Question 1

What is Ingenium?

Accepted Answer

Ingenium is a marketplace where clients hire freelance engineers. Clients post jobs, freelancers send proposals, clients send offers, and an accepted offer becomes a contract. Work is paid one of two ways: fixed-price milestones, or tracked hours invoiced weekly. All money moves through Stripe. The platform covers ten engineering disciplines: software, systems, robotics, data, electrical, electronics, controls, mechanical, industrial and civil engineering. Ingenium is operated by Ingenium Engineering Inc, registered in Texas, United States.

Question 2

Do I need separate accounts to hire and to work?

Accepted Answer

No. One account can be both. You add a client profile, a freelancer profile, or both, and switch sides from the account menu. Switching to a side you have not set up yet takes you through creating that profile first. Your work history, messages and login stay the same across both.

Question 3

How do I sign up?

Accepted Answer

Create an account with your name, email address and a password, on the website or in the app. Ingenium emails you a six-digit code — enter it to verify your email. You then choose whether you want to hire or find work, and are taken through building that profile. Your password must be 8 to 32 characters and contain an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number and a special character. You must be at least 18 to use Ingenium.

Question 4

Why can't I log in after signing up?

Accepted Answer

You have to verify your email address first. The six-digit code is valid for five minutes, and you can request a new one after 60 seconds. If your code has expired, ask for a new one rather than re-entering the old one.

Question 5

Is it free to join?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Creating an account, building a profile, posting a job, browsing work and sending proposals are all free. Ingenium only charges when money moves between a client and a freelancer — see *What fees does Ingenium charge?* There is no subscription, no membership tier and nothing to buy up front.

Question 6

What do I have to complete on my freelancer profile before I can work?

Accepted Answer

All of it. Your profile must be complete before you can send a proposal or accept an offer, and before you appear in client searches. Required: your name and a verified email, job title, experience level, phone number, profile photo, full address (country, state, city, street address and postal code), resume, job history, education, languages and proficiency, skills, an "about" section, hourly rate, job type, work schedule days and work schedule shifts. Optional, and they will not block you: certificates, immediate availability, and driving licence images. Your profile shows a completion percentage and lists exactly what is still missing.

Question 7

What does a client need before hiring anyone?

Accepted Answer

A client profile and a saved payment method. Ingenium blocks you from sending an offer until a card has been added and confirmed by Stripe. If you later remove your only saved card, you will need to add one again before your next offer.

Question 8

Can I message someone before there is a contract?

Accepted Answer

It depends which side you are on. A client can start a conversation with any freelancer at any time — from their profile, from a job, from a proposal, or while sending an offer. A freelancer cannot message a client first. The conversation has to be opened by the client, in one of three ways: They invite you to a job. They send you a message. They send you an offer. Applying to a job is not one of them. Sending a proposal lets the client message you; it does not let you message them. On both sides, both accounts have to be active, and blocked users cannot message each other.

Question 9

What's the difference between a fixed-price job and an hourly job?

Accepted Answer

Fixed price means you agree a total and break it into milestones. You fund each milestone before the work on it, and the money is released when you accept that milestone's work. Hourly means the freelancer logs time against tasks and is invoiced once a week at the agreed hourly rate. Fixed price suits work with defined deliverables. Hourly suits open-ended or ongoing work where the scope will move. You choose when you post the job, and it cannot be changed to the other type afterwards.

Question 10

Can I invite a specific freelancer to my job?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can invite a freelancer from your job or from their profile, and they get an email about it. Only the client who owns the job can send invites, and you cannot invite yourself. An invite does not create an offer — the freelancer still applies, or you send them an offer directly.

Question 11

What happens when a freelancer accepts my offer?

Accepted Answer

The contract starts immediately, and their proposal for that job is cleared. On a fixed-price contract, the first milestone is invoiced to you straight away, so you can fund it and the freelancer can start. On an hourly contract, the freelancer can begin logging time right away, and the first weekly invoice reaches you at the end of that week. Both of you can now use the contract's work diary, tasks and comments.

Question 12

How do milestones work?

Accepted Answer

A milestone moves through five stages: 1. Pending — created, not yet funded. 2. Paid — you have paid the milestone invoice. The money is held, not yet with the freelancer. 3. Completed — the freelancer has marked the work done and is waiting on you. 4. Accepted — you have approved it. The money is released, and the next milestone is invoiced to you. 5. Rejected — you have sent the work back for changes. You can add further milestones to a live contract. A new milestone has to start after the existing milestones' due dates, and it increases the contract total.

Question 13

When am I actually charged for a milestone?

Accepted Answer

When you pay the milestone invoice. Fixed-price milestone invoices are never charged automatically — you pay each one yourself through Stripe Checkout. The money sits with Stripe from the moment you pay until the milestone is accepted, at which point it is released to the freelancer.

Question 14

How do tracked hours and the work diary work?

Accepted Answer

On hourly contracts, the freelancer logs time against tasks on the contract. Both of you see the same work diary: the tasks, who is assigned to each, and the time tracked per day and per week, with a running total. Time is entered manually by the freelancer. Ingenium does not take screenshots, track keystrokes or monitor anyone's computer. A freelancer can edit or delete a time entry right up until it has been pulled into an invoice. After that it is locked. Offers set a weekly hours limit, and the apps stop a freelancer logging time past it. The diary separately flags anything over 40 hours in a week as overtime. You can add tasks and comments to the diary yourself — it is a shared workspace, not a report the freelancer files.

Question 15

How do I end a contract?

Accepted Answer

Either side can end a contract, and both are asked for a reason. What happens next depends on the type: Fixed price, ended by you: any milestone you have funded but not yet accepted is accepted on your behalf and released to the freelancer immediately. Milestone invoices you never paid are cancelled and cannot be paid afterwards. Fixed price, ended by the freelancer: they cannot end it while a milestone is funded and waiting on your approval, or while one is rejected. Hourly, ended by you: any tracked time not yet invoiced is turned into one final invoice. Ending a contract cannot be undone. The end-contract dialog spells out exactly what money will move before you confirm. Separately, a fixed-price contract whose milestones have all been accepted for more than 30 days is closed automatically.

Question 16

Can I close a job posting?

Accepted Answer

Yes — but not while there is an active contract on it. Close or end the contracts first.

Question 17

How do I find work?

Accepted Answer

Browse Explore. You can filter by skill, category, rate, experience level, project length and location, sort the results, and save jobs to your favourites to come back to. Clients can also invite you to a job directly, which arrives as an email and a notification.

Question 18

How do I apply for a job?

Accepted Answer

Open the job and apply. A proposal has three parts: your bid — a total for fixed-price work, or your hourly rate — a cover letter, and optionally a resume file. You can only send one proposal per job.

Question 19

What happens after I apply?

Accepted Answer

The client is notified by email, push and in-app. They can message you, or send you an offer. Your proposals are listed under Proposals, Accepted and Rejected so you can see where each one stands. You will not be able to apply again to the same job, or apply to a job where you already have an open offer or an active contract.

Question 20

What do I need to do before I can accept an offer?

Accepted Answer

Two things: a complete profile, and finished payment setup. Ingenium creates a Stripe account for you when you create your freelancer profile. You finish it in Settings → Payments, entering your identity and bank details directly with Stripe — Ingenium never sees them. Until Stripe confirms your details are submitted, accepting an offer is blocked. One thing worth knowing: submitting your details is enough to accept an offer and to be paid into your Stripe balance, but Stripe separately has to enable payouts before money can reach your bank. If Stripe is still reviewing you, your earnings sit safely in your balance and are paid out once it clears.

Question 21

Can I negotiate an offer?

Accepted Answer

Not inside the offer itself. You can accept it or reject it, and you can give a reason when you reject. Talk it through in messages first. If you agree on different terms, the client sends a new offer.

Question 22

How do I log my hours?

Accepted Answer

In the contract's work diary. Pick or create a task, then enter the time you spent on it. You can edit or delete an entry until it has been included in an invoice — after that it is locked. Log your time in the week you work it: the weekly invoice only picks up time from the previous seven days. If your contract has a weekly hours limit, the app will stop you logging past it.

Question 23

How do weekly invoices work?

Accepted Answer

Once a week — at the start of Monday, UTC — Ingenium creates a draft invoice for each active hourly contract, covering the unbilled time you logged in the previous seven days at your contract's hourly rate. You get a notification when the draft is ready. Review it, add any expenses, and send it to the client. It is a draft until you send it, and only you can delete a draft. If you end a contract with time still unbilled, that time is turned into a final invoice at the same moment.

Question 24

Can I claim expenses?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On a contract you can submit expenses — each one with a title, a date, an amount and a receipt image or PDF. They go to the client as their own invoice. There is no separate approval step: the client either pays the expense invoice or sends it back to you for changes. Expense invoices are not charged automatically, so the client has to pay them. ---

Question 25

How does payment actually work?

Accepted Answer

Client's card → Stripe → the freelancer's Stripe account → a payout to the freelancer's bank. Ingenium does not hold your money in its own account and does not store card numbers — Stripe handles both, and is PCI-DSS compliant. Clients pay by card. The published Terms list Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

Question 26

How does payment work on a fixed-price contract, step by step?

Accepted Answer

1. The client pays the first milestone invoice through Stripe Checkout. The money is held. 2. The freelancer does the work and marks the milestone complete. 3. The client accepts it. The money is released to the freelancer's Stripe balance, and the next milestone is invoiced to the client. 4. Ingenium pays it out to the freelancer's bank on the next payout run. If the client rejects instead of accepting, the work goes back to you for changes and your payment is put on hold until it is resolved. It is not cancelled — see *What happens if I reject a milestone?* If you and the client cannot agree, contact support@ingeniumpros.com and we will look at it.

Question 27

How do payouts reach my bank account?

Accepted Answer

Ingenium releases payouts once a day to the payout destination you set up in your Stripe details during onboarding. You manage that destination — and change it — inside the Stripe screens in Settings → Payments. If a payout fails because your Stripe balance has not settled yet, it is retried on the following day's run; nothing is lost.

Question 28

What currency is everything in?

Accepted Answer

US dollars. Clients are always charged in USD and invoices are always issued in USD. If your bank account is in a different currency, Stripe converts it at payout.

Question 29

What does "held in escrow" mean on a fixed-price job?

Accepted Answer

It means the client pays the milestone amount up front, and the money sits with Stripe until the milestone is accepted. The freelancer can see it is funded before they start; the client knows it will not be released until they approve the work. It is not a separate bank account, and Ingenium does not take custody of it. ---

Question 30

How do I block someone?

Accepted Answer

From Settings → Account → Blocked users, or from their profile. Blocking works both ways in effect. Once you block someone, neither of you can message the other, see each other's jobs or profiles, send a proposal, or send an offer. Existing conversations disappear from both sides. You can unblock at any time, and everything becomes visible again. You cannot block someone you have an active contract with — contact support instead.

Question 31

Can I pause my account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Settings → Account, choose Take a break and confirm with your password. While paused you are signed out everywhere, you disappear from search and the marketplace, and nobody can message you or send you an offer. Nothing is deleted. You cannot pause while you have an active contract or an invoice still needing action — settle or close those first. To come back, just log in with the same email and password and confirm. There is no limit on how long you can stay paused.

Question 32

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

In Settings → Account, choose Delete account. You confirm your password, then enter a six-digit code emailed to you — the code is valid for ten minutes and you get five attempts. Your account is then scheduled for deletion 14 days later, not immediately. As with pausing, open contracts and invoices that still need attention have to be settled or closed first.

Question 33

Can I change my mind after asking to delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Yes, during the 14 days. Log back in with the same email and password and confirm you want to cancel — everything is restored. Once the deletion has actually started running, it can no longer be cancelled.

Question 34

What happens to my active contracts if I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

Nothing, because you cannot reach deletion while a contract is active — that is one of the things you have to settle first. Payouts that are already scheduled still go through. If something becomes unsettled between your confirmation and the deletion date, the deletion pauses rather than proceeding, and Ingenium contacts you.

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