Practical guide
Getting paid, properly.
DeenTask takes no commission, which means we never hold your money — you are paid directly by the client. That is worth a lot, and it puts one job on you: making sure the money actually arrives. Here is how, in plain terms.
What each method really costs you.
Every figure below is charged by a bank or a card processor, not by us. Tick the ones you accept on your profile and clients will know before they message.
| Method | What it costs to receive |
|---|---|
| Bank transferUsually free | Free within the UK. International wires can cost £10–£20 plus a poor exchange rate. |
| Card | Around 1.5% + 20p on UK cards, more on international ones. The processor takes it, not us. |
| CashUsually free | Free, but get a receipt signed for anything sizeable. |
| PayPal | Roughly 2–4% depending on the country, plus a currency conversion spread. |
| Wise | Usually well under 1%, and the exchange rate is the honest one. |
| Payoneer | Around 1–2% on receipt, plus withdrawal fees to a local bank. |
Rates move and vary by country — check your provider's current pricing. Nothing on this page is tax or legal advice.
Five habits
None of this is complicated, and together it prevents almost every payment problem freelancers actually hit.
Agree it in writing before you start
One message listing what you're doing, what it costs, when it's due and what counts as finished. A WhatsApp message is fine — it just has to exist. Almost every payment dispute is really a scope dispute.
Take a deposit on anything sizeable
A third up front is normal and nobody serious will object. It filters out the people who were never going to pay, and it means you're never fully out of pocket on materials or print.
Send a proper invoice
Your name and address, their organisation's name, a date, an invoice number, what it's for, the amount and your payment details. Masjids and charities usually need one for their own books, so it makes you easier to pay, not harder.
Don't hand over the final files unpaid
Send a watermarked proof or a low-resolution version for approval, and release the print-ready files when the money lands. This is standard practice, not distrust.
Invoice the organisation, not a person
Committees change and volunteers move on. Address it to the masjid, school or charity, and get the name of whoever signs it off.
Taking card payments, without a website.
You don't need a shop, a developer or a company to accept a card. You need one link.
Create a payment link
Stripe, SumUp and Square all let you make one without writing any code or building a website. You get a URL that takes card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. PayPal.me works the same way if you already use PayPal.
Check what it costs you
Expect roughly 1.5% + 20p on a UK card and more on an international one. On a £200 job that's about £3.20 — worth it when the alternative is chasing a transfer for three weeks.
Paste it into your DeenTask profile
Add it under “Your payment link” in the portfolio builder and tick Card. Your page then shows a “pay directly” button that goes to your own payment page. The money goes straight to you — it never passes through us.
Where the money goes
Your money never touches us.
A payment link on your profile is yours. The client pays your Stripe, PayPal or Wise page directly, and DeenTask is not part of the transaction — we never see it, hold it, or take from it.
Getting paid from another country.
Plenty of the work here is remote, and most clients are in the UK. If you aren't, this is the part that decides how much of the fee you keep.
Wise, usually
For a UK client paying someone abroad, Wise is normally the cheapest and the most transparent — well under 1% and a real exchange rate. Send the client a Wise request and they pay in pounds.
Payoneer if you already have it
Common for cross-border freelance work and fine, though the receiving fee and the withdrawal to your local bank both take a slice.
Avoid a plain international bank wire
It looks free and isn't. A SWIFT transfer often costs £10–£20 in fees, sometimes at both ends, and the bank's exchange rate can quietly take another 3%.
Say which currency you price in
Put it on your profile. If you invoice in pounds, you carry no currency risk and the client knows exactly what they're paying. If you invoice in your own currency, they do.
Walk away if…
- Someone offers to pay more than you asked and wants the difference sent on somewhere. That is the oldest scam there is.
- A new client wants the finished files before any payment, and gets offended when you suggest a deposit.
- Payment is promised “after the event” with no date and no deposit.
- You're asked to pay for something first — a listing, a licence, a courier — to unlock the job.
- The client wants to pay by card and then immediately asks for a refund to a different card.
Questions
Why doesn't DeenTask just handle the payment?
Because the moment we hold your money we would have to charge for it. Escrow means payment processing, chargebacks, refunds, disputes and a support team to arbitrate them — that is what the big platforms' 20% actually pays for. Staying out of it is what lets us take nothing. The honest trade-off is that you get no payment protection from us, which is why this page exists.
So is there any protection at all?
Not from us. Your protection is the boring stuff: a written scope, a deposit, staged delivery, and an invoice. Those cover the overwhelming majority of problems. For a large project, consider invoicing in stages so you're never owed more than you can afford to lose.
Do I need to be a registered business?
In the UK you can work as a sole trader and invoice under your own name. You are responsible for declaring your own income, and this page isn't tax advice — if you're earning meaningfully, speak to an accountant. The same goes wherever you're based.
Can I charge VAT?
Only if you're VAT registered, and you must if your turnover crosses the threshold. If you are, say so on your invoice and make clear whether your quoted prices include it — that ambiguity causes more arguments than any other line on an invoice.
A client hasn't paid. What now?
Send a polite reminder with the invoice attached, then a firmer one naming a date. Most late payment in community organisations is disorganisation, not bad faith — often the person who agreed the work isn't the person who signs the cheque, so ask who that is. If it goes further than that, UK sole traders can use Money Claim Online for small amounts.
How do I pay a freelancer, as a masjid or a charity?
Ask for an invoice before you pay, so it's in your records and your treasurer is happy. Pay by bank transfer to the account on the invoice — and if payment details change mid-job, ring the person on a number you already had to check it's really them. Invoice redirection fraud is common and it targets exactly this kind of organisation.
Tell clients how to pay you.
Add your methods and your payment link to your profile — it takes a minute and removes a whole conversation.
Client rather than freelancer? How DeenTask works.