Frequently Asked Questions about PayWelly

PayWelly charges $19.99 + 15% commission per engagement when a business posts a contract and books through PayWelly. If a contractor sends a private offer from their public profile, only the 15% commission applies. Contractors keep 100% of their pay; there is no subscription, no monthly minimum, and the first time you pay anything is the moment you accept a contractor.

The 15% commission covers the per-engagement Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) with state-specific addenda, Stripe Connect Express escrow custody, identity verification through Stripe Identity, W-9 collection, 1099-NEC filing at the federal threshold, dispute facilitation, and Stripe payout infrastructure.

Posters are not charged when a contract is created or published. Charge is triggered the moment you accept a contractor application — that is when the engagement is funded into Stripe escrow. Until then, posting a contract is free.

Yes. If the engagement is cancelled before the contractor starts work, the escrowed amount is refunded automatically. Once work begins, refunds follow the dispute-resolution process: file a dispute, the funds stay locked in escrow, and our team facilitates a resolution between the two parties.

Standard ACH payouts (1–3 business days) are free. Same-day payouts to an external debit card cost 3% (this is the Stripe Instant Payouts fee, passed through). All routes use Stripe Connect.

No. Every engagement is governed by a per-engagement Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA). Posters and contractors negotiate scope and rate directly; PayWelly does not dispatch contractors, set rates, or supervise work. PayWelly is a contracts and payments platform — not an employer, staffing agency, merchant of record for the underlying work, or labor broker.

PayWelly is available in a growing list of U.S. states and DC. Sign up to confirm coverage for your state — most enrollments today are landing within weeks. If your state is in our Tier-1 waitlist (the highest-classification-risk states where we hold back automatic onboarding until every additional review is cleared), we will email you the day it opens.

State-by-state rollout reflects regulatory variation in independent-contractor classification, payment-services licensing, and 1099 filing requirements. We are expanding coverage as each state’s compliance posture is locked in. Reach out via /contact if you want to be the first to know when your state goes live.

Either party can file a dispute through PayWelly within 7 days of engagement end. The escrowed funds remain locked in Stripe — neither side gets paid or refunded — until the dispute resolves. PayWelly facilitates resolution; Stripe holds the funds. The aim is to acknowledge disputes within 24 hours and resolve within 5 business days (operational target, not contractual SLA).

Stripe files Form 1099-NEC for any contractor crossing the $2,000 annual federal threshold on the connected Stripe account, per the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (effective tax year 2026). PayWelly does not file 1099-NECs directly; Stripe Connect handles it through the contractor’s Stripe Express account.

Yes. Both parties click-sign the ICA, and PayWelly captures a signature event with the signed-at timestamp, IP address, user-agent, and a SHA-256 hash of the exact PDF that was signed. In-platform clickwrap is a valid electronic signature under the ESIGN Act (15 USC §7001).

Yes. Stripe Identity collects the W-9 at onboarding. A contractor cannot be paid through PayWelly without a W-9 on file. Your W-9 captures filing status (Individual / Sole Prop, Single-Member LLC, S-Corp, Partnership, etc.) and Stripe issues the 1099-NEC to the legal entity matching your W-9.

When the work is marked complete, the escrowed funds are released to the contractor. If no dispute is filed, release happens within 24 hours of completion. Standard ACH transfers land in 1–3 business days; same-day to debit card is available for a 3% fee.

When a poster accepts a contractor application, the full engagement total ($19.99 + shift rate + 15% commission) is funded into a Stripe Connect Express destination charge. Stripe holds the funds in the connected-account custodial flow. Neither party can touch the money until the work is marked complete. If there is a dispute, the funds stay locked until our team resolves it.

Yes — same-day to a debit card costs 3% (Stripe Instant Payouts passthrough). Standard ACH (1–3 business days) is free. Both routes use Stripe Connect.

When a contractor clocks out, the system checks actual hours against scheduled hours. If actual hours exceed scheduled, an overtime-approval notification is sent to the poster. The poster approves or declines through their dashboard; if approved, the overtime hours are charged (with the 15% commission applied) and released to the contractor.

Engagements have a built-in auto-release window. If the contractor clocks out and the poster takes no action, the system flags the engagement and releases the funds after the configured grace period. Posters can dispute before the grace window closes; the dispute then takes precedence over auto-release.

Yes. Business accounts require an EIN for 1099 reporting and Stripe Connect onboarding. Individual posters can use a sole-prop SSN-based setup; corporate accounts require an EIN.

Yes — corporate accounts support multiple managers with role-based capabilities (approve shifts, view team contracts, manage payouts, etc.). Individual business accounts are single-user; switch to a corporate account in Settings if you need a team.

Yes. Corporate accounts support multiple physical locations with per-location managers, scheduling, and reporting. Locations are configured under Corporate Settings.

The base ICA is attorney-reviewed and covers the legal essentials (scope, rate, dates, deliverable, payment, cancellation, disputes, IP, confidentiality, governing law). State-specific addenda auto-attach when applicable. You add engagement-specific details (deliverables, milestones, notes) through the contract editor when posting.

Yes. Every business workspace gets a discoverable profile at paywelly.com/orgs/your-slug — cover image, logo, tagline, description, founded year, team size, and social links. Use it to recruit contractors who can apply directly, send referral links, or share with prospective hires. Public pages are optional and indexable in search; you can keep the workspace private if you prefer.

Six roles out of the box: Owner, Super Admin, Admin, Regional Manager, Manager, Member, and Viewer. Each role grants or restricts named capabilities (approve shifts, view org bank, override balance, post contracts) via an editable Permission Matrix. Every role action writes to a per-manager Activity log — you always know who approved what and when.

No. You can sign up as an individual / sole proprietor and report on Schedule C. Many contractors choose to form an LLC for liability protection, but it is not required to use PayWelly. Your W-9 filing status determines how Stripe issues the 1099-NEC.

You set the rate yourself when you apply to a contract or send a private offer from your public profile. PayWelly does not set, cap, or recommend rates. Posters see your rate and accept or decline directly.

Yes, in any state where PayWelly is live. Sign up to confirm coverage. Each engagement is governed by the laws of the state where the work is performed; state-specific contract addenda auto-attach when applicable.

A green "Verified" badge means the user has completed Stripe Identity AND has a W-9 on file. A blue "Identity Verified" badge means Stripe Identity is complete but the W-9 has not been collected yet (typically pre-payout). The verification state is canonical across web, iOS, Android, and admin — the same gate applies everywhere.

Yes. PayWelly personal accounts have a sidebar toggle — flip to Work to apply to contracts, flip to Post to send a contract yourself. Same W-9 on file, same identity, same wallet, same workflow. Useful when a photographer needs to sub out a videographer for a wedding, or when a contractor occasionally hires for their own one-off project. Both sides of the engagement are governed by the same per-engagement ICA you would see as either party.

Yes. Open your availability grid, mark hours as peak, and PayWelly charges your surge rate automatically when a client books those hours. Set $200/hr weekdays, $350/hr Friday or Saturday nights — the contract pre-fills with whichever rate matches the time slot the client picks. No client conversation, no awkward invoice line.

Yes — up to 12 services, each with its own rate (hourly or flat). A photographer might list 'Studio session $200/hr' separately from 'Wedding day $1,500 flat' and 'B-roll capture $50/hr'. Clients pick the service they want from your profile; the contract pre-fills with that service's rate. You decide what shows publicly and what stays private.