> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shorpay.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Requesting a Payment

> Ask your employer for an ad-hoc payment and track it until it's approved or denied.

Not every payment comes from a salary schedule, timesheet, or milestone. When you need a bonus, reimbursement, or other one-off amount, you can request it directly from your employer. They review the request and either approve it (which starts payment right away) or deny it with a reason.

## When to Request a Payment

Use a payment request when the amount isn't already covered by your regular pay cycle:

* A bonus or discretionary payment
* A reimbursement for something you paid out of pocket
* Contractor, freelance, or consulting work outside your normal schedule

If the work is already defined as a [milestone](/professional/milestones) or billed through [timesheets](/professional/timesheets), submit those instead. Payment requests are for ad-hoc amounts your employer hasn't already set up.

## What You Need

You can only request payment from a business where you have an **active** (or offboarding) contract with a supported payment currency. If no payers show up in the wizard, you don't have an eligible contract yet.

## How to Request a Payment

Start from **Finance → Payments** and click **Request Payment**. The wizard has four steps:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Payer">
    Choose who you're requesting from. Shor lists each business you have an eligible contract with. The currency for the request comes from that contract and can't be changed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Amount">
    Enter how much you're requesting. The amount must be greater than zero and is always in your contract's currency.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Details">
    Pick a **purpose** (Contractor Payment, Freelance Work, Consulting, Reimbursement, or Bonus). Optionally add notes (up to 2,000 characters) and attach supporting documents.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Summary">
    Review the payer, amount, purpose, notes, and attachments, then click **Submit request**. Your employer must approve before payment begins.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Attachments

Attachments are optional but helpful for reimbursements and anything that needs a receipt.

* Up to **10 files**
* **PDF, PNG, or JPG** only
* **10 MB** max per file

## After You Submit

Your request appears in **Finance → Payments** with status **Pending review**. Your employer gets a notification to review it.

| Status             | What it means                                                                             |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending review** | Waiting for your employer to approve or deny                                              |
| **Approved**       | Your employer approved it; the request becomes a normal payment and begins processing     |
| **Denied**         | Your employer declined it and left a reason you can read on the request                   |
| **Withdrawn**      | You cancelled the request before they reviewed it                                         |
| **Cancelled**      | Shor cancelled it automatically (for example, the contract ended or its currency changed) |

Once approved, the row leaves the request list and shows up as a payment (labeled **Requested payment**). From there it follows the normal [payment lifecycle](/professional/payments#the-payment-lifecycle): processing, then completed in your Shor account.

You'll get an email when a request is approved, denied, or cancelled. Withdrawing a request yourself doesn't send a notification to your employer.

## Withdrawing a Request

Changed your mind? Open a **Pending review** request and click **Withdraw request**. Confirmed withdrawals can't be approved afterward. If you still need the payment, submit a new request.

You can only withdraw while the request is still pending. Approved, denied, cancelled, or already-withdrawn requests can't be withdrawn again.

## What Your Employer Sees

Your employer reviews requests in **Finance → Payments**. A business admin can **approve** (payment processing starts immediately with the amount and details you submitted) or **deny** with a reason. They can't edit your amount, purpose, notes, or attachments; it's approve as submitted or deny.

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Getting Paid" icon="money-bill-wave" href="/professional/payments">
    How approved payments credit your Shor account and when you can withdraw.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your Shor Account & Withdrawals" icon="wallet" href="/professional/payout-methods">
    Link a payout method and move money to your bank.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Milestones" icon="flag-checkered" href="/professional/milestones">
    For deliverable-based pay with an approval flow.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Timesheets" icon="clock" href="/professional/timesheets">
    Submit hourly or daily hours for approval.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>