On completion of a freelance job and acceptance by the company I'm doing the project for, how does the payment process work? Does the company pay me, or does the freelance job site pay me?

Getting Paid For Your Freelance Work

You do get paid for your services when the project is completed. The top-notch project management sites give you the option of letting them process all payments. This means that the buyer of your services sends the payment to the project management site, then the site pays you.

However, the details of receiving payment are between you and the buyer of your services. You can take payment directly from the buyer of your work, or you can use the project management site as a middle man. Payment could take the form of check, credit card, wire transfer, PayPal.com... whatever you and the buyer decide.

You should always read and understand the policies of the project managment site which you post to. Every site is different and it is your responsiblility to follow their policies on bidding for projects and getting paid.

A professional project site where you can learn more about payment options is eLance.com.

Visit eLance and click on the "help" link at the bottom of the page. Read through the help topics to familiarize yourself with the process.