Billing Security for hourly jobs

How billing security works for hourly job contracts:

• You can review your expert’s Work Journal to view updates on the job’s progress, confirm billable hours, and review work with activity screenshots.
• In case the expert logs hours unrelated to your job, you can submit a dispute for the work time recorded in the previous week. You will be reimbursed for the work hours that do not meet the criteria for Hourly Billing Security.
• The Hourly Billing Security offered by Cad Crowd does not cover bonus payments, manual time entries, or fixed-rate jobs. Please refer to Cad Crowd’s terms of service and Hourly Escrow Details to learn more about payment terms.

Billing Security for fixed-rate jobs

How billing security works for escrow milestones and fixed-rate contracts.

• You and the expert will decide on job deliverables in the form of milestones and place funds (with a minimum of $25 USD per milestone) in Cad Crowd escrow.
• Funds will be released from escrow after the expert submits work for your review and acceptance.
• You can request work revisions or an escrow account refund if necessary.
• You can submit a fixed-rate job dispute if you disagree about work deliverables or completed tasks.

Click here to post your job.

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How Cad Crowd works

Hiring experts allows you to accomplish more with your project and scale your business. We can guide you through the process if you need a professional to help you take on additional engineering work or want to delegate a task that falls outside of your in-house expertise.

The Cad Crowd platform allows you to find skilled professionals to help your project succeed. Post your job on our marketplace and receive proposals from talented individuals worldwide. Before moving forward, you can discuss timing, availability, and pricing with your expert. We can support your company if you need someone for a one-time project or want to assemble a team for ongoing work.

Benefits of working with Cad Crowd

• Cad Crowd has Billing Security for hourly jobs and fixed-rate jobs
• A platform designed to support the growth of your business
• Communication technology, including chat and video calls
• 24/7 client service and support team

How to post your first job

To post a new job, go to the post job page and follow the steps. We’ll ask you questions that ensure your job is matched with the best expert with relevant expertise. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the answers right away – you can always edit your job post later.

Posting a job is easy, fast, and free. You’ll want the following details before starting your job post:

• An overall idea of the work you need help with
• A description of the job or questions to ask the applicants
• A rough idea of your hourly or fixed-rate work budget (we’ll provide estimates of typical rates)
• Add your preferred billing method, such as a credit card. Posting your job is free; however, we require a valid billing option to prevent spam posts.
• If you need to leave your job post and return to it later, no problem – it will be saved as a draft. You can even switch devices and continue editing your job later. For example, you can start a job post on your phone and pick up where you left off on a computer later.

What to include with your new job post

• Job title: The job title provides an overview of what you need and appears as your job heading. Including the work scope or industry (if relevant) here is a good idea, as it’s the first thing experts will see. We’ll use the keywords in your title to help match you with the ideal expert. Good examples include:
  • 3D modeler needed for tool marketing
  • Electronics engineer needed for IoT fitness device
  • Mechanical engineer is needed at a small manufacturing firm
  • 3D rendering expert required for a commercial building firm
  • CNC programmer needed for ongoing part fabrication
  • 3D animator needed for product demos at a marketing firm
• Job description: Explain your work requirements and a summary of anything unique about your project. You can include the skills required for the work (i.e., mechanical engineering, electrical, etc.) and any software needed (if applicable). Also, you can share an NDA agreement if it’s necessary to discuss your work. As a reminder, you’re automatically covered by the standard NDA/IP agreements under terms of service when paid jobs are completed through the Cad Crowd platform. Example description:
  • We need a part-time 3D artist to help with an ongoing 3D rendering for our company furniture. The work will involve taking 2D drawings from our manufacturer in China and converting them into photorealistic renderings for our marketing content, and embed on our website. The 3D artist should be highly skilled with 3ds Max, V-Ray, and Marvelous Designer software packages. The candidate will work remotely and log billable hours with the Cad Crowd timer app.
• Job timeline: You can add an estimated timeline and time commitment required for your job. If you want a job contract that continues over a more extended period, you can choose the 6+ month timeline.
• Job category/skills: Choose the types of skills and software that are required for your applicants. Adding your required skills will help us match your job with the most suitable experts on the platform. We recommend adding at least 3-5 categories and 5+ skills to your job post for the best matches.
• Set your budget: You can add an optional hourly or fixed-rate budget when you post your job. Remember that you can always edit your budget after you have posted your job. Also, experts will submit applications with their suggested rates for your assignment.
• Hourly rate: You can choose an hourly rate, which means you’ll be charged for the exact hours the expert works on your project. You can limit the number of hours the expert can work each week. Setting a range for your hourly rate can help experts decide if the job is a good fit for them, and they will offer competitive rates for you to review once the job is posted.
• Fixed-rate job: Alternatively, you can choose a fixed-rate job budget, which is an estimated total cost for a well-defined project. The rate can be broken down into milestones, which you can add after posting the job and receiving applications. You’ll pay the expert with milestones after they complete each phase of your project. After posting your work, you can adjust your budget; however, sharing a rough idea of your overall budget helps experts decide if the project is a good fit for them. After posting your job, applicants will submit proposals for review and evaluation.
• Job location: Most work on Cad Crowd is completed by remote-based experts and recommended for the best rates, expertise, and availability. You can also post a local job if you require on-site help. In addition, you can post a hybrid position, which involves a combination of on-site and remote workers to meet your business objectives.

Remember: Keep in mind that there is no cost to post a job on the Cad Crowd platform. You’ll need to add a billing method to send a job offer to candidates, but you will only need to make a payment once you start working with your expert. Posting a job does not necessarily mean that you are required to hire an expert. You’ll have the opportunity to review applications from applications and conduct interviews before starting a job contract.

Questions and answers

What are the next steps?

Get ready to be amazed! Now that your job is posted, you’ll receive applications from qualified experts who are a good fit for your position based on your budget and skills. You’ll also have an opportunity to send free invites to the experts on the platform who are a good fit for your job. Finally, experts will receive an email to inform them about your new job opportunity. You can relax knowing that a list of interested professionals will be at your disposal, ready to work on your project.

How do I add a billing method to my account?

We require your preferred payment method before sending job offers to applicants to protect against fraud and encourage more experts to apply for your job. You will not be charged until you’re ready to send a job contract to the expert you’ve decided to hire for your job. The Billing Security system holds your payments for hourly and fixed-rate jobs until you review the work delivered. Billing Security helps ensure a safe and reliable hiring experience for clients and experts.

How do I choose a budget for my job?

The experts on Cad Crowd have different levels of experience, from entry-level to expert. Generally, if you need more knowledge or a niche skill set for your job, you should expect to budget a higher rate. In addition, specific software packages (i.e., Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, etc.) have costly licensing costs and may require hiring experts that quote higher hourly rates. Suppose you choose to hire an expert on an hourly basis. In that case, we’ll share an estimated rate range for different experience levels (based on projects in your category) for you to consider.

Fixed-rate jobs do not require you to have a set specific budget. Alternatively, you can pay a fixed-rate price for your entire project or particular milestones completed. Fixed-rate jobs allow you to suggest a price for the specified work, but the budget range is entirely up to you and based on the scope of your job.

Can I limit my job to specific countries?

If you want to hire exclusively U.S.-based experts, you can choose the expert location when you post your job (i.e., city, state, country, etc.). In addition, you can post an invite-only job and only send invites to candidates inside a particular geographic area.
We recommend that your job is posted worldwide for the most applications, rates, and largest talent pool of flexible experts. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide who you want to hire. If you want to modify your job post, you can edit your job location preferences after posting your job.

I tried posting my job, and it’s not working.

We recommend clearing your browser cache and cookies if you see an error when posting a job. Please contact support to resolve the issue if you still see a site error.

My new job post does not show up on the job search page.

The support team reviews every job post manually, and approval may take a couple of hours. Once a job is checked for completion, the new job will appear on the job search page.

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If you ask for a refund on a completed job before 180 days have passed, you can talk with your expert directly on Cad Crowd. Please contact our support team if you have issues or request a refund between 181 and 365 days ago.

Note: Your expert must send a refund through the platform and not through another payment method. The terms of service require users to communicate through Cad Crowd.

Tips when you ask experts for refunds

Note the following information for refund requests:

• Fixed-rate contracts (milestones): Are you requesting a refund on a milestone or a fixed-rate job contract before the escrow payment is released? Please read this article since the refund steps differ when requesting a refund on escrow payments.
• Hourly contracts: You can submit a dispute if you are unhappy with the results of an hourly job contract.
• Closing a job: Remember to talk with your expert about a refund on billable hours before ending your hourly contract. If you close a job, your expert can only issue a refund after you have paid the total billable hours at the end of your weekly billing period (Sunday night/UTC timezone).

How to ask for a refund

Steps to ask your expert for a refund:

1. Visit your Job contracts > select a contract
2. Select ••• dropdown > click Ask for refund
3. Choose the invoice (dropdown) > add an amount > click Send button

Refunds for closed job contracts

The 14-day deadline for posting a work review still applies when you wait for an answer to your refund request. If the 14-day deadline passes, you won’t be able to post a review on the expert’s public profile.

Your expert can allow you to edit your review if you have already posted one and wish to modify the review after.

If you don’t ask for a refund request, your expert can approve a refund for a contract’s total amount, partial amount, or no amount. In addition, the expert can issue a refund for both open or closed job contracts, assuming the following criteria are met:

• End date: The expert approves a refund before the 180-day window has ended
• Amount: Experts cannot give a refund for an amount that exceeds the total value of a contract

Expert approves refund

When an expert approves a refund, the system automatically returns the funds to your account balance.

What happens when a refund is approved:

• Refund timeline: The refund is returned to your payment method within 3-5 business days.
• Status: Go to your Transaction history to see an update on the status of your refund request.
• Review: Your review and the expert’s review are hidden if the total contract value is under $25.00 USD (after the refund is applied).

Tip: You can request a withdrawal if you want to transfer the funds from your account balance to your payment method.

Expert declines refund

You have several options if the expert declines your request for the job contract.

Hourly job contracts:

• Escalate issue: You can escalate your refund request to our support team if the expert rejects a refund on an hourly contract.
• Dispute deadline: You have a 5-day deadline to file a dispute for an hourly job contract after your weekly billing period ends. The weekly billing period ends Sunday night (11:59 p.m./UTC timezone), and the dispute deadline is the following Friday night (11:59 p.m./UTC timezone). Please read our article to learn more about filing a dispute on an hourly contract.
• Missed a dispute deadline: You have five days to submit a dispute for the prior week’s billable hours after the billing period ends. You can discuss a reasonable refund compromise with the expert if you miss the current (or prior) billing period deadline.

Fixed job contracts:

• Approved escrow payments: If you have approved and released an escrow milestone payment for a fixed-rate job contract, you have agreed that work was successfully completed. If you have concerns about the approved work, you can talk with the expert about a potential compromise.
• Escrow balance refund: You can ask for an escrow refund if you have a funded milestone and the balance was not released from escrow.

Cad Crowd dispute resolution team

The Cad Crowd support team offers dispute resolution for hourly contracts paid over the past 30 days and fixed-rate job contracts with unreleased escrow balances. You can contact our support team to open a request for dispute resolution.

Questions and answers

How can I ask the expert for a refund?

Steps to ask your expert for a refund:

1. Visit your Job contracts > select a contract
2. Select ••• dropdown > click Ask for refund
3. Choose the invoice (dropdown) > add an amount > click Send button

When is the deadline for the expert to approve a refund request?

Your expert can approve a refund for up to 180 days after invoice payment. Contact our support team if your expert approves a refund between 181 to 365 days of the invoice payment.

Where are the funds for my refund sent?

Your refund is transferred to your user account balance. You can use the account balance for future job payments or request a payout to your financial institution.

Can I ask an expert to send me a refund payment directly?

Refund requests and payments must be sent on the Cad Crowd platform per the terms of service. We process refunds directly on the platform to prevent fraudulent transactions and protect confidentiality.

We understand the effort needed to select the right expert for your job. We offer the Billing Security policy for hourly contracts and ensure you only pay for verifiable time logged by your expert. The policy allows you to challenge the expert’s timesheet if you believe you were overbilled for a job.

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Critical information: Contacting Cad Crowd support or asking your expert for a refund is different than submitting a dispute. You must use the process below to submit a formal dispute. You have a 5-day deadline to dispute an hourly contract invoice after your weekly billing period has ended (Sunday night).

Your expert must submit all timesheets by Sunday night (11:59 p.m. / UTC timezone) to add billable hours to your weekly invoice. The job invoice is automatically billed to your account. You have a 5-day window between Monday afternoon (12:00 p.m. / UTC timezone) and Friday night (11:59 p.m. / UTC timezone) to review and dispute those hours if necessary.

Ask expert for a refund

Please ask your expert for a refund before you submit a formal dispute (steps below). You must submit a dispute within five days of your weekly billing period, so prompt action is critical. If your expert disagrees with a total (or partial) refund request, immediately submit a dispute before the 5-day deadline expires.

Steps to ask an expert for a refund:

1. Visit your Job contracts > select the contract
2. Click ••• dropdown > select Ask for refund
3. Choose the Invoice > add amount > add message (optional)

Remember: Asking an expert for a refund is not a formal dispute. You must submit a dispute within the 5-day window after your weekly billing period ends if the expert doesn’t reply or agree to a refund.

Submit a dispute for hours

Please submit a dispute if the expert still needs to approve a refund and the five-day dispute deadline is approaching.

Steps to submit a dispute:

1. Visit your Job contracts > select the contract
2. Click ••• dropdown > select Ask for refund
3. Click Submit work dispute link
4. Complete Dispute request form > click Submit button

Next steps after submitting a dispute

Next steps after a the dispute is submitted:

1. We take action after you submit a dispute by emailing and notifying the expert. We transfer a refund to your account balance if the expert fails to reply or agrees to your request. Our support team starts the conflict resolution if the expert declines a refund.
2. The dispute process temporarily suspends the expert’s payment while we review the request.
3. The conflict resolution team examines the Work Journal based on the requirements in our Billing Security policy. We will determine if the dispute qualifies for a refund, which typically takes five business days.
4. If the conflict resolution team approves your dispute claims, the total (or partial) refund is deposited into your Cad Crowd balance (including all service fees). If our conflict resolution team determines the expert’s hours are legitimate, the invoice funds are sent to the expert.

Questions and answers

What happens if I miss the five-day deadline for submitting a dispute?

The deadline for submitting a dispute for hourly contract payments is Friday night (11:59 p.m. UTC timezone), following your weekly billing period. If you fail to submit your dispute before the deadline, we advise talking with the expert and asking them to consider a partial (or full) refund. If the issue still needs to be solved and your invoice was paid over the past 30 days, contact us for details about mediation services.

What if I want to dispute the expert’s work quality rather than the billable hours?

When you submit a dispute on Cad crowd, the conflict resolution team can review hour the expert’s billable timesheets. We can only review timesheets and cannot evaluate the quality of the work provided by an expert. If you are unsatisfied with the work delivered, we recommend speaking with the expert and working towards a payment compromise. You can also submit a refund request to the expert with the steps outlined earlier in this article. Please contact us to discuss mediation services if your invoice was paid over the past 30 days.

What will happen if I decide that I want to cancel a dispute?

The expert is automatically paid for the work invoice if you cancel your dispute. Canceled disputes cannot be resubmitted for a refund.

How do I submit a dispute for a fixed-rate job contract?

Please our article dispute a fixed-rate job payment to learn about refund criteria.

Do you want to submit a dispute for an hourly job contract? Read about hourly contract disputes.

We know that client work requirements can evolve or get put on hold. If you want to close a fixed-rate contract and your escrow account balance is unused, you can ask the expert for a refund.

Tip: You can release part of your escrow balance if you want to keep a fixed-rate job open without paying the total escrow balance. The remaining escrow balance is applied to your job’s new milestone.

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How to submit an escrow refund request

You need to ask your expert for an escrow full (or partial) refund before escalating to a milestone dispute on Cad Crowd.

Steps to ask for an escrow refund:

1. Visit your Job contracts > select a contract
2. Select ••• dropdown > click Ask for refund
3. Choose most recent invoice > add amount > add message (optional) > click Send button

The expert has a week to approve or decline your refund request. If you ask for a partial refund, the remaining amount in the escrow balance is paid to the expert.

If your expert approves a refund

The escrow funds are deposited into your account balance if the expert agrees with your refund request or fails to reply within a week. Please note that the refund may take five work days to show on your account.

If your expert disagrees with refund on escrow balance

You will receive an email notification if your expert disagrees with a refund request. You have the option to escalate the refund request into a dispute.

The following steps apply if you escalate the dispute:

1. Escalate dispute: If you escalate a refund request into a payment dispute, Cad Crowd’s conflict resolution team will assist both sides in mediating the disagreement.
2. Mediation phase: The conflict resolution team will review the case and provide mediation. Please note that the mediation phase may take 10-15 business days. You can contact us for status updates after you submit a payment dispute.
3. Mediation recommendation: Our team will share a non-binding decision to resolve the payment dispute if you and the expert disagree about resolving the issue.
4. Binding arbitration: Suppose you or the expert disagree with our recommendation. In that case, the last resort is to proceed with binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association, a neutral third-party organization whose decision is final. The arbitration fee for this service will be split between you and the expert.

Questions and answers

Can I get a refund if I already approved and released the milestone payment in escrow?

You can ask the expert for a refund and submit a dispute for up to 30 days following the invoice payment. If the 30-day deadline has passed, you can still ask the expert for a full (or partial) refund at their discretion. You can send a refund request to the expert for up to 180 days after your invoice is paid.

Can I send part of the escrow balance to the expert and have the remaining balance refunded?

You can release part of the milestone balance to the expert and apply the partial balance to a new payment milestone if you continue working with the expert. Alternatively, you can end your fixed-rate contract with a partial milestone payment and transfer the refunded escrow balance to your account.

Why were my escrow funds released before I accepted work delivery?

Fixed-rate job contracts allow 14 days to review and authorize a milestone submitted by your expert. You can make a full or partial escrow payment release, request work edits, or submit a dispute during this time. If you don’t reply in the 14 days timeframe, your work milestone is considered complete, and the funds are automatically transferred from escrow to your expert.

If you have approved an escrow payment, you can still ask the expert for a refund and submit a dispute within a 30-day deadline. Once the 30-day deadline ends, you can no longer dispute a milestone; however, you have 180 days to ask the expert for a refund which may be approved at their discretion.

When is it possible for the expert to approve my refund?

You can send a refund request to the expert for up to 180 days after the invoice is paid. You can contact our support team for help if your expert approves your refund between 181 and 365 days after the invoice is paid.

Where will my approved refund be transferred?

When your refund request is accepted, the escrow payment is transferred into your account balance. You can use the funds towards your next job contract or send the funds to your financial institution.

Can I ask an expert to send me a refund payment directly?

Refund requests and payments must be sent on the Cad Crowd platform per the terms of service. We process refunds directly on the platform to prevent fraudulent transactions and protect confidentiality.

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Escrow dispute summary

You have 14 days to approve or request edits when an expert submits work for a milestone payment. You need to reply to the payment request before the deadline; otherwise, the system automatically approves the work milestone and sends the escrow balance to the expert.

In addition, experts can submit a payment dispute for an escrow balance that has yet to be approved after successful work completion or if a fixed-rate contract is closed without payment for the entire balance held in escrow. If the expert submits a payment dispute, you will receive an email notification and have the opportunity to release payment or escalate the dispute.

Remember: You must reply to an expert’s dispute within five working days, or the escrow balance is automatically paid to the expert.

How to reply to a dispute

Steps to reply to a dispute submission:

1. Nav: Choose the help (?) icon in the top right of website navigation > click My disputes
2. Select dispute: Click on the name of the dispute in progress
3. Accept or reject a dispute submission
   • Accept: Accept the expert’s dispute submission and release funds to the expert
   • Reject: Decline the expert’s dispute submission and propose different terms

Tips: Click the Group chat button to send a message to the expert and our conflict resolution team. Click the Support chat button to contact Cad Crowd’s conflict resolution team directly.

Please contact our support team if you have issues replying to a dispute.

If you approve a dispute submission

The escrow balance is automatically paid to the expert if you approve the expert’s dispute submission.

If you decline a dispute submission

A Cad Crowd mediation specialist will offer conflict resolution services to you and the expert. The mediation phase lasts up to 30 days, and if the parties don’t resolve the disagreement, the mediation specialist will offer non-binding guidance on a reasonable payment. If one (or both) parties do not accept the suggested resolution, the final step is binding arbitration with the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The AAA is an impartial third-party organization and will make a binding determination on your contract payment. The AAA arbitration service costs $875 and is split between you and the expert.

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Unresponsive experts for hourly contracts

If you hired the expert with an hourly job contract, the unpaid timesheets are paid at the end of your standard billing period. When you pause an hourly job, your expert will not be able to invoice additional hours. If you continue working with the expert, both parties must agree to resume the hourly contract.

Unresponsive experts for fixed-rate contracts

When you hire an expert with a fixed-rate contract, the expert can send a milestone payment request with the work submission. After the expert sends the payment request, you have a 14-day deadline to request revisions or approve the work submission. The escrow account balance is automatically paid to the expert if you don’t reply to a payment request. You have the option to decline an escrow payment request as well. If the expert doesn’t submit a payment request, the escrow funds will stay in escrow until you release funds or the contract is closed.

Questions and answers

Can I dispute a payment to an expert for an hourly job contract?

You can dispute invoiced hours for hourly job contacts for five days following your weekly billing period.

Can I dispute a milestone escrow payment to an expert for a fixed-rate job contract?

You could ask your expert for a refund if a milestone payment was released and paid within the past 180 days. The Cad Crowd mediation team can also help if your escrow payment was paid over the previous 30 days.

Can I get a refund on a milestone payment that is held in my job’s escrow account balance?

You can opt to close a fixed-rate job contract and ask for a refund of the escrow balance. Alternatively, you can approve a partial milestone payment for unfinished work. If you reject a milestone submission, the expert must update and resubmit the work before sending a new payment request.

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Types of reports

Types of dashboard payment reports on Cad Crowd:

How to view your payment reports

You can use the billing reports dashboard, weekly email, and Work Journal timesheets to stay up-to-date on your contracts. Remember that speaking regularly with your experts is the most important way to measure the progress of your jobs.

Tips for reports:

• Visit your transactions page and payment report dashboard to view the history of your job contracts.
• Most payment reports require an open job contract to display correctly.
• The payment report dashboard may take an hour to update manual time entries and hourly timesheets for your job contracts.

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The platform uses the UTC timezone for automated billing and contract payments.

Your weekly billing report

Billing report dashboard: Your weekly billing report dashboard shows your spending by the job contract category. Billable hours tracked with the Cad Crowd App are added to the work journal timesheets, and the manual time entries are included on the manual time page. The fixed-rate payments and other costs contain escrow deposits, retainers, and bonus payments.

Work journal timesheets: The timesheets section of your dashboard shows a daily breakdown of the expert’s weekly billable hours. The yellow squares represent manual time entries added by an expert. You can view your expert’s daily work journals by clicking on the bold time entry text.

Fixed-rate & other: The fixed-rate and other payments dashboard shows your escrow transfers for fixed-rate jobs and other payment categories (i.e., bonuses, weekly retainers, etc.).

Weekly billing report email

Your weekly billing email report includes a weekly overview, work journal timesheets, fixed-rate expenses, and bonus amounts. The email is automatically sent every week to your account’s owner.

Example of a weekly billing report email:

Questions and answers

Is the weekly billing report dashboard and weekly email the same?

Yes, the weekly billing report dashboard and email contain the same information. The dashboard and email exclude our platform service fees.

Can I share the weekly billing report dashboard with my team members?

You can share your billing report dashboard on your permission settings with your team members by changing a user’s account status from member to admin.

Can my team members see the weekly billing report email?

The weekly billing report email is only sent to your main account and isn’t sent to your company’s team members.

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View your transactions & invoices

Steps to view transaction history and invoices:

1. Visit your Transactions
2. Click a transaction or select ••• dropdown
3. Click transaction details

Save a transaction & print invoice receipts

Steps to save and print your receipts:

1. Visit your Transactions
2. Select ••• dropdown
3. Click Download invoice

Invoices show your business name, account owner name, payment address, and VAT number (if applicable). Your expert’s full name is added to the payment invoice, and the expert’s address may also be added.

You can edit your business address by viewing your Settings page > Personal info > Address

The invoices are generated by the payments sent to experts for your job contracts and include the client service fee.

Tip: The account owner and team members with admin/accounting privileges are the only users who can view your transaction history.