This article explains how clients can create and manage Milestone Contracts for independent contractors in Deel. It also covers deleting milestones, enabling multiple signatories, and answers common questions.

You can also create Fixed-Rate or Pay-As-You-Go contracts for contractors.

If you are importing a large number of contractors onto Deel, you can use our Mass Import feature.

Creating a Milestone Contract

Each step of the contract-creation wizard is autosaved. You can leave at any time and resume from Contract drafts on your homepage.

Prerequisites

• You must have permission to Add people and Create contracts.
• Know which Group and Entity the contractor will belong to.

✅ Step 1 – Open the People Page & Click Add people

1. From the Deel dashboard, click the People tab.
2. On the People page, click Add people in the upper-right corner.

Expected outcome: The Add people wizard opens.

✅ Step 2 – Select Worker Type

1. Choose Contractor ( “Self-employed, works with clients on a project basis” ).
2. If you are bringing in many workers at once, select Mass Import workers instead.

✅ Step 3 – Choose Milestone Contract Type

Select Milestone under “Choose your contracting agreement.” Contractors with milestone contracts are paid each time a predefined project milestone is completed.

Important to know * Milestone contracts do not have a recurring invoice cycle and do not allow off-cycle payments. * By default only the client can mark milestones complete. You can later allow contractors to self-complete milestones in Org Settings ▸ Contract Settings ▸ Milestone Contracts.

✅ Step 4 – Enter Personal Details

The Add person form now appears.

1. Complete Team information (Group & Entity).
2. Fill in contractor personal details (legal names, email, tax residence, citizenship, contract name).
3. Click Continue.

If your organization structure is configured, you can assign the worker an org structure and relations here.

✅ Step 5 – Add Role Details, Dates & Milestones

1. Enter Role details and a clear Scope of work. Use an Existing scope or select New to generate one with Deel AI.
2. Create your first milestone:
3. Milestone name & description
4. (Optional) Estimated due date – contractors receive reminder emails X days before the date (adjustable in Org Settings ▸ Contract Settings).
5. Amount to be paid on completion.
6. Attach supporting files if needed.
7. Click Add new milestone to add more.
8. Specify contract Start and (optional) End date, notice period, and any On-target payments (flat or %). Remember: on-target payments must be added to payroll manually when due.
9. Enable Pay ahead of the weekend if you want payments that fall on a weekend processed on Friday.

Click Continue to proceed.

✅ Step 6 – Upload or Select Contract Template

You can: * Upload a pre-signed contract * Use Deel’s standard contract (locally compliant) * Select an existing custom template * Create a new template

You may also require contractors to upload ID/compliance docs depending on local laws. For custom templates see: Creating a Custom Employee Agreement Template.

✅ Step 7 – Add Benefits & Extras

Add any benefits or extras, then click Continue.

✅ Step 8 – Review, Invite & Sign

Before signing you can: * Preview/download the PDF * Add a personal message or copy a signing link * Switch signing order if you prefer the contractor to sign first

The contract becomes active only after all required parties sign.

Need an approval flow? Follow this guide to set up an approval policy, then enable Creating a contract needs to be approved in Org Settings ▸ Contract Settings ▸ Signatures & Approvals.

Troubleshooting (Milestone contract creation)

• Cannot see “Add people” – verify your permissions or refresh.
• Contractor/Milestone options missing – confirm your workspace allows contractor hiring & milestone contracts.
• Form doesn’t load – back-navigate and try again, clear cache, or use another browser.

How to Delete a Milestone

After a milestone contract is created you can edit or delete individual milestones.

✅ Step 1 – Open the Contract

1. Go to People ▸ select the contractor ▸ View agreement.

✅ Step 2 – Delete the Milestone

1. Scroll to the Milestones section.
2. Click the Trash-bin icon next to the relevant milestone.
3. Confirm deletion.

Troubleshooting * You will not see a Milestones section if the contract type is Fixed-rate or Pay-as-you-go. Only Milestone contracts contain deletable milestones. * Paid or processing milestones cannot be deleted. * If you sync milestones to an external system via API, also delete/update them there to avoid discrepancies.

Enabling Multiple Signatures for Contracts

Admins can require more than one signatory (up to 5) on all new contracts and amendments.

Enable the Multiple-Signature Policy

1. From the Deel dashboard click the Gear icon to open Organization Settings.
2. In the left sidebar scroll to Human Resources ▸ Settings and expand it.
3. Click Contract.
4. Open the Signatures & approvals tab.
5. Toggle Creating or editing a contract needs multiple people to sign to ON.
6. Choose whether the rule applies to Individual contract (optional) or All contracts (mandatory).

Success criteria: The toggle remains on and a confirmation banner appears. All newly created contracts (or those you specify) now require multiple signatures.

How Multiple Signatures Work

• Up to 5 signers, invited in sequential order (Signer 1 must sign before Signer 2 is invited, etc.).
• You can edit/remove signers who haven’t signed, reorder signers, or add yourself as a signer.
• The contract PDF shows all signers; a task is created for each pending signature.
• If set to Mandatory, the contract cannot progress until every required signer has signed.

FAQs

Who confirms that a milestone has been completed?

Admins can allow contractors to: * Mark milestones complete, and/or * Add additional milestones

Go to Org Settings ▸ Contract Settings ▸ Milestone Contract Settings and enable the desired toggles. If enabled, clients do not need to manually approve each milestone.