Fees / General Terms and Conditions

Fees

Initial phone call

An initial phone call (max. 30 minutes) is always free of charge!

Initial consultation

The fee for an initial consultation is fixed at 150 euro net plus value-added tax of 19%.

This consultation includes face-to-face consulting up to 2 hours on issues ranging from business to tax registration.

The fee can be reduced. Agreements for fee reductions can be made on the phone or in writing. Any agreement for fee reductions will be confirmed in writing and is binding. For long-term projects (see below), the fee for an initial consultation can be waived.

Start-up consulting

My fixed hourly fee is 50 euro for persons who have not yet founded a company or who are working on a subsidiary basis, provided an application for the start-up consulting program from the Development Bank of Saxony (SAB) has been submitted and accepted. Once the application is successful and the grant statement is sent out, 100% of the consulting fees up to 4,000 euro net will be refunded by SAB! Due to the low hourly fee and high workload, this offer is reduced to only a few consultations per year.

Consulting for start-ups, young entrepreneurs and businesses

within the framework of the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control’s (BAFA) “Förderung Unternehmerischen Know-Hows” funding program

My fixed hourly fee of 100 euro net incl. VAT applies. I am happy to help with the application process free of charge. If you are granted funding, BAFA will transfer 80% of incurred fees directly to your account (start-ups in East Germany excluding the greater Leipzig and Berlin areas; in West Germany and the aforementioned areas, only 50% funding). You need pay only 20% of the consulting fee in advance and can delay payment of the remaining 80% until the grant arrives.

Regular hourly fee

Companies (2 years and older)

For established companies and entrepreneurs who have been in business for longer than 2 years, my basic hourly fee of 150 euro net applies.

Start-ups

For all services not part of any funding program and that exceed the initial consultation, my regular hourly fee of 100 euro net applies for private persons or enterprises/entrepreneurs (who have been in business under 2 years).

 

General terms and conditions

Scope of application

The general terms and conditions apply to all contracts which have as their objects consulting services rendered to the Principal by the agent (referred to hereinafter as the Consultant(s)). The contents of the contract are consulting services in the business sector for the preparation and implementation of personal, entrepreneurial and professional decisions.

Contractual object / scope of services

Details of the contract such as the formation of the task, duration, fees, etc. will be arranged in a separate written contract. The contractual object is the arranged consultation, not the achievement of any economic objectives or the provision of reports or other documents. The services of the Consultant have been rendered when the required research, analysis and resultant conclusion have been developed with the Principal. It is irrelevant whether or when the conclusions and recommendations are implemented.

If the Principal requires a written report, this must be arranged separately. The report is not an expert assessment; instead it reflects the basic content concerning the process and results of the consulting services rendered.

The Consultant renders services in keeping with the job description of a business consultant. The Principal must have tax and legal aspects in particular checked by a tax consultant or attorney.

The Consultant is entitled to subcontract the services to additional staff (including other self-employed consultants), but he shall always remain directly responsible to the principle. The Consultant warrants that any subcontractors subcontracted to fulfill services have appropriate qualifications.

Change in services

Subsequent amendments of or additions to the contract or the basic contractual results shall be subject to written confirmation. This shall also apply to a waiver of the requirement of written form.

Confidentiality / Data protection

The Consultant shall be obliged to treat with absolute confidentiality all information relating to the enterprise and/or the Principal made known to him in the context of fulfilling the contract, even after the contract has been concluded. Without the written consent of the Principal, the Consultant may not disclose any information to third parties nor use them to his own or any other ends. This also applies to written documents, in particular contract-related reports or recommendations.

Within the scope of the purpose of the contract, the Consultant is entitled to process (in particular via electronic data processing means) the personal and business data entrusted to him under observation of applicable data protection regulations or to have such data processed by third parties.

Cooperational obligations of the Principal

In order to enable the Consultant to execute the contracted professional tasks, the Principal shall inform the Consultant in depth on the economic, organizational, technical and competitive situation of his enterprise. The Principal shall also cooperate personally and, where necessary, additional staff shall also cooperate in the project as follows:

• Any and all questions posed by the Consultant regarding the factual and legal circumstances of the enterprise in question shall be answered in full, accurately and in due time; this also applies to any and all questions posed by the Consultant regarding the factual and legal circumstances between the Principal and his business partners and competitors, insofar as these circumstances are known to the Principal and/or his managers. The Consultant will only pose questions the answers of which are of significance to the project.
• The Consultant will be informed without solicitation and in due time of all conditions that are of significance to the project.
• Any and all intermediate results and interim reports supplied by the Consultant will be checked immediately by the Principal to ensure the information therein pertaining to the Principal and his company is accurate; any necessary corrections or requests for modification shall be communicated to the Consultant in writing without delay.

The Consultant is obliged to support the Principal to the best of his abilities and, within his company environment, to provide all the prerequisites necessary for the satisfactory fulfillment of the contract. The Principal shall provide the Consultant with a workspace for on-site work.

Terms of payment

Except as otherwise specified, all fees quoted are subject to the addition of traveling expenses and the statutory value-added tax. This also applies to fixed-fee offers.

The fee for the Consultant’s services shall be arranged in writing according to the time necessary for fulfilling the contract (time fees) or as a fixed fee. Fixed-fee offers are also part of our service portfolio. Therefore, fixed fees shall be invoiced via the project time. As a fixed rule, fees shall be invoiced monthly. Payment may be made in advance where arranged.

All invoices shall be due and payable immediately on invoice date without discounts. The statutory value-added tax shall be added to quotes fees and indicated separately on invoices. Multiple Principals (natural and/or legal entities) are jointly and severally liable. An offset against claims of the Consultant for payment and reimbursement of expenses shall only be permissible against undisputed and legally binding claims. In the event the Principal is in arrears with the payment of invoices, the Consultant shall reserve the right to cease work on the project until such time as payment has been made.

Warranty

The Consultant shall carry out all work with the utmost care. The Consultant warrants that all surveys and analyses accurately reflect the situation of the company as regards the project. Data provided by third parties or by the Principal shall be checked for plausibility only. Conclusions and recommendations which are derived from the Consultant’s research shall be made to his best knowledge. The Principal has the right to remedy any errors. Where remediation has failed after two attempts, the Principal shall have the right to withdraw from the contract or demand abatement of the contractual fees.

Liability

The liability of the Consultant shall be excluded where and when any consultative errors derive from a failure of the Principal to comply with his cooperational obligations in full, in part or in due time. The Consultant does not accept liability for any tax or legal effects of consultation services rendered (see §2).

Liability for slight negligence shall only be accepted respective to a breach of cardinal contractual obligations which possess particular importance for fulfillment of the contract. Liability for atypical damages is excluded.

The Consultant shall be liable to Principal, regardless of legal grounds, for any damages caused with deliberation or in gross negligence by him or his staff. Liability per claim shall be limited to the amount of the contractual fee, limited to a maximum of €5,000.00 cumulatively for all damages. A single claim of damage refers to the sum of the damages claims of all parties entitled to compensation which arise from one and the same service rendered. If a significantly higher damage risk is predictable, the Consultant is obliged to offer the Principal a higher warranty against correspondingly adjusted contractual fees.

The above liability limitations also apply to cases of gross negligence if the contract has been placed by a businessman on behalf of his business trade, a legal entity of the public law or a separate property entity under public law.

Contractual compensation claims against the Consultant become state-barred after two years from the time of the claim.

Protection of intellectual property of the Consultant

The Principal ensures that all reports, organization charts, outlines, drawings, lists and calculations prepared by the Consultant in the context of the contractual assignment shall only be used for his own purposes and shall not be published without the express consent of the Consultant.

The use of the consulting services rendered by or for any enterprise affiliated with the Principal is subject to written agreement.

Default of acceptance

If the Principal is in default with the acceptance of consulting services or if the Principal does not provide the cooperation incumbent on him despite receiving a reminder and extended period of time, the Consultant reserves the right to cancel the contract immediately. Apart from the assertion of this right to termination, the Consultant shall have the right to claim compensation for any damage or additional costs incurred by default of acceptance or a lack of cooperation.

Acts of god

If any staff subcontracted by the Consultant – an unforeseeable circumstance when determining individual assignments – become unavailable (e.g. due to illness), the Consultant shall be entitled to extend fulfillment of his contractual obligations by the duration of the delay and a reasonable period thereafter.

Any acts of god which make it significantly more difficult or temporarily impossible to fulfill contractual obligations entitle each respective Party to extend fulfillment of his contractual obligations by the duration of the delay and a reasonable period thereafter. Acts of god include labor disputes and similar circumstances insofar as they are unforeseeable, serious and not a matter of negligence. All Parties shall immediately inform the respective other of the occurrence of such circumstances.

Termination

Unless otherwise contractually stipulated, the contact can be terminated due to important reasons without notice; otherwise within a period of 14 days by the month’s end. Any notice of termination must be in writing in order to become effective.

Record retention

Until payment has been made in full for services provided, the Consultant reserves the right to retain the records entrusted to him; however, the exercise of this right to retention shall be deemed carried out in bad faith if such retention causes loss and/or damage to the Principal considered to be disproportionate or unreasonably high or severe and not justified weighing the interests of both Parties.

Upon settlement and compensation of all claims, the Consultant shall be obliged to return all records that have been entrusted to him by the Principal or third parties on the occasion of the contract. This does not apply to any correspondence between the Parties nor to simple copies of records, organization charts, drawings, lists, calculations, etc. made in the context of the contract insofar as the Principal has received the originals.

The Consultant’s obligation to retain records expires six months after the delivery of written notice for clearance; otherwise after three years, or five years after termination of the contractual relationship in the case of records retained as per Par. 1.

Miscellaneous

Rights arising from the contractual relationship with the Consultant may be transferred to third parties only with prior written consent.

Changes and amendments to these conditions must be made in writing and marked accordingly.

If any provisions of the general terms and conditions are or become invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining stipulations. The Parties oblige themselves to replace the ineffective provision(s) immediately with a legally permissible regulation.

The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively to all claims from the contract.

The competent course of jurisdiction for all disputes is the court at the registered seat of the Consultant, insofar as the customer is a businessman on behalf of his business trade, a legal entity of the public law or a separate property entity under public law.

 

 

Status: September 2017