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Direct Contracts now live for all freelancers

lenaellis
Community Member

To help grow and support your freelance business on and off Upwork, we are releasing Direct Contracts to all Upwork freelancers today. With this new release, we have also expanded the functionality to now include multiple milestones. 

 

Direct Contracts allows you to enter into fixed-price contracts with non-Upwork clients, offering access to Upwork's safety and security features with greater flexibility for your business. Freelancers can access their Direct Contracts by clicking on the new paper airplane icon next to notifications or directly here.

 

Direct Contract Icon.png

 

Here’s how it works: 

 

On the Direct Contracts page, freelancers will see the option to start a new Direct Contract and a list of all existing Direct Contracts along with the status of that contract.

 

The steps to start a new Direct Contract are very simple:

 

1. Enter your client’s details

1. Create.png

 

2. Add either a single amount or create milestones with each amount

MM - Collapsed.png

 

3. Review and send the contract

3. Review.png

 

4. An email is sent to your client to begin

4. Confirmation.png

 

 

Your client will receive an email notifying them of your detailed proposal, along with some guidance on how the product works. 

 

Just like your other fixed-price contracts on Upwork, your client deposits project funds in escrow before the contract starts. You will see the status of the milestone listed below each one, so you will know when to begin working. When you’ve completed the contract or each milestone, you’ll request payment from your client. And with Direct Contracts, once they’ve accepted your request, the funds are released to you immediately, with no security period.

 

5. - Active - m1.png

 

As a freelancer, you’ll pay a processing fee of 3.4% of the total contract amount, but you won’t pay any freelancer service fees to Upwork. It’s easy for your clients because they won’t have to create an Upwork account.  And with payment protection and dispute assistance, you can work confidently with your clients who are not on Upwork. 

 

Let us know if you have any questions.

 

405 Comments
kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Thanks for your question, Andres.

In most cases U.S. freelancers—including those who earned more than $600—will not receive a Form 1099-MISC from Upwork or their clients. So if you classify your freelancer as an independent contractor, you don’t need to file a Form 1099-MISC for your payments to them through Upwork. While all freelancers submit their information for Form W-9 (U.S.-based) or Form W-8BEN (international) to Upwork, Upwork doesn’t send freelancers Form 1099-MISC, either. We do file a Form 1099-K when applicable (to freelancers who are U.S. Persons and receive over $20,000 with more than 200 transactions through Upwork).

 

 

To learn more, click here.

jobbe314
Community Member

Hi Lena,

i've just started my first Direct Contract to see how it works but i don't think i will use it again cause it seems there are no real benefits for my profile since as soon as the project will be finished i can't get any feedback from the client; to be honest i think Upwork should improve it to make it more interesting for freelancer like me who are interested in continuing to work on the platform.
There a lot of clients that maybe will need 1 work only per year and it doesn't make sense (at least for me) for them to have a profile that they will use 1 time per year or maybe in their lifetime so a "Direct Contract" could be a good option; i don't think it is a good thing (and it is not an incentive for us as freelancers) that they can't leave us a feedback.

Keep in consideration to add this feature.

 

Thx,

Edoardo

v-marrazzo
Community Member

Hi
will Upwork generate invoice for customer at conclusion of Direct Contract?
Regards
Vincenzo

d_korolkov
Community Member

My first direct contract's client can't pass the Quick security check.


They have tried multiple times, requesting numerous codes, but we keep getting errors with the system. 

Can support help me with this so we can get contracting done?


kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Hi Dmytro,

 

We checked and it looks like the client was able to validate the code. Are you and your client still experiencing issues with setting up the contract?

d_korolkov
Community Member

Hi, Valeria.  It seems to be some kind of problem that have been solved by itself. Client approved they've already got an access. Thanks for your time.

VladimirG
Community Manager

We appreciate the follow-up, Dmytro! 

 

Feel free to follow up if you have any questions and congrats on your new contract!

renz03
Community Member

Been thinking of trying the Direct Contract and I wonder if a non-upwork client can leave a feedback after completing the project from a Direct Contract?

gaspardjack
Community Member

No, Direct Contracts are not included in your profile.

You can read more info here.

kc_subodh
Community Member

Howdy All, Staying safe? 

Firstly, thanks Upwork for this direct contract feature. It helps to close many difficult clients as it provides escrow service as peace of mind for the clients. 

But before jumping into it I wanna know about the direct contract a bit more. 


Is there a limitation on how many you can send in a day ? Or how do you stop spammers using it? 

Will upwork use my client's information for any purpose? 

Will upwork remarket to my direct clients?  

Will these direct contract job counts towards the freelancer's job success score % ?

Thank you in advance  for you help