Fractional engagement letter: a 1-page template you can send today
A clean, signable engagement letter template for fractional retainers — scope, fee, term, and exit, all on one page.
An engagement letter is what you use before the long-form MSA is ready — or instead of one for small clients. One page, signable in two minutes, protects both sides.
The 6 sections
1. Parties: legal name of your entity, legal name of theirs.
2. Scope: 2–4 bullets of what you'll do. Add 'and adjacent reasonable requests within the role.'
3. Time commitment: e.g. 'approximately 2 days per week, asynchronous unless otherwise agreed.'
4. Fee: monthly amount, payment terms (Net 0 or Net 7), how it's invoiced.
5. Term and exit: month-to-month with 30 days written notice from either side.
6. Confidentiality and IP: standard mutual NDA language, IP assigns to client on payment.
What to leave out
Don't add SLAs, KPIs, or success fees in the engagement letter — those belong in a separate scope addendum so you can revise them without re-papering the whole agreement.
About fractional engagement letter template
Engagement letter or MSA?+
Engagement letter for retainers under $10k/mo or short trials. MSA + SOW once the relationship is permanent or the client's legal team requires it.