# Proposals, Contracts and Fees

A proposal is not decoration around a price.

A contract is not paperwork to rush through before the interesting work begins.

These documents define the relationship.

Treat them accordingly.

## Scope

Define what you are doing.

Define what you are not doing.

Define the deliverables.

Define the activities.

Define assumptions.

Define dependencies.

Define how changes will be handled.

"Website redesign" is not a scope.

Neither is "UX/UI".

Ambiguity at the beginning becomes conflict later.

## Responsibilities

Explain what you need from the client.

Access to users.

Stakeholder availability.

Content.

Analytics.

Technical information.

Approvals.

Legal input.

Feedback.

Define your own responsibilities just as clearly.

A professional agreement creates obligations on both sides.

## Fees

Talk about money plainly.

Do not apologise for fees.

Do not reduce a price without changing something about the engagement.

If the budget falls, scope, speed, access or deliverables usually need to change.

There is no professional virtue in promising the same result with half the resources.

## Pricing in 2026

Production efficiency is changing.

Work that once required days can sometimes be completed in hours.

That affects pricing, but it does not mean value disappears.

If you sell time, increased speed affects the hours.

If you sell a defined engagement or outcome, efficiency may improve both your margin and the client's result.

Do not charge for fictional work.

Do not reduce expertise to minutes spent operating software either.

## Payment

Set payment dates.

Use deposits where appropriate.

Invoice when agreed.

Address overdue payments quickly.

Stop work when serious contractual payment obligations are ignored.

You are running a business.

You are not an informal source of credit.

## Intellectual property

Define what belongs to whom.

Client material.

Existing assets.

Fonts.

Photography.

Code.

Templates.

Libraries.

Design system components.

Research.

Generated material.

Third-party licences.

Do not promise ownership rights you cannot guarantee.

Get appropriate legal advice when the work requires it.

## AI

Where AI use is material, the agreement should address it.

Which systems may be used?

Can confidential material be submitted?

Can client data leave approved environments?

Can generated assets appear in final work?

What can actually be assigned or licensed?

Is disclosure required?

Who reviews the output?

How is provenance handled where it matters?

Do not wait until delivery to discover that the client assumed something different.

_Practice, 7 of 15 in [Design Professionalism](https://craigjamieson.com/design-professionalism/)_

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Next: [Managing the Work](https://craigjamieson.com/design-professionalism/managing-the-work/)