Milestones and billing

A milestone belongs to an engagement and carries a name, due date, amount, deliverable summary and owner. Its state moves through Pending, Submitted, Approved and Invoiced, with Paid and Missed also available for follow-up. A milestone payments record carries the invoice number, amount, due date, paid date, method and collection status. Keeping these records linked lets Finance Manager see what was approved for billing, what was invoiced and what was received.

The milestone-invoice workflow starts with an Approved milestone. It checks that the milestone has an amount and an engagement. If both are present, it moves the milestone to Invoiced and writes an operation receipt for the invoice action. If either is absent, the milestone remains Approved and the operation receipt records Failed. That result is an exception for the team to resolve before billing proceeds.

• Delivery checkpoint. Engagement Manager records the deliverable and due date against the engagement.
• Approval. Delivery Director reviews the submitted milestone and decides whether it is Approved for billing.
• Collection. Finance Manager follows invoice and payment records through Received, Overdue or Disputed status.

Agree what evidence supports a submitted milestone and who may decide it is approved. Confirm whether the amount matches the commercial commitment in the engagement. Set a convention for invoice numbers and payment references so a milestone payment can be compared with the external billing and bank sources. Compare the invoice action receipt with the invoice record in the billing system your team uses.

Decide how the team will treat partial collections. The payment record has an amount, received amount, due and paid dates, while the milestone has payments received and amount outstanding. Finance Manager should reconcile those values before moving a milestone to Paid. A Disputed payment needs a visible owner and follow-up, while an Overdue payment needs its due date checked against the client’s billing terms.

A design package is submitted as a milestone on an Active engagement. Delivery Director checks the deliverable summary, engagement and amount, then marks it Approved. The invoice workflow advances it to Invoiced and records its result. Finance Manager creates or checks the related payment entry with its invoice number and due date. When the collection is confirmed, Finance Manager marks the payment Received. The payment-receipt workflow records a Payment Record operation receipt.

Now try an approved milestone with no amount. The invoice workflow leaves it Approved and writes a Failed receipt. It appears in Milestones Ready To Invoice until the amount is corrected and the action succeeds. Do not use an invoice number alone as proof of collection; follow the payment state and paid date.

• Milestones Ready To Invoice — Approved deliverables awaiting a valid invoice action.
• Milestone Billing Exceptions — Approved or missed milestones needing commercial follow-up.
• Payments Overdue Or Disputed — Collection records that need Finance Manager attention.

Trace milestone invoicing and follow the payment.