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Put your trading terms in writing

We write the terms you trade on, so every sale runs on your document rather than the law's default.

Every sale your business makes is a contract. If you have not written the terms, the law supplies them, and they are not written with you in mind. Trading terms set your payment rights and cap what you can be liable for. They also give you something to stand on when a customer disputes the bill or refuses to pay.

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Terms that survive testing

Drafted to hold up when a customer disputes them, rather than to sit unread in a drawer.

Built around how you sell

The payment, delivery and liability provisions match your actual business rather than a generic template.

Customers actually bound

Advice on incorporation, so the terms apply to the sale rather than merely existing.

What your trading terms are actually doing

Trading terms are the standard contract behind every transaction you enter with a customer. They set what is supplied, how and when you get paid, and who carries the risk if something goes wrong. They also set what each side can do about it.

They matter most for businesses that sell the same thing repeatedly, because the terms apply hundreds of times without anyone looking at them. Where the terms are silent, the law fills the gap. Those default positions are written for the general case, not for how your business actually trades.

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What should trading terms cover?

Payment terms, and what happens when a customer pays late. Title and risk in goods. Limits on your liability, plus warranties and consumer guarantees. A dispute process and the governing law. Which of those matters most depends on what you sell and who you sell it to.

Are my terms binding if the customer never signed them?

Often yes. Terms can be incorporated by conduct, by reference on a quote or invoice, or by a prior course of dealing. What matters is that the customer had a real opportunity to read them before the contract was made. We advise on the acceptance method that suits how you sell.

What is the unfair contract terms regime?

It applies to standard form contracts with consumers and small businesses under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). A term is unfair if it creates a significant imbalance and is not reasonably necessary to protect your legitimate interests. It also has to cause detriment if relied on. Unfair terms are void, and since 2023 including one can attract a penalty.

How often should terms be reviewed?

When your business model changes, when the law changes, and otherwise every two or three years. The 2023 expansion of the unfair contract terms rules was the last big trigger, and a lot of terms still in use predate it.

Your terms apply to every sale, whether or not anyone has read them

Payment rights, liability limits and retention of title are decided long before the dispute. They are decided in the document you are trading on today.

Without your terms, you trade on someone else's

Your terms are a template from the internet, a competitor’s document with the name changed, or nothing at all. It has not been looked at since the business started. Meanwhile every invoice you issue is a contract on those terms.

It costs nothing until it matters. Then a customer refuses to pay, or claims the goods were defective, and you find out what your document actually says.

We will draft new trading terms or review the ones you are using now.
We will advise on the provisions your terms need given what you sell and who you sell it to.
We will check the terms against the Australian Consumer Law and the unfair contract terms regime.
We will recommend an acceptance method that suits how you trade, whether online, in writing or by conduct.
We will advise on how to incorporate the terms so your customers are actually bound by them.

When the invoices go out and nobody has read the terms on the back

You are trading steadily, supplying goods or services or both, and terms of trade have never quite reached the top of the list. You know they matter when something goes wrong. You would like a document that fits how you actually sell and that your customers are genuinely bound by. Something you could rely on if you had to chase a debt.

What's included in your trading terms service

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Trading terms drafting or review.
Australian Consumer Law and unfair contract terms check.
Payment, liability and warranty provisions.
Dispute resolution and governing law clauses.
Advice on how the terms get accepted.

Downloaded terms give you the comfort without the cover

Plenty of businesses trade for years on terms nobody drafted for them. A template from a website. A competitor’s document. A form that predates the 2023 changes to the unfair contract terms rules.

They read like protection. The gap only shows when a customer defaults, or disputes quality, or simply stops answering. At that point you find out whether your retention of title clause works and whether your liability cap survives. And whether the customer was ever bound at all. Each of those answers is now fixed.

From a borrowed template to a document that holds

We start with how you actually sell. What you supply, when payment falls due, what you are prepared to carry and what you are not. The terms get drafted around that rather than around a general case.

We then deal with the part most templates ignore, which is making sure the customer is bound. Whether that is online acceptance, a signed credit application, or a reference on every quote depends on how you trade. The result is one document behind every sale, drafted to survive being tested.

How your terms get written

From a borrowed template to terms you can enforce.

How you trade

We take instructions on what you supply, how payment works, and the problems your current terms have not solved.

Draft and check

We prepare the terms and check them against the Australian Consumer Law, including the unfair contract terms regime.

Put them in use

We advise on how to incorporate the terms into your quotes, orders and invoices so customers are bound.

Trading terms written for how your business actually sells

Terms of trade feel like back-office paperwork right up to the day they decide whether you get paid. By then they cannot be changed for the transaction you are arguing about.

We draft terms for businesses from sole traders to large suppliers, and the work is as much about incorporation as drafting. A well-written clause the customer never agreed to is worth nothing. We also check the terms against the unfair contract terms regime, which now carries penalties for including a term that fails it. We have 2 Accredited Specialists in Business Law.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Get trading terms that work when you need them

Terms can only be fixed for the sales you have not made yet. Every transaction until then runs on the document you have now. Tell us how you sell and we will draft terms that fit it, or review the ones you are using.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590