Bonus payment

Upwork groups bonus, expense and miscellaneous payments together as "extra money a client sends you through your existing contract". Its examples: meeting or exceeding expectations, finishing ahead of schedule, a task outside the original scope, and refunding expenses.

Timing follows the standard path. Upwork charges the client's billing method within 24 hours of the payment being sent, then the money goes through the standard five-day security period, during which it shows as Pending. If 24 hours have passed and the payment still reads TBD in your reports or transactions, Upwork has not received the funds from the client, usually because of a failed payment method or an account hold, and you can't withdraw it until that is resolved.

Three things set a bonus apart from ordinary earnings:

• Fees still apply. The freelancer service fee is charged on bonuses at the same percentage as the contract's other payments.
• No hourly protection. A bonus sits outside Hourly Protection, so it depends entirely on the client paying.
• It is how extra hours get paid. Hours logged over the weekly limit are not billed, and a bonus agreed beforehand is Upwork's suggested way to cover them.

On an hourly contract a bonus is also how a client pays for time missing from the work diary. For the freelancer, the practical rule is to agree any bonus in the contract's messages before doing the work it is meant to pay for, so there is a written record if the payment never arrives. A bonus is entirely the client's choice: Upwork has no process for claiming one.