What happens to the remaining funds?

[valentina1337]

Hi, we just ended a milestone contract with a freelancer. We paid for the first milestone as asked. Now we have funds that show as "Remaining", not in escrow, and we are unable to withdraw them. What happens to them? 

[AleksandarD]

Hi Valentina,

Could you please send me a private message with the Contract ID so that I can check and assist you further?

Thank you.

[valentina1337]

Hi Alex,

I sent you a message yesterday but I still haven't heard back. Did you get a chance to review our situation? 

[kochubei_valeria]

Hi Valentina,

The Remaining field you see on the Contract page for fixed-price jobs shows the difference between the amount that was set as a budget in the offer and the amount that's been paid. I checked the contract you're referring to and see that all the money that's been funded in Escrow (which was less than what was set for the budget) has already been released to the freelancer and the contact's been closed. You currently don't have any funds in Escrow for that contract. 

I recommend that you discuss this with the freelancer, if you need a refund of the money that's been paid to the freelancer, you can request them to issue it. If there are any remaining funds that need to be paid to the freelancer, you can pay them as a bonus or re-hire the freelancer

[valentina1337]

Hi Valeria,

You are basically saying that the amount we have on the contract as "Remaining" we basically can never get back? I don't understand this policy.

[prestonhunter · Accepted solution]

re: "You are basically saying that the amount we have on the contract as 'Remaining' we basically can never get back?"

That is not what Valeria was saying.

She was pointing out that all of the money you funded in escrow payments has already been released.

There is no money "remaining" in escrow.

What you are seeing is a difference between a theoretical "budget" and the amount of money actually released.

The "budget" is just an imaginary number. It doesn't count.

The "budget" does not refer to a real dollar amount that you were billed.

What counts is how much money you actually were charged, and how much money was paid out to freelancers you hired.

If those numbers are the same (adjusting for the payment-processing fee), then it means there is no money that is actually "remaining" or unaccounted for.

Perhaps you HAVE uncovered a place where the wording Upwork uses, or the way information is shown on screen, should be improved in order to prevent this sort of confusion.

[valentina1337]

Got it - thank you! 

[07105b91]

I have an contract with a freelancer for a fixed project. This project seems not start yet, he told me he has serious fever , can't work for me anymore. So he canceled the contract. But the refunds still not back to my account yet. How can I to do now ? I also want to go on this project and hire another freelancer , but this refunds not received yet. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[AndreaG]

Hi Wendy,

If your freelancer ended the contract, the funds remaining in Escrow will be automatically released back to you. I checked and it looks like the refund was applied directly to your Payment Method, you can check this by going to Reports > Transactions. Please note it can take up to 5 business days for the funds to reflect on your account.

Thanks!

[cec0eb74]

Thanks Andrea for explaining i was facing the same issue. Upwork should have a better customer care support so that client can mail them directly about their issues and not have to waste time searching about their queries.

[JoanneP]

Hi Poonam,

You can click the question mark icon that shows at the bottom right corner of this page. You may be asked what type of account you need help with, go ahead and select the best option. If you don't receive the information you're looking for, you can click "Ask something else" for more options, including contacting our support team. Please feel free to share more information with us here in the community and we'll gladly help you with it. 

[vectorarchitects]

Hello Valentina
Help me to understand why i dont receive all payment. Attachment from my contract info and from employer bellow.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[AndreaG]

Hi Alex,

The "Remaining" field refers to the amount of the budget that has not been funded into Escrow. If the agreement you had with your client was for the full budget but they did not fund the full amount, I would suggest you discuss this with them directly. Please, check out this help article to learn all about how Fixed-Price Protection works. 

[3d054aaf]

Hello, I met the same problems, could you please help me? thank you

[NikolaS]

Hi Na,

Please know that the Remaining field you see on the Contract page for fixed-price jobs shows the difference between the amount that was set as a budget in the offer and the amount that's been paid. Could you please clarify if you want to request a refund from a freelancer? If so please check this page for more information. 

You may also want to check this help article for more information about Fixed-Price contracts. Let us know if you have further questions.