Invoice preparation to financial reconciliation

Step by step

1. Prepare and release invoice Accounts

   Accounts or PM runs the period invoice workflow. T&M Invoices accumulate approved billable time entries and expense items in the period. Milestone Invoices fire on project phase status = Complete and an approved client approval for the phase’s milestone amount. Fixed-fee Invoices follow the contract billing schedule (e.g. 30 / 30 / 40) independent of time. Retainer billing policies draw down a retainer pool against logged hours or flat monthly fees. Draft Invoices route through PM review → Accounts → client send (Draft → pending approval → Sent). AR handles cash application through the accounting GL integration; amount paid rolls up.

   • Release only independently reviewed source allocations
   • Updates Invoices, Invoice line items, Billing schedules, Retainer accounts
   ApprovalA person approves before the work moves on.

2. Reconcile recognition Accounts

   At month-end, prepare a recognition proposal using the approved method and contract allocation. Calculate cumulative earned consideration first. For percent complete, use the approved actual hours divided by a positive approved estimate at completion, capped at the allocated contract value. The current-period movement is cumulative earned consideration minus prior confirmed net posted recognition. Compare cumulative earned consideration with cumulative issued billing net of approved credits to calculate unbilled and deferred balances. Submit only the independently reviewed movement and retain the accounting acknowledgment before marking it Posted. For example, a 100,000 contract moving from 20% to 35% complete earns 35,000 cumulatively; after 20,000 was previously recognized, this period adds 15,000. With 50,000 cumulatively billed, deferred revenue is 15,000. Draft invoices contribute nothing to that billed balance.

   • Record configured recognition and observed accounting outcomes
   • Updates Revenue recognition, Billing policies

3. Review delivery economics Services Leader / COO

   Every role sees a scope-appropriate home-page dashboard. Services Leader watches Portfolio Health Scorecard, Utilization & Bench, Project Profitability, and Revenue Backlog. Practice Leads watch their practice slice. Resource Managers watch Bench Report, Open Resource Requests, and Utilization by Person. PMs watch own-project health, burn, and approvals queues. Consultants see My Timesheets, My Projects, assigned tasks. Clients see own-project status reports, pending approvals, and invoices.

   • Report period, currency and scope consistently
   • Updates Projects, Revenue recognition

Accounts

Finance operator who reviews invoices, reconciles collection outcomes and releases approved recognition journals.

Project Manager

Runs one or more engagements end-to-end. Owns project plan, staffing requests, approvals, client status, change orders, and invoicing prep.

Services Leader / COO

Runs the services business. Owns portfolio margin, utilization, revenue backlog, and delivery health. Approves largest-tier change orders and subcontractor POs.