Fixed-Price Project -- paying the freelancer in pieces -- strange milestone issue

[a17987b5]

Hello.  I recently initiated a new contract with a freelancer.  I wanted to fund the entire project upfront, and that is what I did.  I chose this option, thinking I could simply pay out pieces of the escrow fund as parts of the project are finished.  We agreed beforehand on a certain rhythm, timeline, milestone concept, and payment before I officially hired my freelancer.  My concern is that when I initiated the contract and funded the whole project upfront, the system is automatically treating the entire project as "Milestone 1," and it appears that is a "locked" milestone, and the system also assigned the entire funding to that one whole-project milestone.  When I went to add our first few actual agreed-upon milestones to the contract an set the payment for them, the contract is adding those pauyout amounts to the total budget!!   Moving forward, how do I go about paying for chunks of the project (as per our agreement and per the milestones I will continue to officially post) and having those payment pieces simply taken from the funded escrow?  My freelancer will submit work over a 30-week period, one week at a time, and I want to pay the freelancer each time work is submitted and approved.   

If it continues in this manner, the contract will literally be doubled in value by the end because it's trying to add milestone payments ON TOP of the whole-project funding that I paid.  Please advise! 

[AveryO]

Hi Charles, 

Sending an offer on a fixed-price job requires you to deposit funds for the whole contract or a lesser amount to cover the first milestone. This deposit will be held in escrow until you receive the work, are satisfied, and release funds to the freelancer or agency.

You may only fund one milestone at a time. Funds must be released on the current milestone before the next one can be activated and funded. You can choose to release a partial payment, and any remaining funds can be used to fund the next milestone. In your case, it looks like you funded the first milestone with the entire budget. You can release a partial amount (depending on the amount of the milestone you have agreed upon with your freelancer). The remaining amount will be held in escrow, and you can use it to fund the following milestones. 

I invite you to check the links I have added above to help you become familiar with how fixed-price contracts and milestone payments work on Upwork. The articles are also listed here.

[a17987b5]

Hi, Avery.  Thank you for your reply.  I had read some of the aforementioned articles you shared before I initiated the contract, but I suppose I still had some misunderstandings about how milestones are actually set or edited.  I just wish the system hadn't automatically treated the whole project as Milestone 1, especially when it doesn't appear that I can alter that.  Hopefully I can carefully release partial funds and get beyond the first mistake with milestones.  I will follow the instructions given on the webpages in your links.  Thanks. 

[prestonhunter]

re: "I wanted to fund the entire project upfront, and that is what I did."

For anyone reading this thread:

I strongly advise you to never fund an entire project up front.

It is NOT Upwork's intention that any client do this.

This is very risky behavior, and not likely to result in the successful completion of your project.

[creativedigit]

Charles,

Here's an idea. Explain the situation to your freelancer and request a refund of the funded milestone, and let your freelancer approve it, then Upwork will refund the funded milestone back to your bank account or credit card depending on how you funded it. Once the milestone refund is approved by your freelancer, create a new smaller milestone this time. Once the milestone is met you can release it to your freelancer, then fund a new milestone, and so on, until the project is complete.

Please note that it could take up to 5 business days for a refund to appear in your bank account. I hope this workaround helps with this situation.

Also, please note that for the future, you define your initial milestones at the time you are sending an offer to your freelancer. The next time you're about to send an offer you'll find a checkbox that asks you whether you want to deposit the full amount or break the project down to milestones. Depending on the size of your project you may need to go with the second option, just like the case for your current project.

Best regards,
Wassim