Studio crafts and making · SD-05

Commission Brief and Approval Sheet

A free printable craft commission form — the client's brief, the price, deposit and dates agreed, and each stage approved on the way to the finished piece.

Download Free · no sign-up

One page. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.

Print it and write on it

A4 45 kB US Letter 45 kB

Fill it in type and save

A4 80 kB US Letter 80 kB

The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.

What this sheet is for

Make sure maker and client are picturing the same object before work starts, and have a record of who approved what if the finished piece is questioned.

Who it is for

Makers who take commissions — furniture, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, metalwork, glass — and anyone selling one-off pieces to order.

How to use it

Fill in the brief with the client present, not from memory afterwards.
Write the dimensions, material, finish and what is not included in plain words.
Record the price, deposit and completion date you actually agreed.
Log each sketch, sample or progress photo sent, and the client's response.
Have both parties sign at the end, and keep the sheet with the invoice.

What is on the sheet

One page, top to bottom:

Printed under the title: What a client asked for, in enough detail that maker and client are picturing the same object — then each stage they signed off on the way to the finished piece.

Specific enough to argue from. Deposit, price and lead time are whatever you and the client agreed — they go in the blanks, and this sheet does not suggest them. What it does is make the brief specific enough to argue from later: a size, a material, a finish and a date, written down and initialled, is the difference between a happy handover and a dispute about what was meant.

Write-on lines: Client · Contact (phone / email) · Date of brief · Piece commissioned · Where it will live / be used

The brief — fill in with the client, not after they have gone

Write-on lines: Dimensions (h × w × d) · Material(s) · Finish / colour · Function, constraints and what is NOT included · Reference images received · Similar past piece · Price agreed · Deposit taken / date · Balance due on · Delivery or collection · Agreed completion

Approval stages — one line each time something is shown to the client

Table, 4 rows: Stage · Sent on · How shown · Client response · Approved · Initials

Signature strip: Client signed · Maker signed · Date

Questions

Why is there no deposit percentage or standard lead time?

Because those are terms you set for your own business, and they differ by craft and by piece. The sheet leaves the blanks and asks you to write what was agreed, which is the only version that matters if there is a disagreement later.

Is this a contract?

It is a record of what was agreed and approved. Whether you also need written terms, and what they say, depends on the rules where you trade — check them.