Usually, contractors are paid based on the payment cycles in their contracts (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.).

However, if clients wish to pay contractors outside of an established payment cycle, they can initiate a one-off, off-cycle payment. Mass one-off payments for contractors are not supported.

Off-cycle payments are not possible for Milestone contracts, because the contractor is paid only after completing a predetermined milestone and there are no regular invoice cycles. 

How to Pay a Contractor Out of Cycle With a One-Off Payment

✅ Step 1 – Select the contract

From the Deel Home dashboard, select People in the left sidebar to expand its submenu, then select Directory.

Wait for the people table to load.

In the Directory table, find the contractor you want to pay. Use the Worker type column to identify rows marked Contractor, then select the contractor’s name in the Person column. Do not use the three-dot menu at the end of the row.

Wait for the contractor profile to open. Confirm that the contractor’s name appears at the top of the page and that profile navigation options, such as Overview, Personal information, and Contracts, are available.

✅ Step 2 – Pay Contractor Out Of Cycle

Clients can make a single, off-cycle payment to a contractor.

• If Deel HR is enabled: from the contractor detail page, select the Payments, expenses & work submissions card, and then select Add one-off payment.
• If Deel HR is not enabled, select the Contract Overview tab and select Pay One-Off.

✅ Step 3 – Finalize Payment Details

Enter the payment amount and add an optional description.

Optionally upload an attachment as proof of work.

If VAT needs to be included, clients can toggle the option Add VAT to this invoice and specify the percentage to be added. This VAT amount is independent of the value defined in their normal payment cycles, allowing clients to set up different VAT amounts for specific invoices as needed.

Click Continue.

✅ Step 4 – Review the information and click Submit

Review the payment summary and select Submit to create the one-off invoice.

• The one-off payment needs to be approved for the invoice to be generated
• The invoice will be generated with a 30-day due date, and the payment to the worker will be initiated as soon as the invoice is paid
• For one-off payments made to US contractors (i.e., those who have submitted a W‑9), the payment will be included in the 1099 report.

Can I pay a contractor after their contract has expired?

Yes, clients can make a payment to contractors even after the independent contractor's contract has expired.  If you are in this scenario, you have two options:

1. Create an off-cycle payment as explained above to ensure that the contractor is paid. The off-cycle payment is a one time payment
2. Change the contract termination date to keep the contract active until a regular, final payment is processed