A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties that creates mutual obligations enforceable by law.

In the FlexUp framework, a Contract may not be a single document; it may be composed of a package formed by all applicable documents: the Special Conditions (which identify the parties and specific terms), the General Conditions (which set out the standard legal framework), and optionally the Charter, Additional Conditions, and other documents. Together, these form an inseparable contractual whole.

Contract nature

The contract nature determines the allowed types of contributions, remunerations and payment structures:

• Commercial 🏷️: provision of products (non-financial contributions such as products, services, work, non-financial assets).
• Funding 💰: provision of payments (loan, investment) in exchange for a remuneration (interests, dividends, principal repayment, buyback).
• Grant 🎁: provision of payments (donation, grant, subsidy) without any remuneration in return.
• Transfer ➡️: transfer of Commitments (securities, trade receivables).
• Covenant 📜: an agreement that does not include any Orders (non-disclosure agreement, grouping agreement).

Note that commercial and transfer contracts can optionally include free contributions — such as free software, free museum entry, or free commitment transfers — without any remuneration in return.

Parties

The terms supplier and a client are meant in the broadest sense, as follows:

• Supplier is the party providing the contribution (product, payment or commitment) and, if applicable, receiving the remuneration.
  • Depending on the contract nature, the supplier can be an employee, supplier, contractor, freelancer, consultant, bank, investor, landlord, author, State, government entity, etc.
• Client is the party receiving the contribution and, if applicable, paying the remuneration.
  • Depending on the contract nature, the client can be an employer, customer, funding recipient, tenant, taxpayer, licensee, etc.
• If both parties are online 💻 accounts, either party, the editor, can create a contract and send it to the other party, the recipient, for review and signature via the FlexUp app.
• If the recipient is an offline📍 account, the editor (supplier or client) can create the contract and send it to the recipient via email/post, for review and signature. The recipient can then either:
  • signup to the FlexUp app and sign the contract online via the app, or
  • sign it offline and return it to the editor via email/post. In this case, the editor can unilaterally update the contract status in the app to “Signed” for their own records, but the contract will not be legally binding until both parties have signed it offline.