Learn how to properly end an hourly contract on Upwork, avoid account issues, and complete post-contract steps like feedback and access removal.
In this article
- A few reminders before you end your contract
- How do I end an hourly contract?
- What should I do after I end a contract?
A few reminders before you end your contract
- Confirm with your freelancer that you are on the same page about closing the contract
- Make sure you are closing the contract properly so you don’t risk losing access to Upwork and the tools that help protect you if a problem arises. In most cases, we know contracts are closed simply because the work is done. However, if you are closing a contract to avoid Upwork fees, that puts us in the difficult position of having to permanently close your Upwork account due to circumvention, which is against our Terms of Service
- Once a contract is ended, our system will lock your freelancer’s work diary immediately, so you don’t have to worry about additional hours being billed
- You will be billed for hours logged, but if there’s any issue, you can always dispute them during the usual weekly billing cycle review
- Freelancers and agencies can give a refund on any active or ended contract for payments made within the past 180 days
How do I end an hourly contract?
- Find the contract you want to end on your dashboard or in All contracts and open it
- In the contract, select the (...) options menu and choose End contract
- You may see information about Upwork’s policies. To proceed, choose I understand
- Provide feedback and select End contract again to confirm
What should I do after I end an hourly contract?
- Change or revoke any passwords or special access that you gave the freelancer during the contract
- Ensure you’ve received all related work from the freelancer and any work-related materials and equipment of yours that you allowed them to use during the contract
- Remind the freelancer to remove any property of yours that they used or created for you, such as documents, files, or software, from their equipment
- You and your freelancer or agency can leave feedback. It is a double-blind system, which means your freelancer or agency will see the feedback you left them once they have left feedback for you
Note:
Your feedback is incredibly valuable to all clients who use Upwork, as it helps them see honest opinions about a freelancer’s work on Upwork. Because it’s so important, we hope you’ll take the time to provide it.