Hey everyone After a number of years in trading, I am finally planning to take a stab at managing money. I have a client I plan on starting with who will give me 100k-500k. It would be my responsibility to create the contract (for client's approval of course). As opposed to re-creating the wheel, i was wondering if anyone knows a place i can buy a contract that's already been created. I would then edit the contract to meet my needs. Any thoughts? If you have no ideas on where i can buy a pre-made contract, do you have any thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of ways to structure the deal? Thanks for your thoughts - Adam
Get an attorney to do this for you. Finding something cheap on the internet is great way to save money now and a great way to be sued later. If you are serious, get an attorney and CPA involved.
i agree - i was planning on getting an attorney to review whatever i created, but i thought it might be too expensive to pay an attorney to create a contract from scratch. i'll consider it if i have to though. thanks for your thoughts - adam
Given that the price will vary depending on the complexity of your agreement and entity structure you should be able to get a fairly solid operating agreement btw $1500 and $3500. I would use an attorney that worked for a nat'l firm and went out on their own, what i did. Try to get friends to get you contacts of reputable attorneys in your area in order to get a personal touch. The previous poster is exactly correct. If you do not hire an attorney from the onset it will set you up for a world of hurting down the road. Listen to the people who have gone through this before. Best of luck. Oh, the attorney ended up consulting with my accountant and they hammered out the entity structure together.
Any attorney with experience won't have to create one from scratch, they'll use the templates they have and customize it for you- a lot of the language is pretty standard. It'll still be a little more expensive than just having them review it, but worth it, IMO.
Yes. You need an experienced lawyer to produce a Partnership Agreement... Cost approximately $5,000. And you will need a good CPA to do an annual audit plus taxes... Cost approximately $5,000 annually. This way your Partner(s) will trust you. If you try to skimp on this... you will probably go out of business eventually.
Contracts are like helmets. They protect your most important assets. You don't build a helmet from junk you find lying around, and you don't buy the cheapest one in the store. You find one that fits your specific head correctly. If you're not sure whether it is protecting every part of your head, you consult someone who is knowledgeable about such things. Contracts on the cheap and helmets on the cheap only work when they're never tested.
Very important and good point. You want to present a professional operation in terms of legal and accounting. Your partners, investors will appreciate this and there will be less hand-holding. This subject has been talked about in many threads. Perhaps do a search.