This article describes how to manage individual milestones.
For an introduction to milestones and how they work, check out our milestones basics help article.
Add individual milestones
Note: this section describes adding new individual milestones to a live contract – i.e., after accepting a contract. For milestones added prior to accepting a contract, you can skip ahead to the next section below.
To add an individual milestone to a contract, click ‘ADD’.
Add a milestone name and optional deadline, and select ‘Individual Milestone’ in the ‘Type’ field.
Once you select a ‘Type’, the additional relevant field(s) for that milestone type will appear below.
For individual milestones, all you need to add is ‘Cost’ – i.e., what you will pay for the milestone.
Then click ‘ADD’ to save the new milestone.
You will be automatically prompted to add another new milestone. If you are done adding milestones, click ‘Cancel’ to close the prompt.
Now your milestone is saved.
To open & view the milestone, click the drop-down arrow on the right side of the screen (or click on the milestone name).
Your university freelancer will be notified that you have updated the contract, and they must approve the new milestone before work can start.
Start a milestone
To start an individual milestone, click ‘Add Funds’ to deposit payment into a secure Stripe account where funds are held until the milestone is complete. Later, when the freelancer has delivered the required work to your satisfaction, you can approve the work and release payment.
Click ‘Add Funds’ to start.
Click ‘Add Funds’ again to confirm.
You can also view & download the invoice for your payment.
Click ‘OK’ to close the notification.
The freelancer be notified that you’ve added funds and they can begin work on the milestone.
Use GradSkills messaging, live video chat and/or any 3rd party tools you wish to coordinate & manage work with your freelancer.
Approve Work & Pay
When the freelancer has completed the milestone requirements, they will mark the milestone as ‘Complete’. You and your freelancer are free to discuss necessary edits before or after this step.
Once you’re satisfied that all requirements are met, the next step is to approve the milestone and release payment to your freelancer.
Click ‘Approve & Pay’.
Click ‘Approve & Pay’ again to confirm that you want to release payment to the freelancer.
That’s it! Once you’ve approved the milestone, it will end automatically.
Next, you can add / start a new milestone, or close the contract and rate & review your freelancer.