Fix and Deep tier work runs under a short written engagement, signed by both sides before any money moves. This is the standard template, published in full so you can read the terms before we ever talk price. Check tier does not need it: the guarantee and the confidentiality terms on the audit page govern a Check. A custom desk build runs under the second template below; a PairDesk subscription needs no letter and runs on the terms.
Between Ayan Jain ("the auditor") and [client name] ("the client"), dated [date].
1. Scope. The work is exactly what Annex A lists: the named deliverables, the named data, the named deadline. Anything not in Annex A is a new engagement. The scope was written after a completed Check and reflects its findings.
2. Price and payment. [amount], fixed. [50% on signing, 50% on delivery / 100% on signing]. No revenue share, no success fees, no equity. Extra work requested mid-engagement is quoted separately in writing before it starts.
3. Delivery. [N] days from the later of signing and complete data handover. A missing-data request pauses the clock until the client replies. Delays on the auditor's side beyond 7 days past the deadline entitle the client to a 25% refund per further week, capped at the full fee.
4. Custody and confidentiality. Client material stays on the auditor's machines only, is never shared, published, or reused in the auditor's own research or trading, and is deleted within 90 days of the engagement closing, or immediately on request. The auditor runs his own systematic book in Indian markets; nothing the client sends informs it.
5. Deliverable ownership. The written report belongs to the client, who may share or publish it freely. The auditor's methods, checklists, and tooling remain the auditor's. The auditor may state publicly that an engagement of this tier occurred, without naming the client, unless the client agrees in writing to be named.
6. Not investment advice. The work is an audit of software and data quality. It is not investment advice, not a trading signal, and not a prediction that any strategy will make money. No SEBI-registered advisory service is being provided, and the report will contain no buy or sell recommendation.
7. Liability. The auditor's total liability under this engagement, on any theory, is capped at the fees actually paid. Neither side is liable for the other's trading results.
8. Dispute. If the client believes the deliverable does not match Annex A, they say so in writing within 14 days of delivery. The auditor gets one remedy round of up to 7 days. If it still does not match, the fee for the unmatched portion is refunded and the engagement ends. No lawyers needed for a refund to happen.
9. Ending early. Either side may end the engagement in writing at any time. Work completed to that point is paid for pro rata against Annex A; anything unearned is refunded within 7 days.
Annex A. Deliverables: [list]. Data provided: [list]. Deadline: [date]. Price: [amount].
Between Ayan Jain ("the builder") and [client name] ("the client"), dated [date]. This is for a screening desk built to the client's own universe, data and delivery shape. A standard PairDesk subscription is not this: it runs on the published terms with no letter.
1. Scope. Annex A lists the universe, the data source, the tests the desk runs, what one build contains, the delivery format, and the cadence. Anything not in Annex A is a new engagement, quoted before it starts. The scope is written before any money moves, and the price is quoted against that scope, never against an outcome.
2. Price and payment. [amount], fixed, [50% on signing, 50% on the first accepted build]. Ongoing builds, if any, are [amount] per period, invoiced in advance. No revenue share, no success fees, no equity, and no payment contingent on the desk making money.
3. Delivery. First build within [N] days of the later of signing and the data being available, then on the stated cadence. A build that misses its date by more than [N] days is credited against the next period. If a data source the desk depends on breaks, the client is told the same day and the schedule pauses until it is fixed.
4. Custody, and the wall runs both ways. Client data and client ideas stay on the builder's machines, are never shared or published, and never inform the builder's own book or any other client's desk. Equally, nothing proprietary to the builder's own book enters this desk. Neither side's edge crosses. Client material is deleted within 90 days of the engagement closing, or immediately on request.
5. What the client owns. The client owns every build delivered: the registers, the briefs, the underlying tables, and the written method document for their universe, to use inside their business however they like. The engine, the code, the tooling and the general methods remain the builder's, and the client does not resell or redistribute the desk itself as a product. The builder may say publicly that a desk build of this kind happened, without naming the client, unless the client agrees in writing to be named.
6. What is being sold. Computation, freshness and correctness. The desk reports which pairs pass a stated test and what the measurements are, with the caveats printed beside them. It is not investment advice, not a trading signal, and not a prediction that any pair or any strategy will make money. It does not rank the year ahead, and the published self-test says so. No SEBI-registered advisory service is being provided.
7. Accuracy, and its limits. The desk is built on the data source named in Annex A, and every known defect in that source, survivorship gaps included, is quantified in the method document rather than hidden. A build withdrawn for a data fault is reissued or credited. The builder does not warrant that the data vendor is correct, only that what the desk computes from it is computed as documented and checkable from the client's side.
8. Liability. The builder's total liability under this engagement, on any theory, is capped at the fees actually paid in the twelve months before the claim. Neither side is liable for the other's trading results.
9. Dispute. If the client believes a build does not match Annex A, they say so in writing within 14 days of that build. The builder gets one remedy round of up to 7 days. If it still does not match, the fee for the unmatched portion is refunded and the engagement ends. No lawyers needed for a refund to happen.
10. Ending early. Either side may end the engagement in writing at any time. Work completed to that point is paid for pro rata against Annex A, anything unearned is refunded within 7 days, and the last build already paid for is still delivered.
Annex A. Universe: [list]. Data source: [name, vendor, licence]. Tests run: [list]. One build contains: [list]. Format: [file type]. Cadence: [weekly / other]. First build by: [date]. Price: [amount].
These templates are published for transparency and get adapted per engagement. If your firm needs its own paper, NDA, or procurement process instead, that works too: send yours and it gets read, not lawyered to death.