Upwork’s new term “project funds” replaces “escrow” but functions the same. Clients deposit funds when creating a fixed-price contract, and those funds are held until work is approved. You have 14 days to approve or request edits before automatic release. Transactions and balances are visible under the Project Funds tab.
Note:
We have changed the term “escrow” to “project funds” across our platform, while maintaining the same trusted functionality. The way you use the platform remains the same—only the terminology is changing. Contracts, payments, and security will all continue to work as they did before this small change.
To create a place where both you and your freelancers feel financially safe as you collaborate, we use a deposit system. This protects your funds while also giving your freelancer the peace of mind to focus on your project.
How the deposit system works
We require you to deposit funds when you send an offer on a fixed-price job. You may deposit funds for either the whole contract or a lesser amount to cover the first milestone ($5.00 USD minimum per milestone). On a new contract, you’ll also pay the one-time Contract Initiation Fee.
We’ll hold this deposit until you receive the work, are satisfied, and release funds to the freelancer or agency.
When a freelancer or agency submits work, you’ll have 14 days to review it and either approve payment or ask for edits. If you do not respond within 14 days, we consider that as approval and automatically release payment to the freelancer or agency.
Pro Tip:
When you fund the contract or milestone, you also need to describe the work that you expect the freelancer to complete on this contract or milestone. Be as specific as you can. This is your chance to formalize the agreement between you and your freelancer or agency about what is to be delivered, when, and for how much money. If there’s a dispute later on, the description will be the basis for mediation.
Your deposit will trigger three transactions on your Reports › Transaction history: one credit and two debits. You can see what these will look like in the example below. Learn more here.
Viewing your deposit balance and transactions
You can see the balance of your deposits and your transactions on a separate project funds page within your transaction history information. To do so, follow these steps:
- In your Transaction history list, find a transaction from the contract where you want to see information
- Selecting the row takes you to a transaction summary
- In the description column, under the charge for funding the contract, select the View project funds link
- The link will take you to the Project funds tab with the filters applied for the specific contract you were viewing
When a balance is used to make a payment on a contract, you’ll also see it on the Project funds tab listed as a Paid to freelancer transaction type. All the ins and outs will be covered on this page. The main transaction summary will only cover the funding in for the contract.
When you get an deposit refund from the freelancer, those funds are returned to your billing method and deducted from your balance. You’ll see these transactions under your Project funds tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
We encourage you to discuss your concerns with your freelancer to try to resolve the issue. You may request changes to the work during the 14-day review period after the freelancer submits it. You may also request an escrow refund. If the freelancer disputes the refund, we will provide non-binding mediation to both parties. If that fails, the final step is arbitration.
No, you can only fund one milestone at a time. You may set up the details of other milestones, however.
No, once you have funded a milestone, the amount stays the same until it is released. However, you can release a partial payment and apply the rest of the money to the next milestone or request a refund for the remainder.
No. If you decide to pay the freelancer or agency a bonus, we’ll charge your regular billing method.