Free Personal Management Agreement Template


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Date: _____________________________

By: _________________________________________________________
Name:

Title:

Date: _____________________________

By: _________________________________________________________
Name:

Title:

How-to guides, articles, and any other content appearing on this page are for informational purposes only, do not constitute legal advice, and are no substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Personal management agreement: How-to guide

A professional entertainer needs a personal manager to handle their day-to-day business affairs, freeing up the entertainer’s time to focus on their work. Managers guide, supervise, and develop their clients’ careers. The actual services provided vary from client to client but often include things like:

Representing and advising in business dealings or negotiations
Organizing meetings
Assisting with publicity matters
Managing finances
Overseeing personal matters.

Generally, personal managers work on a commission basis, and the rate depends on the services they provide.

A detailed agreement is essential because the scope of services provided under a management arrangement is inherently personal. The agreement should spell out each party’s duties and expectations.

A personal management agreement template can provide a good starting point for creating a personal management contract that works for your arrangement. With LegalZoom, you’ll get a personal management agreement template that is simple and straightforward to use. Fill out the form by answering the guided questionnaire, and download the document for free.

Instructions checklist while creating personal management agreement

Background checks for personal manager

Conducting a background and reference check before hiring a personal manager is always a good practice. This helps zero in on a manager who is efficient and effective in their job. Also, since some talents give full access to their payments, having a trustworthy manager to manage your wealth is important.

Responsibilities vested in the manager

When the manager provides the agreement document, as the talent, you should consider the following points while reviewing the document:

Whether you feel comfortable with the responsibilities and powers you are giving the manager.
Whether the services the manager provides will fit your personal and professional needs.
Is the manager quoting an appropriate commission rate for their services?
If a power of attorney is involved, review carefully whether the document is biased or favors the manager.
How the money you earn will be accounted for, and who will have access to it (e.g., the personal manager or a financial representative)
You can terminate the contract early if you aren’t satisfied with the manager’s work or haven’t achieved specific career goals.

If certain terms and conditions aren’t met, discuss them with the manager and ensure they are included in the final agreement. You may want to include provisions addressing:

The manager’s authority to act on the talent’s behalf (e.g., to sign contracts, permit using the talent’s name, likeness, or image, or manage the talent’s finances).
Whether the manager’s services will be exclusive or whether they can take on other clients.
Who will manage the talent’s money (e.g., the talent, the manager, or an accountant), and how and when commissions will be calculated and paid? Decide early whether or not the manager will collect, receive, and cash checks earned by the talent. If so, provide details about this responsibility, including the manager’s obligation to provide statements to the talent. If the talent controls their finances, how will the talent account to the manager for the compensation earned (e.g., providing the manager with deposit slips)?
What expenses can the manager seek reimbursement for, and how and when that money will be paid?
The sources and types of compensation used to calculate the commission.
How will expenses be handled, and will the manager loan money to the talent?

Check on the applicable law

If your agreement is long-term, reviewing state and federal laws applicable to personal service agreements may be a good idea.

Modifying the agreement

According to this section, the personal manager can’t procure employment for the artist. Unlike agents, this is not a permissible activity for a manager. For example, if a manager handles an actor, the manager can’t go to a producer or director asking for a role in their project. You must ensure that the services the manager provides don’t fall under any state labor, business, and professions code, talent act, or union regulation.

Basic requirements while signing the agreement

Before putting the agreement in writing, clarify the terms and conditions of your agreement. Once drafted, allow each party to spend time reviewing the agreement. They must ensure that the agreed-upon terms are included.

Once this is done, the parties must sign two copies of the agreement. One is given to the talent, and the personal manager retains the other.

Depending on the nature of its terms, you may decide to have your agreement witnessed or notarized. This will limit later challenges to the validity of a party’s signature.

If you think your personal management agreement is complicated, contact an attorney to help you draft a document that will meet your specific needs.

Essential clauses a personal manager and an artist should know

The following instructions will help you understand the terms of your agreement.

Introduction

A personal management agreement starts by identifying the parties involved and, if applicable, the type of organization(s) they are (e.g., individual, corporation, partnership, etc.).

The party that manages the talent is called the “manager” or “personal manager,” and the party that will be managed is called the “talent” or the artist.

In this part, you must also provide the date on which the agreement is signed.

Recitals

The “whereas” clauses, referred to as recitals, define the world of the management contract and offer key background information about the parties. As a whole, the recitals state the parties' intent and ability to enter into the personal management arrangement. Here, you have to also provide a brief description of what the artist does. An artist’s professional career can be:

An actor in the entertainment industry or theater
A singer or songwriter
A recording artist in a record company
A dancer or performing artist
A stand-up comedian
A painter

Purpose

This section explains why the parties are entering the management contract. Essentially, it confirms the parties’ agreement that the personal manager will manage the artist’s career. Provide more specific details about the services the manager performs, including requirements about services, deadlines, and compensation. Some of them could be:

Are there any specific requirements for the performance of the services? For example, must they be performed in a certain place or time? Will the talent’s consent be required before the manager starts providing their services?
Will the manager be paid a salary or a commission? If the personal manager receives a commission, what will or will not be included in the calculations? Will the commission be calculated on a grossly, or will it be net of expenses?
How the parties will handle commissions received after the end of the agreement, but earned for work done before that termination.
Details about collecting and managing the talent’s money. Who will be responsible for these tasks? The talent? The manager? A third party? If the responsible party is someone other than the talent, will they need to give statements, copies of deposit slips, and access to records to the talent?
How and when will the manager’s reimbursable expenses be paid? Will there be any limits on the kinds of expenses that are considered reimbursable?
If the manager lends money to the talent, how and when will that money be paid back?

Compensation paid to the personal manager

Here, the parties promise that the talent will pay for the services performed by the personal manager.

Term

It explains that the agreement will last for a defined period. Sometimes, the parties agree to renew the agreement automatically for a certain time period. In case the parties wish to cancel the arrangement, they must provide advance notice.

Termination

This section states that certain actions or events will cause the agreement to end out of time (i.e., before the services have been completed). Some possibilities can include:

The parties can terminate the contract by giving sufficient notice to the other party.
The parties can terminate the contract if the other party breaches an obligation and does not fix this breach. In this case, the party seeking to end the contract must give notice of its intent to do so. You and the other party can decide how much or how little notice will be enough in your case.
Either party can end the agreement without notice if the other party is convicted of a crime.
The talent can also terminate the agreement with a written notice if their objectives aren’t achieved within a certain time after the effective date.
After termination, the talent must pay any commission owed to the personal manager for work done before the end of the agreement.

Responsibilities

This part lists each party’s responsibilities under the agreement.

Parties’ representations and warranties

This clause typically outlines the assurances and guarantees made by the artist and the personal manager. This section ensures that both parties provide accurate information regarding their roles, responsibilities, and capabilities. It often includes statements regarding the client's intellectual property ownership, their authority to enter into the agreement, and their commitment to fulfill contractual obligations. Similarly, the personal manager may represent their experience, expertise, and ability to provide the agreed-upon services effectively.

Power of attorney

This part allows the manager to act on the talent’s behalf with a power of attorney. This will help the manager perform some of the services like signing documents, endorsing checks, or approving the use of the talent’s name, image, and likeness.

Nature of relationship

This section reiterates that the personal manager is not an employee, partner, or agent of the artist. This distinction is important for many reasons, including those relating to insurance coverage, legal liability, and taxes.

Disclaimer

This part explains that the personal manager is not a talent, employer, or agent for the talent and can’t obtain employment for the talent. This is an essential provision. Personal managers are usually not licensed or regulated like agents who can perform services for the talent. The services rendered by agents include finding the right projects for the talent, doing all the negotiation work, and landing the talent on the right jobs.

Other activities

This section lets the personal manager take on other clients and provide the same or similar services during an existing contract. In other words, the talent won’t be the only person the personal manager will represent or offer exclusive services to. It also allows the personal manager to delegate some tasks to staff members as long as the manager manages the talent.

Indemnification

This provision allocates responsibilities between the personal manager and the talent if problems arise in the future and protects each party from the consequences of the other party’s actions.

Amendment

It states that changes to the personal management contract are only effective if they are made in writing.

Assignment

This clause explains that neither party may assign their obligations and interests under the agreement without the other party’s consent.

Successors and assigns

This means that the parties' rights and obligations will be passed on to organizations to which rights and responsibilities have been permissibly assigned. For example, if a personal management or artist management company gets acquired by another company, all the rights and duties of the existing contracts will be handed over to the new company.

No implied waiver

This segment explains that if either party allows the other to ignore or break an obligation under the agreement, it doesn’t mean that the party waives any future rights or obligations as stated in the personal management contract.

Notice

It is not possible to personally present official or legal documents to personal managers and talents wherever they are. However, their legal counsel or attorney can send important documents via mail. In this section, the parties must provide their registered or certified mail address.

Governing law

This part allows the parties to choose the state laws that will be used to interpret the document.

Counterparts; electronic signatures

If the personal manager and the talent happen to be in different locations, this provision allows them to sign the agreement with the help of electronic signatures.

Severability

This clause protects the terms of the agreement as a whole, even if one part is later invalidated. For example, if a state law is passed prohibiting choice-of-law clauses, it will not undo the entire document. Instead, only the section dealing with the choice of law would be invalidated, leaving the remainder of the agreement enforceable.

Entire agreement

According to this section, the personal manager and the artist agree to sign the document according to the terms and conditions they discussed and confirmed.

Headings

This section clarifies that the headings given in each sub-section are just to organize the agreement. The agreement shouldn’t be interpreted based on the headings.

Frequently asked questions

What’s a personal management agreement?

Personal managers often wear many hats to guide and supervise their clients’ careers. This may include giving business advice, introducing them to other industry professionals, organizing meetings, handling publicity, and assisting with finances, negotiations, and personal matters.

Because managers aren’t licensed or regulated and can’t legally obtain work opportunities for clients, it is essential to have an agreement in writing. It helps to understand the management duties and relationship and the commissions the personal manager will be paid. A personal management agreement should be used to define the relationship of a personal manager clearly so both parties know what to expect.

What are the key details required to fill out a personal management agreement?

Here's the information you'll need to complete your personal management agreement:

Who it's coming from: Determine whether the talent or manager is sending the document and keep their details ready.
Who it's going to: Determine whether the manager sends the agreement to the talent or vice versa. Keep the details of the individual or business name and contact information handy. For e.g., if the manager is part of a management services-providing company, add the business type (LLC, corporation, etc.).
Subject matter: Have a summary of the general duties and responsibilities of the manager ready.
Payments and expenses: Know the percentage of the manager's commission during and after the agreement. If there are any allowances or reimbursements included for the manager, provide those details as well.
Time period: Decide the agreement’s term and provide details on whether the agreement will automatically renew at the end of the term.