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Contracts & Pricing

Master Service Agreement (MSA)

Also known as: MSA

A master service agreement (MSA) is an overarching contract that sets the general terms governing an ongoing relationship between a buyer and a supplier.

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An MSA fixes the terms that apply across all future work — liability, confidentiality, payment terms, dispute resolution and intellectual property — so individual projects or orders can be agreed quickly through short statements of work or purchase orders without renegotiating everything each time.

MSAs suit ongoing supplier relationships, particularly for services. They speed up subsequent engagements and reduce legal effort, because the heavy contractual groundwork is done once and referenced thereafter.

Frequently asked questions

What is a master service agreement?
An MSA is an overarching contract setting the general terms of a buyer-supplier relationship, so individual projects can be agreed quickly under short statements of work without renegotiating the full terms each time.
What is the difference between an MSA and a statement of work?
The MSA sets the general legal and commercial terms for the relationship. A statement of work sits under it and defines the specific scope, deliverables and price of a particular project.

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