# Flow of funds

> How a payment run is funded, approved and paid out, where the money is at each step, and what happens when something goes wrong.

The money for a payment run moves from your bank to your organisation's own account with our regulated payment provider, then to your creators.

**How the money for a payment run moves**

Payment run (prepared) → \[Approval needed] → A person approves: Approve run (in StrideHQ) → Your bank (you send the transfer) → Your organisation's account (with our payment provider) → \[Release needed] → A person releases: Release payouts (emailed code) → Creator's bank account

## The steps

1. **A run is prepared** (`pending_approval`). From approved invoices, by your team, the StrideHQ Agent, an AI client or the API. No money moves.
2. **A person approves the run** (`awaiting_funds`), by default ([Permissions and approvals](https://developers.stridehq.ai/mcp-server/permissions-and-approvals.md)). Someone with approval permission reviews it in StrideHQ. The run gets its reference, for example `PR-ABC-26-017`. No money moves.
3. **You fund the run** (`funded`). Send a bank transfer for the run's total from your business bank account to your organisation's account details, shown in StrideHQ on the **In progress** tab of Payment runs. Use the run's reference as the payment reference. The run is funded once the full amount arrives. A run that isn't funded within 7 days of approval expires.
4. **A person releases the payouts** (`paying`), by default ([Permissions and approvals](https://developers.stridehq.ai/mcp-server/permissions-and-approvals.md)). They confirm with a code sent to their email.
5. **Creators are paid** (`completed`). Each payment is converted where needed and sent to the creator's bank account in their currency. Each one shows as paid or failed, with a reason. If some payments fail, the run is `partially_completed`; if they all fail, `failed`.

## Where the money is

| Step                     | Where the money is                                    |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Prepared and approved    | Your bank account                                     |
| Funded, not yet released | Your organisation's account with our payment provider |
| Paid                     | The creator's bank account                            |

## If you send too little

If less than the run's total arrives, the run shows as `partially_funded` and nothing is paid. StrideHQ shows the amount outstanding. Send the difference with the same reference; the payments add up, and the run is funded once the total has arrived.

A run can also be short if the exchange rate moved before the money arrived. You top it up the same way.

Partially funded runs don't expire.

If you send too much, the run is funded and the extra shows as an overpayment on your statement. To have it returned to your bank account, contact [support](https://developers.stridehq.ai/support.md).

## Brands and agencies

The money moves the same way whatever kind of organisation you are. The organisation that pays funds the run, from its own bank account to its own account with our payment provider.

| Who pays                         | Who funds the run | Whose account the money moves through | Who is paid                        |
| -------------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| A brand paying creators directly | The brand         | The brand's account                   | Each creator                       |
| An agency paying its talent      | The agency        | The agency's account                  | Each creator the agency represents |

When a talent agency invoices you for its talent's work, the agency is the payee. Your run pays the agency's bank account, not the creator's, and the remittance names the agency. The agency then pays its talent itself.

## Fees

Fees are added to the amount to fund. They're never taken from creators' payments, so each creator is paid the full amount due.

The amount to fund is:

- **The payments** in the run.
- **The transaction fee:** StrideHQ's fee, a percentage of the run. You can see your percentage when you create a payment run from **Due for payment** ("including the 2.50% fee"), and on your monthly statement in **Settings > Billing**. Through the API, it's `fee_rate` on your organisation. The transaction fee is separate from your monthly platform fee.
- **The international payment fee:** a fixed charge for each payment that goes by SWIFT, passed on at cost. Payments on local routes don't have one.

The run shows every fee before you approve it.

## When a payment fails

- **It fails when it's sent**, for example because the bank details are wrong. The payment shows as failed, with the reason, and its money stays in your organisation's account.
- **It's returned after it was sent.** A creator's bank can return a payment days later, even after it showed as paid. The payment changes to failed, the money goes back into your organisation's account, and the run's status updates.

Failed payments stay in their run. Once the details are fixed, use **Retry failed payments** on the run. It needs a code sent to your email, and pays the creator's current bank details. If the exchange rate has moved, you may be asked to top up first, with the same reference.

If a failed payment is never retried, its money stays in your organisation's account. Nothing happens to it automatically. To have it returned to your bank account, contact [support](https://developers.stridehq.ai/support.md).

## How long it takes

- **Funds arriving:** a run shows as funded once your transfer reaches your organisation's account.
- **Payouts:** UK payments usually arrive within hours. International payments can take longer.
- **Exchange rates:** once a run is funded, its exchange rates are held for 24 hours.