Does your process in steps look a little different than below?
We’re improving the process to make paying easier, and you may see different variations as we develop and test improvements.
When your freelancer or agency submits work for your approval on a fixed-price contract, you have 14 days to review it. This is your chance to review and accept or request changes from the freelancer. If you do not take action within that time, that’s considered approval, and we automatically release the funds to the freelancer or agency.
Milestones
Fixed-price contracts are often divided into milestones to help keep projects organized. Milestones outline the work you expect at a specific checkpoint and how much you’ll pay for it.
When a freelancer submits work for a milestone, you need to review it within 14 days and either accept and pay or request changes. Learn more about milestones.
Review and pay for work
You and your freelancer should decide how you'd like to exchange files and deliverables. Depending on the size and nature of the files and deliverables you need to exchange and any associated security considerations, you could share files using your contract’s workroom, in Messages, or any third-party solution.
Either way, your freelancer can still request payment for the contract or milestone through the workroom by choosing the Submit Work button. When they do, you’ll see a Review & Pay button. However, you don’t have to wait for the freelancer. If you have reviewed the work and are ready to pay, you can choose the Pay Now button to release payment.
Here’s a summary of how these two processes work:
Review & pay:
Locate the contract and choose Review & pay.
You’ll see any deliverables your freelancer has included in their workroom submission. Review the work, whether it is in the workroom or you received it elsewhere, and be sure you’re satisfied before you make payment. Remember that the 14-day review period starts automatically when the freelancer submits.
You can also request changes from the workroom. If you do, the payment will not be released until the freelancer resubmits the work and you’ve had a chance to review again. When the freelancer submits the revised work, a new 14-day review window starts.
Pay now:
Before you pay, review the work that the freelancer submitted outside of the workroom, and be sure you’re satisfied before you make payment. If you need to request changes, you’ll need to communicate that to your freelancer through whatever communication methods you are using. You won’t have the option to request changes in the workroom, since the freelancer hasn’t submitted anything there.
If you’re ready to pay, locate the contract, and choose Pay now.
Options when reviewing and paying for work
When you review a freelancer’s work and release payments for a fixed-price contract, you have several options. You can pay the exact amount of the contract or milestone, more or less than the contract or milestone amount, or request changes. Select a drop-down heading below to see the steps for a specific option:
If you’re completely satisfied with the work submitted, you should approve the work and release the payment to your freelancer or agency.
When work or a payment request is submitted through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Review & pay
- From the milestone timeline in the Overview tab, choose Approve payment
- A modal will open with payment details. Choose Pay Now
- Choose Send Payment
When you receive work outside the workroom, and the freelancer has not requested payment through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Pay now
- Choose Pay
- Choose Send Payment
Best practice:
Release funds only when the work submitted is complete and satisfactory. Releasing funds (including by not responding for 14 days) is consent to pay the freelancer or agency for their work. If you release funds before work is submitted, or before you are satisfied with it, you cannot dispute the payment through Upwork. If you aren’t satisfied with the work, request changes instead of approving the milestone.
Sometimes freelancers provide exceptional work, and you’d like to reward that. To do so, you can add a "bonus" when you approve a milestone or contract payment. Note that bonuses should not be used to pay for work outside the scope of your contract.
When work or a payment request is submitted through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Review & pay
- From the milestone timeline in the Overview tab, choose Approve payment
- Choose Pay Now
- Select the Add a bonus checkbox and enter an amount
- Choose Send Payment
When you receive work outside the workroom, and the freelancer has not requested payment through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Pay now
- From the milestone timeline in the Overview tab, choose Approve payment
- Choose Pay now
- Select the Add a bonus checkbox and enter an amount
- Choose Send Payment
Best practice:
Release funds only when the work submitted is complete and satisfactory. Releasing funds (including by not responding for 14 days) is consent to pay the freelancer or agency for their work. If you release funds before work is submitted, or before you are satisfied with it, you cannot dispute the payment through Upwork. If you aren’t satisfied with the work, request changes instead of approving the milestone.
You can also release a partial milestone payment.
When work or a payment request is submitted through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Review & Pay
- From the milestone timeline in the Overview tab, choose Approve payment
- Choose Pay Now
- Choose the pencil icon and enter the amount to be released
- Choose Send Payment
When you receive work outside the workroom, and the freelancer has not requested payment through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Pay Now
- From the milestone timeline in the Overview tab, choose Approve payment
- Choose Pay Now
- Select the pencil icon and enter the amount to be released.You can also describe why the amount is less than the milestone amount
- Choose Send Payment
If submitted work is incomplete or does not meet the requirements of the milestone, you can ask your freelancer to update it and resubmit.
When work or a payment request is submitted through the workroom:
- Select the contract and choose Review & pay
- Choose the Request Changes button
- Write a message describing the changes needed and choose Send Change Request
When you receive work outside the workroom, and the freelancer has not requested payment through the workroom:
- You’ll need to communicate the change you need to the freelancer through whatever communication methods you’re using. You won’t have the option to request changes in the workroom.
If the work is not going as planned and you wish to end the contract without additional payment, you can cancel the contract. Your freelancer or agency will then have seven days to respond to the cancellation and dispute non-payment on any work they have already submitted.