Understanding milestones on Tutorac

A milestone is the basic unit of payment on Tutorac — a chunk of scope with its own amount, schedule, and status. Understanding how milestones flow through their lifecycle is the key to using Tutorac confidently: when to release payment, when to wait, what each status indicator means, and how the numbers tie back to refunds if things go sideways.

What a milestone is

A milestone is one self-contained block of training with three things attached:

Scope — what the tutor will deliver (sessions, modules, deliverables).
Amount — how much you pay for that scope, in your account currency.
Status — where the milestone is in its lifecycle (more on this below).

You fund milestones one at a time (or all at once if you prefer). Money you fund goes into escrow with Tutorac — the tutor doesn’t receive it until you release it. That’s what makes refunds work even mid-training.

The milestone lifecycle

Every milestone moves through this flow:

Funded — you paid the milestone amount; Tutorac is holding it.
In progress — the tutor has started delivering the scope. Completion percentage starts moving up from 0%.
Completed — the tutor has finished the milestone’s scope (100% completion). The Release Payment button is now active.
Released — you clicked Release Payment. The amount (minus the tutor’s service fee) moves out of escrow to the tutor.

Two off-ramps can occur instead of Released:

Cancelled — you (or the tutor) cancelled the class. The refund is calculated using the active milestone’s completion percentage at the moment of cancellation. See how to cancel a hire or batch.
Refunded — the cancellation has been processed and the agreed portion of funds returned to your original payment method.

The status indicators

On the batch’s Payment tab, each milestone card shows three pieces of state. Read them together to know what’s going on:

Payment Status — Funded (in escrow), Released (paid to tutor), or Refunded (returned to you).
Milestone Status — Not started, In progress, Completed, or Cancelled.
Completion percentage — the progress bar on the card (0% → 100%).

Common combinations and what they mean:

Funded + Not started + 0% — tutor hasn’t started this milestone yet.
Funded + In progress + 40% — tutor is mid-way through; don’t release yet.
Funded + Completed + 100% — tutor finished; review and click Release Payment.
Released + Completed + 100% — you released; the tutor has been paid; milestone is closed.
Refunded + Cancelled + 0% — the class was cancelled at 0% completion and you got a full refund.

Completion percentage explained

The completion percentage isn’t something the tutor types in arbitrarily. It’s tied to the actual scope:

For session-based milestones (e.g., 10 sessions of 1 hr), each delivered session typically counts as 10%.
For deliverable-based milestones (e.g., 3 assignments), each delivered piece counts proportionally.
Sessions you missed (not the tutor) aren’t counted — the tutor was available, so they count as delivered for completion purposes.
Sessions the tutor missed (no-shows) don’t count toward completion either — see dormancy policy.

This number drives the cancellation refund bracket. If you’re uncertain, check the milestone activity log on the Payment tab to see what’s being counted.

Single vs multi-milestone batches

A single-milestone batch behaves like a fixed-price training — the whole engagement is one milestone, released at the end.
A multi-milestone batch splits the training into 2+ chunks. Only one milestone is active at a time; the next unlocks only after you release the previous (or it’s explicitly opened by the tutor for a parallel scope).

Multi-milestone is generally safer for longer engagements — you keep more leverage and refund flexibility throughout the training. For short trainings, single-milestone is fine and simpler.

FAQs

Can a tutor change a milestone’s scope after I’ve funded it?

Not unilaterally. Scope can only change with your agreement on Messages. If a tutor is pushing for scope changes without you agreeing, that’s worth raising with Support.

What if a milestone is taking longer than expected?

That’s normal — milestones have scope, not a strict deadline. As long as the work is happening, it’s fine. Long stretches with no progress (no sessions, no Messages reply) tip into dormancy — see that policy.

Can I see how much I’ve paid across all milestones in a batch?

Yes — the Payment tab shows a summary at the top of the batch with total funded, total released, total refunded, and the in-escrow balance.

Last updated: 29 May 2026