Contract drafting for businesses

Which contracts does a small business need?

Most businesses get by for a long time on handshakes and emails. That works until something goes wrong: a co-owner wants to step down, a customer does not pay, or you and an employee remember the terms differently. Then it is the contract that decides. These are the contracts we most often help small businesses to write:

• Shareholder agreements. These govern the relationship between the co-owners of a limited company (aktiebolag, AB): who decides what, how shares may be sold, what happens if someone wants to leave the company and how the profit is to be shared.
• Customer and supplier agreements. Price, delivery, payment terms, liability and what happens in the event of delays or defects.
• Employment contracts. Salary, working hours, type of employment, notice period and holiday.
• Assignment and consultancy agreements. For you if you buy or sell services on an assignment basis: scope, fee, who owns the results and how the assignment ends.
• Confidentiality agreements. When you share business ideas, customer lists or figures with a partner, buyer or supplier.
• Commercial leases. The landlord usually writes the lease. We read it with you and point out terms on the lease period, termination and costs that are worth negotiating.

Is a verbal agreement valid?

Yes, in most cases. The Swedish Contracts Act (Avtalslagen) sets no general requirement for written form: an offer and a reply to the offer are binding, and special rules only apply when a law requires a particular form. The problem with a verbal agreement is that it is hard to prove what you actually agreed. A written contract makes the terms clear to both parties from the start, and that is what prevents disputes.

Things worth covering in a contract

• Who the parties are and what the contract covers
• Price, payment and payment terms
• How long the contract runs and how it is terminated
• Liability and what happens if someone does not do their part
• Confidentiality and who owns what is produced
• How changes to the contract are to be made

Employment contracts: written information within seven days

When you take someone on, Section 6 c of the Employment Protection Act (lagen om anställningsskydd) requires you to provide written information on all terms that are of material importance to the employment. The basic details, including name and address, start date, duties, type of employment, salary and working hours, must be provided as soon as possible and no later than the seventh calendar day after the employee started work. Certain other details, for example the length of holiday, what applies when the employment is to end and any applicable collective agreement, must be provided no later than one month after work began. A written employment contract is the simplest way to include everything from day one.

The salary in the contract then has to work in the payroll run. If we handle your payroll, the same firm takes care of the payroll administration.

Contracts and finances in the same firm

First, a word about what we are: Ekonomico is an accounting firm, not a law firm. For a small business that is often an advantage. Many contracts are about money that also has to be booked and taxed: payments to co-owners, dividends, employee benefits and how and when you invoice a customer. When the contract and the bookkeeping are handled by the same firm, the terms match the bookkeeping and tax from the start, and you do not have to explain the same thing to two different offices.

If the contract is to lead to a change in the company, such as a new co-owner, a new board or amended articles of association, we also help you with the company changes.

How it works when we help you write a contract

1. Review. We talk through what the contract needs to solve, who the parties are and what you have already agreed.
2. Draft. We write a draft in plain Swedish and go through the parts that concern payment, tax and bookkeeping.
3. Adjustments. You and the other party read it, we explain the terms and make adjustments until the contract reflects what you have agreed.
4. Signing. The contract is signed on paper or, if you prefer, digitally.

What is included

• Review of your needs and of existing contracts
• A draft of the contract
• Adjustments based on your comments and those of the other party
• A check that the terms on payment, dividends, benefits and invoicing are consistent with bookkeeping and tax
• A finished contract ready for signing

If a dispute arises anyway

A good contract prevents conflicts, but sometimes they arise anyway. If there is a dispute over a contract, we help you with that too, and since we already know the contract and your bookkeeping, you do not need to start from scratch. If you have a legal question that does not concern a contract, read about how we help with legal questions.

Price

Contract drafting is not included in the accounting packages. You get a quote with a fixed price before we start, so you know what the contract will cost. Request a quote and tell us briefly which contract you need.