Understanding Upwork Payment System

Hello there! You’ve asked a great question. Getting paid for your tasks is, without a doubt, very important. On Upwork, the time when you get paid usually depends on the type of contract you have with the client: fixed-price or hourly.

Fixed-Price Contracts

In fixed-price contracts, your payment is released after you’ve successfully completed a milestone. Here’s how the process works:

• First, your client creates a milestone and funds for it which are securely held on Upwork Escrow until the work is approved.
• After that, you submit your work for that milestone through the platform.
• Your client has 14 days to review and approve your submitted work. If they don’t respond within these 14 days, funds are automatically released to you.
• Once your client approves the milestone or after 14 days have passed without any needed revisions, the payment is transferred to you. Do note that the funds may take a few days to reflect in your account due to security and identity verification process and bank operations.

Hourly Contracts

For hourly contracts, the situation is slightly different. You get paid once a week. Here’s how it works:

• You fill your work diary with the logged hours in a week and submit them.
• Next week (Monday to Sunday), your client reviews the work diary.
• If everything is fine with the work diary, the money then goes into a five-day security period.
• And finally, the money becomes available for you to withdraw.

Remember, being transparent about your work and keeping good communication with your client will only make the payment process smoother and help foster a good working relationship. Remember that it’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with Upwork’s Terms of Service and communicate within the Upwork messaging system to ensure your safety and security.
I hope this helps, and wish you the best with your freelancing journey on Upwork!