How to Create and Send an Upwork Invoice

Statistics from WINaTALENT show that more than 48% of Fortune 500 companies hire freelance employees.¹ Upwork is a platform that allows freelancers to connect with companies that need contractors to work on projects.

It’s easy for freelancers to create invoices on Upwork. However, there are several important steps to follow to access invoices. This article will show you how to send an invoice on Upwork.

Receive Upwork Payments
with Wise Business

How to Create an Invoice on Upwork

If you’re wondering how to create an invoice on Upwork, you can begin by logging into your Upwork account.

Select the ‘My Jobs’ tab and then the ‘Create an Invoice’ button. You can then enter the payment amount and other information. Upwork also offers flexible invoice payment terms.

You can download an official Upwork invoice for clients from the transaction history section of Upwork. Upwork will use information from your profile and include this in the invoice. You can keep these for your records and access them online.

Common Upwork Invoice Mistakes to Avoid

There are some mistakes that new users may make when using Upwork. One important rule is that you can’t invoice your customer outside of Upwork. If you do this before you terminate the relationship on Upwork, it violates the Terms of Service. If you decide to move off of Upwork, you need to pay a one time conversion fee.

Another common mistake to avoid is beginning work without a clear contract. Your earnings are not guaranteed if you begin working before you create a contract on Upwork. If you decide to set a fixed price contract, it's also important to make sure the terms are clear.

Once both parties agree on the project, the company deposits funds into an escrow account. It's only after setting up an official contract that you'll be able to access your Upwork invoice.

Managing Your Invoices on Upwork

Viewing and Tracking Invoices

You can monitor your invoices and create custom reports on Upwork. If you look under the transaction history section of Upwork, you can view your invoices.

Upwork offers the following features to make the process easier for you:

• Ability to download individual invoices
• Ability to download all invoices during a specified date range
• Ability to search for invoices from a particular client

Resolving Invoice Disputes

Upwork can also provide you with support if you need to resolve any invoice disputes, including the following:

• Milestone dispute: You can submit a dispute if you complete a task for a milestone and the client does not accept it.
• Hourly dispute: If you do an hourly project on Upwork, you need to live track the time or submit the hours for approval. If either party does not agree, they can submit a dispute to Upwork.²
• Poor response time: If a customer or freelancer is slow to respond, you can contact Upwork customer service to expedite the process. If a customer is unresponsive, the funds will be released from Escrow after 14 days.³

Upwork Invoice Payment Methods and Fees

The convenience of Upwork’s services can often make it worthwhile for freelancers and companies to use the platform. Upwork recently changed its fee structure, which may be more attractive.

Upwork began charging freelancers a flat 10% fee in May 2023. This 10% rate is for all contracts, including hourly, fixed priced, or catalog projects.⁴ In the past, Upwork initially charged a 20% fee for the first $500 in earnings, and then lowered the fee to 10% after this.

Companies that want to hire freelancers on Upwork initially pay a $4.95 fee to hire a freelancer. After this, they pay a 5% marketplace fee on any payments made to the freelancer.⁵

There are many Upwork payment methods for you to choose from. Freelancers can receive payments through popular methods like wire transfers or ACH deposits.

Clients can also receive payments through Wise and convert to different currencies after this.

If you decide to move off of Upwork, you need to pay an Upwork conversion fee.

Receive Upwork Invoice Payments with Wise

Upwork is a convenient platform that allows you to create and manage Upwork invoices through an automated process.

If you use Upwork, Wise Business can be a great way to receive payments. Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks, designed with international business in mind.

You can receive money from Upwork in a number of currencies, but the exchange rate will be determined by Upwork. It can be better to receive payments in USD on Upwork and then use Wise to convert it to another currency. This way, you’ll always get the mid-market exchange rate, saving more of your hard-earned income.

How to set up your USD account details on Upwork:

1. Make sure you have USD account details
2. On Upwork, go to Settings
3. Select Get paid
4. Select Payment details and Add method
5. Select Direct to US Bank (USD) and Set up
6. Add your USD account details from Wise
7. Check the box to validate the information provided — you’ll have to confirm this by entering your Upwork password
8. Confirm the details by selecting Add account
9. Upwork might send you 1 or 2 microdeposits to your Wise USD account to verify your ownership of the account. This can take 1–3 days to arrive, and you’ll need to go to Upwork and confirm the amounts received

All set. Now you can get paid in USD from Upwork!

Sources

All sources checked November 30, 2023.