How to Build Your Reusable Services and Terms Library in Happ

Most freelancers spend more time on contract admin than they need to because they're rebuilding the same things over and over — retyping the same services, copy-pasting the same terms, second-guessing the same prices. It adds up fast, and it creates inconsistency between contracts that can cause problems down the line.

A well-built Happ library solves all of this. Your standard services are saved with the right names, descriptions, and prices. Your Business Terms are stored as a clean template that you've already reviewed and stand behind. When a new project comes in, you pull from the library, customize for the specific client and scope, and send.

It takes about 20-30 minutes to set up properly the first time. After that, most contracts take 5-10 minutes to build. That's the trade-off: a one-time investment in setup for a permanent reduction in admin time on every contract that follows.

For each service you add, you'll fill in:

• Service name — clear and specific. "Brand Photography — Full Day" is more useful than "Photography" when you're scanning a contract later.
• Description — what's included. Be explicit: how many hours, how many deliverables, what file formats, how many revision rounds, what's excluded. The description that goes into your saved service is the one that ends up in the client's contract, so write it as if the client is reading it — because they will be.
• Price — your standard rate for this service. If your pricing varies by client or scope, save your most common rate and adjust per contract when needed.

How to decide what to save:
Start with the services you've charged for in the last 6 months. If you've quoted it more than twice, it belongs in your library. Don't try to save every possible variation — save your core offerings and handle edge cases manually when they come up.

Use AI to help build your list:
If you're not sure how to name or describe your services in a way that reads professionally, use the AI suggestions in Step 3 of a new contract as a starting point. Edit what's generated to match how you actually work, then save those edited versions to My Services. You'll have a polished library built from real market language without writing everything from scratch.

For a guide on how to use the AI service suggestions effectively, see our AI pricing and terms guide.

Unlike services (where one list covers everything), your Business Terms library works best when you have separate templates for meaningfully different types of work. A photographer doing both commercial shoots and editorial work has different risk profiles, usage rights considerations, and revision policies for each — and those differences should be reflected in the contract.

Think about how many templates you need:

• If all your projects are essentially the same type of work, one strong template is enough.
• If you work across two or three distinct categories (e.g., photography + consulting, or events + editorial), build one template per category.
• If you have a mix of commercial and personal/passion projects, consider separate templates for each since the stakes and terms are different.

What your Terms & Conditions should cover at minimum:

• Revision rounds included and what happens after (additional cost per round or per hour)
• Payment terms — due dates, late fees, what happens if payment isn't received
• Cancellation and kill fee policy
• Intellectual property — who owns the final work and when, portfolio usage rights
• What the client must provide and by when (brief, assets, approvals)
• How scope changes are handled

For a full breakdown of what strong Terms & Conditions should include, see our Essential Freelance Agreement guide. If you want AI to generate a first draft of your Business Terms, see our AI pricing and terms guide.

When you start a new contract and reach Step 3 (Services):

• Tap "Add from saved services" and your library appears.
• Select the services that apply to this project — they populate into the contract instantly with your saved name, description, and price.
• Edit anything that needs to change for this specific client or scope (adjust the price, add a rush fee, update the delivery timeline).
• Add manual line items for anything custom that isn't in your library.

When you reach Step 5 (Terms):

• Your saved Business Terms are automatically added to every new contract.
• Review them and make any project-specific edits before sending — changes here apply to this contract only and don't affect your saved template.

That's it. For a standard project that fits your typical work, you can go from opening the wizard to a contract ready to send in under 10 minutes once your library is set up.

Your library will drift out of date if you don't maintain it — and an outdated library is worse than a blank one, because it gives you false confidence that things are correct when they might not be.

Update your services when:

• You raise your rates — update the saved price so future contracts automatically reflect the new number.
• You add a new offering — save it to the library after the first time you use it manually in a contract.
• You stop offering something — remove it so it doesn't show up as an option and create confusion.
• You change what a service includes — update the description to match your current policy.

Update your Business Terms when:

• You change your payment or late fee policy.
• You change your revision or cancellation policy.
• Something happens in a project that reveals a gap in your current Terms & Conditions.
• You start working with a new category of client where existing terms don't fully apply.

A good habit: after every contract that required significant manual edits to your services or Business Terms, ask yourself whether those edits should become the new default. If yes, update the library. If no, leave it as is. That question alone will keep your library accurate over time without requiring a dedicated review session.