I’m glad I have this in my contracts

Last week, I conducted a contract writing and finance essentials workshop for freelance creatives, and a participant asked a question that stumped me.

I can’t remember her exact words, but they were something like:

“Is there a clause in your contracts that has made you go ‘oh, I’m so glad I have this?'”

I racked my brains but drew a blank, so I apologised and said I’d get back to her if I thought of one.

And, well, I have!

I couldn’t answer on the spot because I was trying to think of a situation where a contract clause rescued me from a misunderstanding or dispute with a client. But one didn’t come to mind (and still hasn’t), probably because I’ve gotten into very few of these disputes in the first place. No complaints about this, though. 😮‍💨

But a day after the workshop, I was preparing an invoice and couldn’t remember how much I was supposed to bill for the work. I thought I had it right, but I wanted to double-check my records.

So, I checked, and that was when I caught myself thinking, “luckily, I have this in writing”. That’s when I realised I’d been puzzling over the workshop participant’s question from the wrong angle. Instead of “what has gone wrong?”, I should have asked myself: “what has gone right so far?”

That’s because contract clauses don’t just help limit the damage if things go wrong. They can also set out both parties’ expectations clearly, so problems are less likely to come up in the first place.

And so, my answer to the question of contract clauses that I’m glad to have: payment terms.

I work with multiple clients, and as things get busy, I sometimes can’t remember what my payment arrangements with them are. 😬 For example, do I need to include a certain reference in the invoice? Or what should my invoice’s due date be?

That’s when I check my contracts—or just the payment details I’ve saved elsewhere for quick reference.

This way, I check that I’ve prepared my invoice correctly, so I don’t make invoicing mistakes that delay clients from paying me.

To apply this tip for yourself, save the payment terms you and your client have agreed on somewhere you can find them easily. You don’t need any fancy storage solutions. I just copy and paste or type my terms into a dedicated Google Doc for each client.

I may not be able to recall exact payment terms offhand, but there’s one thing I’ll never forget to do—and it’s to bill my clients for work. 😂

More freelancer news

If you’re a private-hire driver (especially one that drives with Grab), this edition’s news is for you.

Opportunities to upskill and transition away from private-hire driving

Grab and OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) have teamed up to start GO Forward with AI, a 2-year programme that offers free half-day workshops for Grab drivers and riders to learn practical AI skills.

Singapore participants will get a free 3-month ChatGPT subscription after attending these workshops.

And separately, taxi and private-hire drivers can now sign up for a programme to learn to become bus drivers. This could be a good option for maintaining income as self-driving vehicles become more common. Having more people become bus drivers would also ease Singapore’s recurring bus driver shortage.

This programme is open on both a full-time and part-time basis. From 1 Jan 2027, Singaporeans and permanent residents who become bus drivers will also enjoy higher starting salaries and sign-on bonuses.

Some Grab drivers may see tax bill increases

Grab submitted incomplete income tax records for about 16,000 drivers in July 2026. So, IRAS has sent these drivers a higher tax bill, with most of these bills reaching affected drivers by last month.

According to IRAS, the majority of affected drivers had their bill increased by less than $100.

If you’re paying your taxes via GIRO instalments, your monthly instalment amount will be adjusted automatically. If you aren’t on this instalment plan, you’ll need to manually pay the difference by the due date stated in your updated tax bill.

​More info in this article.