Coaching Agreement

A coaching agreement defines nonclinical coaching sessions, goals and client action plans, including scope, payment, operational responsibilities, risk allocation and exit.

A useful document turns the parties' actual arrangement into measurable duties, approvals, timing, remedies, and a reliable execution record. Its terms should be reconciled to the transaction rather than copied from an unrelated form.

• A client books career coaching
• A founder hires business coaching
• A team commissions leadership sessions

The document name alone does not determine the right structure. Consider a different instrument or qualified legal review when any of these conditions applies:

• Do not use this guide for psychotherapy or medical treatment.
• Do not use this guide for legal, tax or investment advice outside the coach's qualification.

Record exact facts before clauses are written. Names, authority, dates, amounts, defined terms, dependencies, and incorporated materials should be verifiable and consistent.

• Parties and engagement facts: coaching goals, participant roles, session schedule and communication limits.
• Expected performance and acceptance: session format, worksheets, progress reviews and rescheduling.
• Price and payment inputs: package price, session expiration, refunds and missed sessions.
• Legal and operational boundaries: confidentiality, no guaranteed outcome and professional boundary.

These decisions shape the allocation of responsibility and should not be left for boilerplate to decide:

• Which activities are coaching rather than regulated advice
• Whether sponsors receive progress reports
• How unused sessions are refunded
• How sensitive notes are stored

• Scope and schedule defining nonclinical coaching sessions, goals and client action plans, exclusions, client dependencies and change approval.
• Deliverables and service standards covering session format, worksheets, progress reviews and rescheduling, review, correction and acceptance.
• Fees and accounting covering package price, session expiration, refunds and missed sessions, invoices, taxes, expenses and disputed amounts.
• Rights and safeguards addressing confidentiality, no guaranteed outcome and professional boundary, responsibility for third parties, insurance and applicable law.
• Term and exit process covering termination, unused-session accounting and referral where appropriate, notices, final payment, return of property and surviving duties.

Every provision should use the same parties, dates, standards, defined terms, and document hierarchy. A clause that is reasonable by itself can still create a conflict when it is not reconciled with payment, default, termination, or another exhibit.

1. 01Describe the intended result and the relationship in plain language.
2. 02Confirm parties, authority, governing jurisdiction, dates, money, property, services, and approvals.
3. 03Resolve the key decisions and identify every schedule, exhibit, disclosure, consent, or filing.
4. 04Draft the provisions as one consistent system, then review the complete execution set before signature.

Outcome promises and blurred clinical or advisory boundaries can mislead clients.

The main agreement may establish the framework while schedules, exhibits, disclosures, consents, or operational records supply transaction-specific details.

• Goals and session calendar
• Intake and boundary acknowledgment
• Fee and cancellation schedule

Each incorporated document should be identified precisely, use the same names and effective date, and follow a stated order of precedence if terms conflict.

Before signing, verify coaching goals, participant roles, session schedule and communication limits; attach the goals and session calendar; approve pricing for package price, session expiration, refunds and missed sessions; and confirm responsibility for confidentiality, no guaranteed outcome and professional boundary. During performance, document session format, worksheets, progress reviews and rescheduling. At exit, follow the agreed process for termination, unused-session accounting and referral where appropriate.

• Confirm legal names, roles, capacity, addresses, and signing authority
• Reconcile dates, amounts, definitions, cross-references, schedules, and exhibits
• Confirm that duties, deadlines, approvals, acceptance standards, and payment triggers are measurable
• Check that default, termination, remedies, and surviving obligations work together
• Complete jurisdiction-specific forms, notices, witnesses, notarization, filings, or professional review when applicable
• Deliver and preserve the complete signed package with its incorporated documents

These sources provide federal, state-resource, regulatory, or institutional context. They do not replace checking the law and required forms applicable to the parties, transaction, and governing jurisdiction.

1. Source 1

   Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business

   Federal Trade Commission. Explains truth-in-advertising, evidence for objective claims, endorsements and advertising responsibility.

2. Source 2

   Health Products Compliance Guidance

   Federal Trade Commission. Explains substantiation of health-related advertising claims and risks of misleading endorsements.

3. Source 3

   Independent contractor (self-employed) or employee?

   Internal Revenue Service. Worker classification depends on behavioral and financial control and the full relationship, not the contract label.