Payment Schedule
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Time logged on hourly assignments is automatically invoiced and paid according to this weekly pay schedule.
Week 1
Week 2
- Monday
- 00:00 midnight UTC - Provider review period begins
- 11:59 UTC - Provider review period ends
- 12:00 noon UTC - Buyer invoiced for the week's hours (pending credit appears on provider's account and pending debit appears on buyer's account)
- 12:00 noon UTC - Buyer review period begins
- Thursday
- 23:59 UTC - Buyer review period ends (pending debit applied to account balance)
- 23:59 UTC - Buyer charged
Week 3
- Wednesday
- 00:00 midnight UTC Pay Day! Provider's hourly earnings available for withdrawal (pending credit applied to account balance)
The weekly schedule only applies to invoices for hourly work. What about other types of payments? The buyer will be charged the day the payment was submitted and the money will be available to the provider at the end of the security period.
The oDesk work week begins on Monday at 00:00 midnight UTC and ends on Sunday at 23:59 UTC.
All reports show time based on the oDesk work week. Please remember these times are in UTC. Depending on your time zone, hours could appear to be shifted to the next or previous date.
UTC stands for Coordinated Universal Time. It is the world's primary reference time scale and was formerly known as Greenwich Mean Time (UTC).
After the work week ends, the provider has a few hours to look over the work diary and timelog and make any final adjustments (if necessary). The provider's review period begins on Monday at 00:00 midnight UTC and ends the same day at 11:59 UTC. The week's work diary and timelog are locked on Monday at 12 noon UTC.
We strongly recommend you review your work diaries daily, not just at the end of the work week.
The buyer review period applies to hourly assignments only. After the work week ends and the week's timelog is locked, you'll be invoiced and given an opportunity to check the hours billed. The buyer review period begins on Monday at 12 noon UTC and ends on Thursday at 23:59 UTC. You are charged for the balance on your account at the end of the review period.
If you have a problem with any of the hours on your weekly invoice, contact the provider immediately. A refund submitted during the review period will keep you from being charged. If the situation still isn't resolved, you'll need to file a dispute. Remember: Disputes must be filed during that week's review period.
The security period allows the payment to be processed and have enough to settle before becoming available to the recipient. During the security period, the amount will show as pending on the recipient's financial account. The payment should be available to the provider 6 days after the payment is made.
The buyer is charged Thursday night for time logged on hourly assignments, so the providers' weekly earnings will become available the following Wednesday - Guaranteed. (See the weekly pay schedule.)
The buyer pays a bonus on an hourly assignment on Friday and the money becomes available to the provider the following Thursday.
The buyer makes final payment on a fixed-price assignment on Monday and the money becomes available to the provider the following Sunday.
In rare instances, a non-guaranteed payment may remain pending for more than 6 days. This means there was a problem (expired credit card, declined credit card, chargeback, verification issue, etc.). It is usually cleared up quickly, but the user will be suspended until we (and you) receive payment in full. If this happens to you, please do your best to help oDesk collect the amount due! Contact Customer Support and provider all contact information you have on the buyer. Most importantly, refuse to work with the buyer until they pay up. Do not request or accept payment outside of oDesk - that's a major policy violation for both users.
There are two types of invoices on oDesk:
- Hourly assignments are automatically invoiced on Mondays at 12:00 noon UTC and charged to your payment method of choice Thursdays at 23:59 UTC. (See the weekly pay schedule.)
- All other payments (bonus, upfront, milestone, etc.) are invoiced immediately upon submittal and charged to your payment method of choice that evening at 23:59 UTC.
A buyer has an hourly assignment. The buyer is invoiced on Monday for 10 hours at $15 per hour ($150 total). On Wednesday the buyer submits a bonus payment for $75. On Wednesday evening, the buyer's payment method is charged $75. On Thursday evening, the buyer's payment method is charged $150.
Charges are processed daily for the total account balance. You will only be charged if the account balance is negative. Available oDesk earnings or other credits will reduce the amount to be charged.
With buyers and providers all over the world, working across timezones is very common on oDesk. We've done a few things to make it easier:
- Every provider profile shows the provider's timezone.
- The team room will show you all team members' timezones and the current time where they are right now.
- The work diary can be displayed in the provider's timezone, the viewer's timezone or UTC.
- Work weeks are standardized to UTC.
Working with users around the globe is a lot easier with the help of a good world clock. Here's a few our users recommend:
- DateAndTime.com - online tools
- WorldTimeServer.com - online tools
- World Clockr - widget
- TimeScroller - widget
- FoxClocks - Firefox Add-on
