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Milestones tie payments to outcomes. Instead of paying on a schedule, you pay when a specific deliverable is completed and accepted. This page covers setting up milestones and approving them.

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When to Use Milestones

Milestones work well for:
  • Project-based contractor engagements
  • Design sprints, product launches, or research projects
  • Engagements where you want to reduce risk by paying incrementally
  • Freelancers who prefer to work against clear deliverables
They work poorly for:
  • Ongoing retainers or fractional roles
  • Hourly consulting where scope shifts frequently
  • Employee relationships (use salary instead)

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Creating a Milestone Contract

Milestones are set up when you first add the contractor:
1

Pick Milestone as the Compensation Type

In the worker add flow, choose Milestone as the compensation.
2

Define Each Milestone

For each milestone, add:
  • A clear title and description
  • The deliverable that must be completed
  • The amount paid on completion
  • An optional target date
3

Send the Contract

Shor bundles all milestones into the contract. The contractor sees the full list of milestones and amounts when they sign.

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Milestone Statuses

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Reviewing and Approving a Milestone

1

Contractor Submits

When work is done, your contractor opens the milestone and clicks Submit for review. They can attach deliverables (files, links, notes).
2

You Review

You get a notification. Open the milestone and review the submission.
3

Approve or Reject

  • Approve: the milestone moves to approved, and payment is queued.
  • Reject: send it back with feedback. The contractor can revise and resubmit.
4

Payment Released

Once approved, the milestone payment is released per the contract’s payment terms. You’ll see it in Finance → Payments.

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Adding Milestones Mid-Contract

If scope expands, you can add new milestones to a live contract. Open the worker’s profile, click Amend contract, and add the new milestones. Both parties sign the amendment.

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Partial Payments and Holdbacks

For large milestones, some teams pay a percentage upfront and the rest on completion. You can structure this as two milestones (e.g., “Phase 1: 30% upfront” and “Phase 2: 70% on delivery”) rather than using a single milestone with a partial payment.

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Next Steps

Hiring Contractors

The full contractor onboarding flow.

One-Off Payments

For payments outside milestones.