Yes. You can say a fee is on offer when you post a request, and a firm can accept subject to a fee being agreed. Acquit carries the signal only: it never holds an amount, never issues an invoice, and never moves money. Whatever the fee is, and how it gets paid, is between the two firms.
Offering a fee on a request
In the request drawer, click the No fee offered chip to turn it into Fee offered. An optional note appears. Use it to say what you have in mind, for example “happy to pay your usual agency rate”. The request shows a Fee offered badge in the marketplace.
Accepting subject to a fee
On a pending request you can use Accept — subject to fee instead of the plain Accept. You take the appearance either way: the cover is real from that moment, because a matter left uncovered while a fee is negotiated helps nobody. The requesting firm is notified that a fee needs agreeing, and the request shows Subject to fee.
Agreeing it
The requesting firm sees an Agree the fee button on the request. Clicking it marks the request Fee agreed and notifies the agent. That’s a record that the conversation happened, not a payment.
Only seeing paid work
If your firm covers on a paid basis only, open Preferences from the Town Agencies sidebar and switch on Only show requests offering a fee under Default Filters. That narrows the marketplace. Requests you made or accepted are never hidden by it.
Tip: Most cover on Acquit is still reciprocal, and leaving the fee chip alone posts an ordinary request, with no expectation either way.