Softqora is designed so that the payment for each milestone is released when the buyer approves that milestone. Billing is not switched on yet, so this describes the intended way of working and nothing can be charged today. Whatever the platform, the principle is the same: split the project so that each payment matches a piece of work that can be inspected.
Why stages help both sides
For the buyer, staged payment means money has not left before something exists. For the seller, it means no one has to deliver the whole project on trust. Both sides are protected only if each stage is concrete enough that "is this done?" has a clear answer.
Good milestones end in something you can inspect
- A clickable prototype, a deployed staging site, a delivered file set or a reviewed draft.
- Not "half the work" or "backend progress", which nobody can verify.
- Roughly proportional to effort, so that the largest payment is not left until the very end.
Write acceptance criteria into each stage
Under each milestone write two or three sentences describing what approval means. This is the same discipline as a good brief: see how to write one. When a delivery arrives, you compare it with those sentences, instead of with a feeling.
Revisions are part of the milestone
Agree up front how many revision rounds each stage includes. A revision fixes a difference between the delivery and the agreed scope. A change of direction is new scope, and it is normal for it to cost more. Keeping those two apart avoids most arguments.
Approve promptly, or say why not
Buyers are expected to review deliveries promptly. If something does not match, say exactly which criterion is not met in the order messages. That record is what a dispute is decided on, so write as if someone else will read it.
When things go wrong
If you cannot agree, the Dispute Resolution Policy describes the steps: talk first, then open a dispute with evidence, then a review by Softqora comparing the delivery with the written scope. Refund rules are in the Refund and Cancellation Policy.