Composition of the contract – what should be included in it?
Almost every business is based on the conclusion of contracts. The way a contract is drawn up and the provisions contained therein often determine the success of cooperation and facilitate the realization of the object of the contract. A carefully prepared contract is also helpful when there are disputes between the parties.
We will write in more detail about what the content of the contract should contain soon – today we will focus on the initial part of the contract, the compary. What provisions should be included in the compary of any contract?
Table of content:
The crux of the compact, or who with whom
A prerequisite for drafting a lawful contract is the precise identification of the parties between whom the contract is concluded. Proper identification of the parties is extremely important for the provisions contained therein to be legally and formally valid. Failure to specify the parties or incomplete designation of the parties is punishable by a fine ranging from PLN 500.
What data of the parties should be included in the compary of the contract? It all depends on with whom the contract is concluded. Most business contracts are signed with limited liability companies, sole proprietors, civil partnerships and partnerships, and it is on these examples that we will focus today.
What elements should each contract contain?
Partnership and equity company
W przypadku spółki osobowej i kapitałowej w komparycji umowy określona powinna być:
- the name of the company with its legal form,
- registered office and address,
- KRS number and identification of the court where the company is registered,
- TIN,
- amount of share capital.
Partnership
The company’s compact of a contract concluded with a civil partnership must include:
- details of all partners in the company (name, surname, business name, address, TIN – as in the case of a sole proprietorship)
- and a statement that each of them is acting as a partner in the civil partnership (here the name, business name and TIN should be listed).
Sole proprietor entrepreneur
When drafting a contract with a sole proprietor, we should include the name, full name of the company, address and Tax ID number in the compary.
For example: Waldemar Kowalski conducting a sole proprietorship under the company: Okna i Drzwi Waldemar Kowalski with its registered office in (here we should include the address), NIP: (tax ID number).
What else should be included in the contract’s compact?
- Contract number – it is a good idea to accurately mark the contract and give it a unique, unrepeatable number so that it is easier to find later.
- Date of signing the contract.
- The effective date of the provisions from the contract – it can be equivalent to the date of signing, but the contract can also be effective, for example, from the first of the month.
Learn more about Hatiroo®, a tool that streamlines document preparation and processing
What is additionally worth putting on the first page of the contract?
We are used to the fact that manual signatures are usually placed on the last page of a contract, after each page has been initialed. With electronic signatures, such a procedure is not necessary – the e-signature on an electronic contract applies to the entire content of the document, regardless of where the signature is placed.
Therefore, it is worth considering placing the space for the electronic signature on the first page of the document. Why? First, the signatures will be visible as soon as you click on the preview of the document, making it easier to find the correct version if you have several in your files. Secondly, if the content of the agreement is modified, for example, during the negotiation process, this will not affect the visual aspect and will not make the document no longer clear – the signatures and the most important information about the agreement will still be on the first page, regardless of the amount of text added to the content of the agreement.
You already know what should be included in the contract’s compary. It is also worth remembering not only to include all the necessary elements, but also to take care of the way they are presented. Much more readable than the text itself will be, for example, the form of a table, which is easier to scan with the eye and quickly find the necessary information.
The contract’s compartition in a nutshell – our recommendations
- Put the companies’ data in the form of a table.
- Don’t forget the contract number.
- Include contract dates and notice period in the compary.
- If signing using the DocuSign® electronic signature platform, place signatures on the first page. In electronic signatures, you do not need to initial all pages. The signature seals the entire document, and when it is on the first page, you can already see when you open the document (PDF) whether you are dealing with a signed document.
- When you work on the Autenti® platform, you don’t have to choose the places for signatures – they are always on the last page.
Author:
Krzysztof Rosół, CEO Hatiroo®
Expert in workflow and electronic signatures. He has been designing business processes and advising his clients on workflow efficiency for more than 15 years. He is the architect of many workflow system solutions, including the Hatiroo® system.
Author:
Krzysztof Rosół, CEO Hatiroo®
Expert in workflow and electronic signatures. He has been designing business processes and advising his clients on workflow efficiency for more than 15 years. He is the architect of many workflow system solutions, including the Hatiroo® system.
