#contracts
Client contracts, scope of work agreements, and legal documentation for service businesses
Subletting unused office space leaves you fully liable on the master lease while making you a landlord to your subtenant — why written landlord consent comes first, how to book sublease income separately from rent expense, and how advance rent, security deposits, and CAM pass-throughs are taxed.
A lien waiver comes in four forms, and two words decide whether you kept your lien rights. Conditional waivers release rights only if the payment clears, so they go out with the invoice; unconditional waivers release immediately whether or not you are paid, so they go out only after funds clear the bank. Includes the through-date, retainage, and preliminary-notice rules that make the system hold up.
A water conditioning dealership runs four businesses on four different clocks — equipment installs, salt delivery, service plans, and rentals. Split them into separate income accounts, defer prepaid service revenue under ASC 606, accrue a warranty reserve at 2–5% of equipment sales under ASC 460, and capitalize rental units over a 7–10 year life instead of expensing them.
New Jersey is converting home improvement contracting from registration to licensure under P.L.2023 c.237, with licensing provisions effective February 1, 2026. Registration still costs $110 a year, requires $500,000 in general liability coverage and a displayed 13VH number, and any contract over $500 must be written — violations are automatic Consumer Fraud Act unlawful practices carrying treble damages plus attorney's fees, while unregistered contractors generally cannot sue to collect payment.
Section 1234A treats gain or loss from the cancellation, lapse, or termination of a right in capital-asset property as capital — so a forfeited earnest-money deposit is usually a short-term capital loss, a lapsed option premium is short-term capital gain, and a merger break fee is a capital loss capped at $3,000 of ordinary income per year for individuals. Services contracts, Section 1231 business property, and debt retirements fall outside the statute and stay ordinary.
California SB 61 caps retention on private construction contracts signed on or after January 1, 2026 at 5% per progress payment and 5% of the contract price in total, down from the 10% industry norm — here is who it covers, the residential and bonding exceptions, and how to rebuild your retainage receivable schedule so the freed-up cash actually reaches your account.
Paying a contractor does not transfer intellectual property. Under U.S. law the creator owns the copyright and the inventor owns the patent rights unless a signed writing says otherwise, and "work made for hire" language covers only nine narrow statutory categories that exclude custom software. This guide covers the seven clauses a contractor IP assignment needs, why "hereby assigns" beats "agrees to assign," and what investors check in diligence.
An estoppel certificate is a tenant-signed statement of rent, term, deposits, options, and defaults that legally blocks the tenant from later contradicting it; an SNDA is the three-party agreement keeping that lease alive through a foreclosure. This guide covers what a buyer should demand in each, the red flags that justify re-pricing a deal, and how confirmed deposits and prepaid rent land on the opening balance sheet.
Steel mill products are up roughly 21 percent and copper products 16–25 percent year over year after the April 2026 Section 232 tariff restructuring set a 50 percent duty on metal-heavy goods. This guide shows contractors how to break out metals as dated line items, tie escalation clauses to a published BLS index with clear thresholds and proof requirements, and run monthly job-cost reviews so price spikes become approved change orders instead of lost margin.
How elevator service companies job-cost full-maintenance and exam-and-lube contracts per unit — booking prepayments as deferred revenue, costing callbacks at a burdened CET mechanic rate of 85 to 100 dollars an hour rather than the 52-dollar wage, carrying truck stock as inventory, and pricing renewals from twelve months of callback history.
A pay-if-paid clause makes the owner's payment a condition precedent and shifts the full risk of owner nonpayment onto the subcontractor, while a pay-when-paid clause only sets timing and still obligates the general contractor. Courts enforce pay-if-paid only when the condition-precedent language is express, and at least eight states (California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin) void it outright. This guide covers how to tell the clauses apart, what to negotiate before signing, the Miller Act's 90-day notice and one-year suit deadlines, and how to book contingent receivables so your aging report and cash forecast tell the truth.
Monument shops collect deposits months before delivery and carry $25,000 to $90,000 in granite — so deposits must sit as deferred revenue until installation, granite must be costed by specific identification including freight, and retail walk-ins need a completely separate profit center from cemetery wholesale.
