Safety
Safe for the doer. Safe for the payer.
Flikker is project software on top of Stripe. Funds are held by Stripe as delayed payouts per step until the client approves. Flikker never holds client money on its own balance sheet.
What Flikker is
• Project layer on top of Stripe Connect.
• Contracts and steps shared in one place.
• Clear funded steps instead of vague milestones.
• Evidence and approvals tied to each step.
• Delayed payouts per funded step – Stripe holds funds until approval.
What Flikker is not
• Not a bank or financial institution.
• Not a marketplace like Upwork or Fiverr.
• Not a custodian that pools client funds.
• Not a replacement for local accounting or tax advice.
• We never say we "hold" or "escrow" client money – Stripe does the payment work.
How money actually moves
• Your client funds one or more steps through Stripe by card, invoice or bank transfer where supported.
• Stripe charges the payment method and holds the funds as delayed payouts on your connected Stripe account.
• Flikker tracks which steps are funded, delivered and ready for approval – it does not touch the money itself.
• When the client approves a step in Flikker, we tell Stripe to release payout for that specific step to your connected account.
• Only that step is paid out. Other funded steps stay as delayed payouts at Stripe until they are delivered and approved.
Refunds, disputes and freezes
• Refunds are processed through Stripe. If a step needs to be refunded, Flikker sends the request to Stripe – the refund comes from funds that were already processed there.
• Card disputes and chargebacks follow Stripe's standard rules. Flikker gives you a clear record of contract, steps and evidence you can use when you respond.
• In edge cases, Stripe can freeze or delay payouts if they detect risk. Flikker does not override those controls – we work with Stripe's own risk systems.
• We design Flikker copy and flows to be honest about this: Stripe does the payment work, Flikker gives structure and clarity so both sides understand what happens at each step.
Begin with one real project. Break it into funded steps, let Stripe hold payouts per step and release them only when your client approves.
Flikker is project payment software that runs on top of Stripe Connect. Funds are held by Stripe as delayed payouts per step until a client approves the work, not by Flikker itself. This is important for safety and regulation. Many people search for safe ways to get paid for client work, for example by asking if there is a secure escrow or a safer platform than simple invoices. Flikker answers that by using Stripe for the financial part and focusing on clear contracts, funded steps and evidence.
Flikker is not a bank, not a lender and not a public marketplace. You bring your own client, agree scope directly and then use Flikker to structure the project. Each step has one amount, what done means and a simple approval flow. The client funds one or more steps through Stripe by card, invoice or bank transfer where supported. Stripe charges the payment method and holds the money as delayed payouts for that connected account until Flikker signals that a step has been approved.
Because Stripe is the one that actually holds and moves the money, refunds, disputes and chargebacks follow Stripe's normal rules. Flikker helps by giving a clear record of what was agreed, what was delivered and what the client approved at each step. This is a different model from classic invoices where a client is asked to pay at the end of a project with little structure. It is also different from marketplaces that pool client funds or mix their own balance sheet with user funds.
The goal of the safe projects page is to make this clear for both sides: the doer and the payer. For the doer, funded steps and delayed payouts reduce the risk of unpaid work. For the payer, seeing each step, its amount and attached evidence makes it easier to approve with confidence or request changes. Flikker stays honest about its role – a project layer on top of Stripe – so that both freelancers and clients can understand how money flows and who is responsible at each point.