Payments, Refunds & Payouts

Version: v0.1.0 Last updated: 2026-05-08 Status: Initial-cohort payment notice Target path: docs/public/payments_refunds_and_payouts.v0.1.0.md

This notice explains Undertake’s initial-cohort payment, refund, fee, and payout rules.

Operator: Undertake

Do not fund, accept, perform, verify, or release work unless the visible Work Contract terms are clear enough for you to proceed.

1. Scope

This notice applies to payment-related activity in Undertake, including:

• checkout;
• Work Contract funding;
• platform fees;
• refunds;
• cancellations;
• chargebacks;
• disputes;
• seller payout readiness;
• Stripe Connect onboarding;
• payout-related state;
• BeaCredits used as platform-fee offsets.

This notice does not replace:

• Terms of Use;
• Privacy Notice;
• Work Contract terms;
• Stripe terms;
• payment-provider requirements;
• tax or legal obligations that apply to a member.

2. Payment provider

Undertake uses Stripe for initial-cohort payment and payout flows.

Stripe may require identity, business, tax, bank, compliance, risk, or account information before checkout, transfer, refund, or payout activity can proceed.

Stripe may apply its own rules, fees, reviews, holds, delays, reserves, restrictions, reversals, disputes, chargebacks, or account actions.

Undertake does not control all Stripe decisions, timing, requirements, or records.

3. Current launch-lane payment facts

Current initial-cohort facts:

• currency: USD;
• minimum transaction amount: $100.00;
• standard platform fee: 12%;
• fee posture: member-balanced split;
• buyer fee leg: 6%;
• seller fee leg: 6%;
• seller payout readiness must be verified before ordinary publication or fundability;
• seller payout setup uses Stripe Connect paths when available.

These facts may change in a later active version of this notice or in a specific visible Work Contract term.

4. Member-balanced platform fee

The standard platform fee is currently split between buyer and seller.

This means the buyer may pay the seller price plus the buyer fee leg, and the seller payout may be reduced by the seller fee leg, subject to the checkout path and visible Work Contract terms.

Example:

• seller price: $100.00;
• platform fee at 12%: $12.00;
• buyer fee leg at 6%: $6.00;
• seller fee leg at 6%: $6.00;
• buyer total before provider-specific adjustments or taxes: $106.00;
• seller payout before provider-specific adjustments or taxes: $94.00.

Actual checkout and payout amounts may vary if the system applies credits, reversals, provider requirements, taxes, provider fees, or later payment terms.

5. Seller payout readiness

A seller may need a verified payout path before offers, contracts, publication, fundability, or release can proceed.

Payout readiness may depend on:

• Stripe Connect onboarding;
• provider account state;
• identity or business review;
• bank or payout configuration;
• provider restrictions;
• system checks;
• contract state;
• risk or operational review.

Manual entry of a Stripe account ID is not an ordinary payout readiness path.

If payout readiness is missing, expired, restricted, or inconsistent, Undertake may block publication, funding, release, transfer, or payout-related actions.

6. Checkout and funding

A buyer may fund a Work Contract through an available checkout path.

A checkout event does not by itself mean:

• work has been accepted;
• proof has been accepted;
• funds are releasable;
• seller payout is available;
• a refund is unavailable;
• a dispute is resolved;
• a Work Contract is complete.

Checkout, capture, release, refund, or transfer depends on Work Contract state, provider state, and system rules.

7. Work Contract payment states

A Work Contract may move through payment-related states such as:

• draft;
• quoted;
• checkout started;
• funded;
• proof submitted;
• verification pending;
• accepted;
• release pending;
• released;
• cancelled;
• refunded;
• locked;
• disputed;
• chargeback opened;
• reconciled;
• failed;
• provider-inconsistent.

The exact states available may vary by route, Work Contract type, payment path, and launch-lane readiness.

8. Proof, verification, and release

Some Work Contracts require proof before release.

For the initial cohort, the ordinary live path is buyer verification before release.

Submitting proof does not by itself create release, payout, reward, or service-record truth.

Chosen-verifier, timeout-fallback, and panel-escalation paths may be unavailable or fail closed unless the system explicitly marks them live for a specific Work Contract.

Release may be blocked or delayed by:

• missing proof;
• rejected proof;
• missing verification;
• buyer action;
• seller payout unreadiness;
• provider review;
• chargeback or dispute activity;
• refund activity;
• contract lock;
• system inconsistency;
• operational review.

9. Refunds and cancellations

A Work Contract may be cancelled or refunded when allowed by visible Work Contract terms, system state, provider state, or operational review.

Refund availability may depend on:

• checkout state;
• capture state;
• proof state;
• verification state;
• acceptance state;
• release state;
• payout state;
• dispute or chargeback state;
• provider rules;
• applicable law;
• operational review.

A refund may be full, partial, unavailable, delayed, reversed, or provider-dependent.

Provider fees, platform fees, taxes, chargebacks, or other amounts may not always be returned unless the applicable path, provider, or law requires it.

10. Disputes and chargebacks

A buyer or payment provider may open a dispute or chargeback through provider-controlled paths.

A dispute or chargeback may cause Undertake to:

• lock a Work Contract;
• pause release;
• pause payout;
• preserve proof and event records;
• reverse or adjust records;
• request information;
• reconcile payment state;
• block rewards or BeaCredits;
• restrict account or payment activity.

Provider dispute outcomes may affect refunds, balances, transfers, payouts, fees, and account status.

Undertake does not control all dispute or chargeback outcomes.

11. Payouts

A seller payout may occur only when required system and provider conditions are satisfied.

Payout timing may depend on:

• Stripe account status;
• payout readiness;
• bank processing;
• provider review;
• settlement timing;
• Work Contract release state;
• refunds;
• disputes;
• chargebacks;
• restrictions;
• operational review;
• legal or tax requirements.

A displayed balance, contract price, or release state does not by itself mean funds are immediately payable or available.

12. Amounts not payable to seller

Seller payout amounts may exclude:

• platform fees;
• Stripe or provider fees;
• refunds;
• reversals;
• chargebacks;
• taxes;
• adjustments;
• credits;
• amounts not captured;
• amounts not released;
• amounts blocked by provider or system state;
• amounts otherwise not payable under the applicable Work Contract.

13. BeaCredits and payment offsets

BeaCredits, if shown, are internal system credits only.

BeaCredits are not:

• cash;
• stored value;
• a bank balance;
• wages;
• withdrawable;
• transferable;
• redeemable for money.

When eligible and available, BeaCredits may offset the buyer fee leg on future platform fees.

BeaCredits may be blocked, pending, spendable, spent, reversed, restored, expired, or adjusted based on Work Contract state, refund state, chargeback state, dispute state, abuse review, or system integrity.

BeaCredits do not reduce the seller fee leg, seller payout, Stripe, bank, tax, provider, or third-party obligations unless the system explicitly applies them to a specific eligible platform-fee amount.

14. Taxes and reporting

Members are responsible for their own tax, accounting, filing, licensing, and reporting obligations.

Stripe or another provider may request tax information, issue tax forms, report transactions, restrict payouts, or require additional documentation.

Undertake does not provide tax advice.

15. Provider inconsistency and reconciliation

If Undertake’s internal state and provider state conflict, Undertake may pause, lock, reverse, correct, or reconcile affected records.

Provider truth may affect:

• checkout state;
• capture state;
• refund state;
• dispute state;
• chargeback state;
• transfer state;
• payout readiness;
• payout state;
• contract state;
• reward state;
• service-record summaries.

Undertake may preserve records needed to explain or reconcile the inconsistency.

16. No off-platform payment bypass

Do not use Undertake to create, negotiate, or coordinate a Work Contract and then bypass active payment, proof, fee, or verification terms.

Undertake may restrict accounts, contracts, offers, payouts, rewards, or service-record effects if payment bypass, fee evasion, proof manipulation, or refund manipulation appears to have occurred.

17. Changes

The Operator may update this notice. A later version may replace this version for future payment activity.

A specific Work Contract may also contain visible payment terms that apply to that Work Contract.

Continued use after updated payment terms become available means the updated terms apply to later activity.