Hold the work until the deposit clears
A deposit invoice can withhold deliverable files at the point the download link is minted, so the hold is real rather than a polite request.
Walkthrough · 4 min read
The most expensive habit in freelancing is handing work over before the deposit arrives, because the deliverable is usually the entire value of the engagement. Once a client has the audit, the deck or the files, the deposit becomes a favour you are asking for. Stria lets the deposit hold the work instead of you having to insist.
- Create the deposit invoice and mark it as gating kickoff.
- Send it. The project sits in an awaiting-deposit state and the client sees the invoice and a pay button in their portal.
- When the payment clears, the gate releases automatically and the files become downloadable.
The hold is enforced at the point the signed download link is created, not in the page that lists the files. That distinction is the whole reliability argument: hiding files from a list would leave the underlying link working for anyone who had already seen it. The path is also derived from the database rather than from the request, so a client holding a review link cannot ask Stria to sign a different file.
The check fails closed. A timeout, a permission error or any answer Stria cannot interpret withholds the file rather than releasing it. Partial payment does not open the gate either — a token payment against a large deposit leaves it shut, which is the behaviour you would expect and the reason the rule is written once and shared by every screen that asks the question.
Note: Waiving a deposit is a normal commercial decision, so there is an override. It asks for a written reason, records who used it, and shows up in your own boundary summary — a gate with no way out is a trap rather than a control.
A deliverable that is not attached to a project is covered too, held against that client’s unpaid deposit instead of a project kickoff. Project files answer only to their own project, because two overlapping authorities would make "why is this file locked" unanswerable.
Open the money hub — in your Stria workspace.