How to give a refund to your client

Important: You must issue all refunds within the Upwork platform. Refunding a client off of Upwork is against our Terms of Service.

How do I give a refund to my client?

1. In All contracts, find the contract you want to refund. Select the title to enter the contract workroom
2. Choose Give a refund from the (...) options menu
3. Select Add invoices and choose the invoice you want to refund
4. Once you've selected the desired invoices, choose Add Invoices
5. Adjust the refund amount as needed. You can remove an invoice with the delete icon
6. Add a note to the client and add an optional note for yourself
7. Choose Give refund
    

Refund eligibility and limits

You may only refund an amount that is less than or equal to the lowest of the following:

• Net total transactions on the contract in the last 180 days
• Available balance in your Upwork account, including pending transactions and submitted milestones

If you need to issue a refund but don’t have the funds to cover it in your account, reach out to us.

What happens after I submit a refund?

1. We create a credit on your client's account and a debit on your account for the balance of the refund
2. We return the freelancer service fee you paid. For example, let’s say the $100 that was paid to you is returned to the client and your freelancer service fee is 10%. Since we charged you the 10% freelancer service fee ($10) on those earnings, we will refund that $10 service fee to you. This way you aren’t paying fees on money you didn’t keep
3. We make the credit available on the client's account right away
4. We deduct the refunded amount (including refunded fees) from your lifetime earnings

Where can I see the refunds I've given?

Go to your Transaction history and select the contract to review credits and debits.

How long do I have to issue a refund?

You can issue a refund for a previous billing period or on a closed contract for 180 days after you received the client’s payment. For refunds on payments made between 180 and 365 days ago, contact support.

I don’t have enough funds in my account to issue a refund. What now?

If you need to issue a refund but don’t have the funds to cover it in your account, reach out to support. Issuing refunds off Upwork’s platform is risky, against our Terms of Service, and may result in suspension.

If I give my client a full refund, will that prevent them from leaving negative feedback?

No. A full refund removes any written public feedback from your profile, but the client’s additional feedback (such as how they rated you on a scale from 1 to 5 in certain areas) will still be considered in your Job Success Score (JSS) calculation. That means refunding to “avoid” a bad review may not have the result you’re expecting. Instead, when possible, it’s smart to focus on open communication and doing your best to resolve concerns.

Why can’t I send a refund to a client off-platform?

Issuing refunds outside of Upwork is against our Terms of Service because it helps prevent fraud and scams that harm you.

The money I want to refund is in project funds. How do I return it?

If you're not planning to work with the client anymore, you can simply end the contract. When you do, any money still sitting in project funds will automatically go back to the client—no extra steps needed.

But if you are continuing the contract and the client wants that escrowed money returned, they can request a refund instead. Here’s how to approve that request:

1. Go to All contracts
2. Find the contract and select See Request
3. Choose I approve returning the remaining project funds to the client
4. Select Next