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Home » About Us » Business Contracts Unit » Types of Business Contracts Handled by BCU » Independent Consultant Agreement: How-to Guide

ICA Form Tips

The tips provided here are for the sections that the department can revise.  The department is not permitted to revise any other sections.  Should a consultant have a concern about any section not listed here, the BCU Officer who receives the assignment will discuss the concern with the consultant.


Click here for the ICA Form.

  Section of ICA Tips
  Header section
(Prior to Section I)		 a.Leave the Agreement Number for the Purchasing Department to enter.

b.Do not list the Consultant's Firm Name unless the firm is entering into the contract.

  • For example, a research consultant might be an employee of another university, but usually the consultant is acting alone and their university of employ should not be listed.

c. You may use multiple accounting code combinations if the payments are to post against multiple accounts. Just list all of them, and then specify the account to be charged when requesting payment (e.g. invoice).
I
 Nature & Place(s) of Service

a. Section A: Input the description of services (Scope of Work) to be performed. It is very important to provide a sufficiently detailed description of services.

  • See Statement of Work Guidelines
  • Feel free to write your Statement of Work as a separate document, label it as "Attachment A" and simply enter "See Attachment A" to reference it.
  • Much of the information recommended in the Statement of Work Guidelines is requested in other sections of the ICA Form. Feel free to simply refer to the Statement of Work instead of repeating the information.


b. Section B: If a Consultant's Proposal is to be incorporated, leave Section B in place as is. If not, enter "NOT APPLICABLE".

c. Section G: Input the Contract or Grant information, if applicable. If a federal contract is listed, you must attach special terms (See #25 below).

II
 Term of Agreement
 Section A: It is a violation of University policy to unofficially authorize a Consultant to begin performing services prior to attaining official authorization. If the start-of-performance date precedes the date the ICA is received by the Purchasing Department, a Dean or Vice Chancellor's signature is required before the ICA will be processed.
III
 Compensation & Reimbursement of Expenses

a. Section A.1 (Professional Fees):
Options:

  • Hourly rates should be used in labor categories. The persons providing services should be identified by name and category.
    • Note: Rates should include overhead expenses to cover costs of consultant's incidental expenses, such as telephone, fax, photocopying, couriers, etc.
  • Fixed fee payable at completion of services/project. Fee schedules can be used for progress/installments payments (a percentage of payment for completion of project milestones or targeted goals.).
  • Make payments dependent on completion (and acceptance) of deliverables whenever possible.


b. Section A.2 (Other Expenses):
Travel Expenses:

  • Travel, hotel and meals will be reimbursed according to University Travel Policy.
  • The following terms are recommended:
    • Specifying "coach" airfare and # of flights authorized.
    • Mileage reimbursement at the IRS-allowed rate.
    • Meals up to $X per day.
    • Lodging up to $X per day.
    • Original receipts required for reimbursement.
    • List other mutually acceptable expenses to be paid to the Consultant.


c. Section B (Payments): Check the first box in all cases.

IV
 Performance Schedule
 a. The best practice is to:

  • Break the work down into key milestones.
  • Specify an expected amount of work (hours, days, weeks, etc.) necessary to reach each milestone.
  • Specify an expected date of completion for each milestone.

b. The Performance Schedule should coordinate clearly with the Compensation Section (Section 3).
XXVII
 Entire Agreement

Only if a federal contract is listed (above in I.G) must you print and attach special terms to the ICA and reference the terms by replacing Section XXVII of the ICA with:

This Agreement incorporates the "University of California Special Terms and Conditions for Federal Government Contracts" attached hereto and incorporated by this reference. The Agreement, thus amended, contains the entire Agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior written or oral agreements with respect to the subject matter herein. Any modification to this Agreement must be executed on designated UCSF Amendment to Independent Consultant Agreement Forms.

 
  Signatures

a. Required: Enter the Social Security or Employer Identification Number for the Consultant.

b. Though there is not a pre-defined space for "Print/Typed Name and Title" for the Consultant, please print or type the name and title of the Consultant below the Consultant Signature line. This information is particularly important if the Consultant is a firm, in which case a principal (high-level official) must sign.

Need an expert? Please contact David Pendergast at (415) 514-9649.