Confused re: Payment Date

[jorgensons]

Why am I being paid on two different days for hourly contracts worked in the same week? This has never happened before, and I don't understand what's going on. I've been working both of these contracts for many weeks (one for several years), and they've always paid on the same day in the past. In fact, this is the first time I can ever recall my hourly contracts not paying on the same day. Bizarre...

[data_divas]

Could be client's time zones?  I don't know but I've seen this several times on my overview and all the money becomes available within an hour or two. 

[AveryO · Accepted solution]

Hi Signe, 

Since you are a top rated freelancer, you are eligible for Faster Payouts where payments for hourly contracts skip the five-day security period and are released after the review period. Your official payment date will continue to show as Wednesday. This is because we won’t know which payments will be released early until we review accounts every Friday morning (if your client disputes your hours or their payment fails, we can’t release your payment until the issue is resolved). As long as there’s no issues, your payment will be posted to your Upwork account on the Friday before the Wednesday date that is listed. For example, if your payment date is listed as Wednesday, July 15, you will receive it on Friday, July 10. 

It looks like this has already been processed. I have just refreshed your account, so let me know if you continue seeing it on your end after clearing your browser's cookies. 

[jorgensons]

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Avery O wrote:

Hi Signe, 

Since you are a top rated freelancer, you are eligible for Faster Payouts where payments for hourly contracts skip the five-day security period and are released after the review period. Your official payment date will continue to show as Wednesday. This is because we won’t know which payments will be released early until we review accounts every Friday morning (if your client disputes your hours or their payment fails, we can’t release your payment until the issue is resolved). As long as there’s no issues, your payment will be posted to your Upwork account on the Friday before the Wednesday date that is listed. For example, if your payment date is listed as Wednesday, July 15, you will receive it on Friday, July 10. 

It looks like this has already been processed. I have just refreshed your account, so let me know if you continue seeing it on your end after clearing your browser's cookies. 

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Oops! I just clicked "accept as solution" by accident while typing a response to Avery's post, which I didn't mean to do. I can't figure out any way to undo that action, but I definitely don't consider the response a solution since it doesn't explain the reasoning behind the differing payment dates. 

Avery suggests that this discrepancy in pay date has to do with Top Rated status, but I'm confused by this rationale. My Top Rated status applies to all of my contracts, so it seems like the "skip the review period" perk should also apply to all of my contracts. Conversely, if my account hasn't been reviewed yet to see if I'm eligible to skip the review period, shouldn't that be true for all of my contracts?

Can you explain why this isn't actually the case, and why two of my hourly contracts initially had different pay dates?

The funds for both contracts are now available, so ultimately, my Top Rated status did allow me to skip the review period across the board, as it should. However, I'm still perplexed about why it didn't initially happen for both contracts. My concern isn't how quickly I'll get paid -- a few extra days don't matter to me, especially for such low amounts. Instead, my concern is inconsistent application of the Top Rated perk. I feel like I must still be missing something here.

Avery (or other Upwork representative), can you more clearly articulate what happened so these contracts weren't initially processed in the same way?

[petra_r]

The system originally assumes a date as per the "normal" billing cycle.

Top-rated freelancers are eligible for early release of those payments, PROVIDED (!) that the client's payment method was successfully charged at the first attempt on Monday.

If the client's payment method was not successfully charged on the Monday, the funds are NOT released early and are paid out under the "normal" weekly billing cycle, i.e. the following Wednesday. 

Not all "early funds" are released at the same time. The system runs through and checks for those which are eligible. Until a contract has been (automatically) checked and released, the date shows as Wednesday (as if there was no early release). This changes to the Friday when the check has been done and the release has been initiated.It can then still take a while to show in Reports under "Available".

It's always like that, you've likely just never been awake early enough / looked at it early enough to see it.

[jorgensons]

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Petra R wrote:

The system originally assumes a date as per the "normal" billing cycle.

Top-rated freelancers are eligible for early release of those payments, PROVIDED (!) that the client's payment method was successfully charged at the first attempt on Monday.

If the client's payment method was not successfully charged on the Monday, the funds are NOT released early and are paid out under the "normal" weekly billing cycle, i.e. the following Wednesday. 

Not all "early funds" are released at the same time. The system runs through and checks for those which are eligible. Until a contract has been (automatically) checked and released, the date shows as Wednesday (as if there was no early release). This changes to the Friday when the check has been done and the release has been initiated.It can then still take a while to show in Reports under "Available".

It's always like that, you've likely just never been awake early enough / looked at it early enough to see it.

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Thanks, Petra! That's exactly what I wanted to know. This makes sense.

[890b9475]

Hello my payment is meant to be available today and it's still pending .. how can you help please 

[ArjayM]

Hi Tosin,

I can confirm that the transaction you're referring to has been successfully processed and is no longer pending on your account. Please let us know if the funds still haven't been reflected in your account after 8 business days and we'll assist you with initiating a trace.

Additionally, it looks like you still need to complete your ID Verification. We highly suggest you continue coordinating with the team through the email they've sent with your case and they will surely assist you accordingly.