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How a transaction works

Six stages. Nothing happens between them that the record does not show.

The practical case is simple: a client engages a service provider, funds the work, the provider delivers, the client accepts, and the funds are released. Dhira Pay makes each of those words precise.

  1. Stage 1

    Structure

    State: Draft

    The paying side
    Either side sets out the parties, the terms, the milestones, the evidence each one needs and the criteria it will be accepted against.
    The delivering side
    Nothing is shared until the draft is sent.
    What the record holds
    A draft that belongs to the initiating organization.

  2. Stage 2

    Agree

    State: Awaiting agreement

    The paying side
    The initiator sends the terms. Sending fixes their content.
    The delivering side
    Each other party accepts or declines exactly that content, through a person authorised to bind the business.
    What the record holds
    A fingerprint of the terms, and who accepted it for each party and when.

  3. Stage 3

    Fund

    State: Awaiting funding

    The paying side
    The payer requests payment details and pays through the financial provider.
    The delivering side
    The payee waits. Work does not start on a promise.
    What the record holds
    Provider events: initiated, received, safeguarded. Only safeguarded funds activate the transaction.

  4. Stage 4

    Perform

    State: Active

    The paying side
    The payer can follow progress and evidence as it is submitted.
    The delivering side
    The payee starts each funded milestone, delivers and records evidence against the agreed requirements.
    What the record holds
    Evidence with its author, its time and the state the transaction was in.

  5. Stage 5

    Accept

    State: Awaiting acceptance

    The paying side
    The payer assesses every agreed criterion and accepts, or returns the work with reasons.
    The delivering side
    The payee revises and resubmits if changes are requested.
    What the record holds
    A decision, attributed to a person, with the result against each criterion.

  6. Stage 6

    Settle

    State: Released, then completed

    The paying side
    Where the agreement requires it, a finance approver approves the release.
    The delivering side
    The payee is paid by the provider, not by a button.
    What the record holds
    A release instruction, the provider acknowledgement and the settlement confirmation.

States, not screens

Every state is declared, and so is every way out of it.

These are the actual states of a transaction and of a milestone in the product. A transition that is not declared cannot happen, in the interface, through the API or in the database.

Transaction

  • Draft
  • Awaiting agreement
  • Awaiting funding
  • Active
  • In dispute
  • Completed
  • Cancelled

Milestone

  • Not started
  • In progress
  • Awaiting acceptance
  • Changes requested
  • Accepted
  • Release in progress
  • Released
  • In dispute
  • Cancelled

Vocabulary

Twelve terms, each meaning one thing.

Transaction
A commercial agreement expressed as structure: parties, terms, obligations, conditions and a formal lifecycle. Payment is one controlled part of it.
Party
An organization with a position in the transaction: payer, payee, intermediary, adjudicator or observer. People act for a party through a role.
Agreement
The terms the parties accepted, fixed by a fingerprint so that a later change is detectable.
Milestone
One obligation with its own amount, due date, deliverables, evidence requirements and acceptance criteria.
Condition
A single checkable requirement for release: funds safeguarded, evidence provided, acceptance granted, no open dispute.
Evidence
A document, link or statement tied to the milestone, requirement or dispute it supports. Never edited, only superseded.
Acceptance
The payer's recorded decision that a milestone meets its agreed criteria.
Release
The instruction to pay a payee, created only when every condition holds and approved on a recorded authority.
Settlement
The provider's confirmation that the payee was actually paid.
Dispute
A formal state that holds a milestone and its funds until an authorised decision is recorded.
Decision
A first class record of who decided, on what authority, with what outcome and why.
Audit trail
The hash linked, append only history from which the current state of a transaction follows.

Walk through it in the sandbox