engagement.

Generally speaking, Terms of Trade will deal with various aspects of your business; from the point you provide a quote for your work, particulars of hand over of the goods/services, particulars of payment (and how to deal with non-payment), cancellation, and warranties.

Some of the aspects are governed by Federal or State Acts (such as the Competition and Consumer Act, or Sale of Goods Act) which may mean that the Act will set minimum standards you will need to abide by and cannot be contracted out of. These include implied warranty, indemnity, and passing of title. It is important to deal with these terms in your Terms of Trade as the Act may require that you agree in writing on certain points to benefit from its protection or you may wish to depart from the minimum standards set by the Act to your benefit.

Other aspects of trade that are not governed by any Act will be dealt in accordance with the agreement between the two parties. These include, for example, whether you can charge interest on outstanding invoices, or how one party can terminate the agreement. If these points are not agreed by the parties when the customer first engages your business to commence work, it will be difficult to enforce even the terms which one would consider to be common sense. For example, businesses can be surprised to learn that their is no automatic right to charge their debt collector or lawyer’s fees incurred in the recovery outstanding money- even when the debt is not disputed.

Depending on the industry you operate in, or the particulars of your business, it may be especially important to protect certain rights such as images and logos that you use or to set out in detail the way fees will be charged. Having a comprehensive Terms of Trade is a proactive way to minimise disputes, and reduce complications when a conflict occurs (such as non-payment).

Our business lawyers take the effort to get to know your business. What it does, what it needs and what its risks are. By doing so we ensure we draft Terms of Trade which address issues particular to your industry. We can also draft other particular areas of your concern, for example a Director’s Guarantees and Indemnity or Warranty terms.

We have experience in drafting terms of trade for small business to large national companies, so no job is too big or small. If you run a business and do not have terms of trade, or would like us to update same then get in contact with your nearest Prime Lawyers office.

We have business lawyers located at Sydney, Parramatta, Chatswood, Sutherland and Wollongong