Assembla FAQ and Documentation

Get the Master Services agreement

Here is the latest Assembla Master Services Agreement in PDF format.

Register as a Buyer or Provider

To sign up as an Assembla Buyer or Provider, first register for an account, and then upload a signed Master Services Agreement here.

About the Assembla MSA

The Assembla MSA is designed to help the people who are hiring teams work smoothly with team members. By signing the MSA, both sides contract with Assembla to handle billing, payment, and arbitration.

Making a job agreements

Users working under the MSA will define a job agreement. To start this process, the buyer of services adds a Staffing tool to a space and uses it to post a job. A user (called a provider) sees the job posting and selects "Apply for this job". This creates a job page that is visible to the buyer in the Staffing tool, and to the provider in the user/jobs list. The page has a panel with the job agreement form.

There are three basic types of agreements:

Hourly. The provider reports the time spent on the job and gets paid for each hour. This is useful for ongoing work, and for short trial jobs.

Weekly. The provider is paid a fixed amount per week. This is useful for long-term relationships. We believe that longer-term working relationships are more productive.

Fixed price. The buyer and the provider agree to a specific deliverable, and the provider is paid when the deliverable is complete.

Billing and payment

We reduce costs and build trust by eliminating payment issues. Buyers can pay in advance by making a deposit to an Assembla account. In most cases, the buyer can also offer a credit card, which will be billed when the work is delivered.

In both cases, we will bill buyers on Thursday for work done during the previous week.

Providers will be paid every week with a deposit into their Assembla account.

Assembla does billing and payment every week. The goal is to reduce misunderstandings by sharing information quickly. Providers need to help us do that by filing statements promptly on Monday, asking for payment for the preceding week. If statements are not disputed, we bill buyers on Thursday and pay providers on Friday.

Frequently asked questions

I am I provider. If my buyer disputes a statement, and it turns out that I actually did the work, will I still get paid?

Ideally, this will not happen with our payment system. However, you are protected in this case. Your contract is with Assembla, and we will pay you if we find that you did the work.

How do I get money out of Assembla account?

You can request a withdrawal at any time by bank wire to a non-US bank account, by transfer to a US bank account, by Paypal, by check (not as convenient), or by transfer to an Assembla ATM debit card. We process withdrawals each night.

How do I put money in to an Assembla account?

You can transfer money immediately by paypal or bank wire, or by sending us a check.

I am a buyer. I work for a big company, and they will not pay in advance or provide a credit card. Do you have corporate credit options?

We can offer corporate credit for qualified buyers, at the "pay later" margins.

Thanks for introducing us. What are the rules about working directly with my buyer/provider without using Assembla?

If you found a good job/talent, you should pay us something. We helped you, and it cost us money to do it. If you used Assembla to set up your job, you will be liable for the Assembla fee, even if you do not use our billing and payment system. However, we want you to have good long-term relationships with your job/talent. You can buy out this arrangement and contract directly for a reasonable fee, which is listed in the MSA.

If you have questions about this agreement, please email support@assembla.com