How to submit an Upwork milestone and start the payment clock

A client can have your finished file while your milestone still sits in progress. Here’s how to move a fixed-price job into review.

Agree on what the milestone buys

Say you quote $150 for a two-page brochure. Write down the due date, the print-ready PDF and one round of edits. Does the client also need the editable design file? Settle that before you start. Open the contract and check that this milestone shows as funded.

Submit through the contract

Open Deliver work → Your active contracts, choose the contract and select Submit work. If the PDF is already in a shared folder, you can point the client to it in the submission message. Include the version and what to review. For example, “Brochure v2 is in the Print folder. Please check the dates and phone number on page two.” Upwork’s submission instructions.

Know which clock is running

Submitting starts a 14-day review period. The client can approve or request changes. Submitting revisions starts a new review period. If the client takes no action, Upwork releases the funded amount after 14 days. A five-day security hold follows release before the funds become available for withdrawal.

If the client wants a second brochure, agree on that deliverable and check its own milestone funding before beginning. Upwork’s fixed-price payment timeline.