We agreed with an ad agency but the contract and invoice are in English, what should I check before signing?

Signing legal agreements without fully understanding them can lead to costly, irreversible loss of rights. Before signing, I strongly advise having an independent legal consultant specializing in local commercial law review the contract, and keeping an official certified translation on file.

Definitely run the ad spend through your own company card. Only have the agency invoice you for the 8,500 AED service fee. That way, you make sure they aren't taking a hidden cut from your ad budget and that platform taxes are being paid properly.

Do a search for these three clauses specifically and read them carefully: 1) Is there an 'Auto-renewal' clause—does the contract renew automatically at the end of the term? 2) Are your revision rights limited in the 'Scope of Work' section? 3) Is the 'Indemnification' clause clear on who takes the blame if the agency uses copyrighted material improperly?

We rushed into signing a similar contract last year. When we wanted to part ways, it turned out that per the agreement, the agency actually owned the ad account. Two years' worth of pixel data and customer history went down the drain, and we had to start a fresh account from scratch. Make sure you are the primary admin on the account.

Is the VAT rate on the invoice clearly stated? Inside the UAE, 5% VAT applies, but some agencies issue the main invoice through a free zone entity and pull off convoluted billing claiming tax exemptions. Did you check the tax registration number on the proforma invoice?

Agencies usually send a standard boilerplate contract, and if you don't push back, the harshest clauses stick. If they tell you "this is our standard agreement, we can't change it," just walk away. Any serious agency will negotiate the terms.

8500 aed a month is no small change definitely make sure the clauses are nailed down then like make them spell out exactly how many creatives they'll produce and how many campaigns they'll launch per month so they don't hit you with extra invoices later claiming it's out of scope.

I agree with this. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

i've been dealing with this for a long time and when we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.

We got stuck at the same point for a while. If scope grows either time or budget must grow... There is no third option.

If scope grows, either time or budget must grow. There is no third option.

i agree.

I'd appreciate it if you shared the outcome.

To get into the details: Every "we'll look at it later" in a meeting means unbilled work.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

My questions are cleared up thanks.

We need to make a distinction here. Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently.

People defend habits, not processes. Resistance comes from there.

There's a common mistake people make when doing this. Code without setup documentation isn't yours, even if you have it.

Noted, thanks. Everything goes well for the first three months; problems arise in the fourth.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

I'm in the same situation, that's why I'm asking. The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

Processes without records never improve because you don't know what to fix. Proven by experience.