Milestones and payments

A milestones record identifies the engagement, owner, due date, amount and deliverable summary. Its status moves through delivery and billing states. The Engagement Manager reviews the deliverable and marks the milestone Approved when the client work is ready for billing. Finance Manager can then run the milestone invoice operation. It checks for an amount and an engagement before moving the milestone to Invoiced. The operation leaves a receipt showing success or failure, so an exception can be traced to the exact billing attempt.

milestone payments carries the invoice number, amount, due date, method, paid date and status. A payment marked Received triggers a Payment Record operation receipt. The milestone’s payments received and outstanding amount support collection review. A due payment can be marked Overdue or Disputed and stay visible in the exception list.

• Delivery promise. Record the milestone name, owner, amount, due date, engagement and deliverable summary.
• Invoice decision. Review Approved milestones before using the invoice operation and inspect its result receipt.
• Collection. Keep payment amount, invoice number, due date and received status on the related milestone payment.

Agree who has authority to mark a milestone Approved and what evidence the manager checks first. Set an invoice numbering and due date convention for the finance team. Decide how a collection is confirmed before its payment record is marked Received. The status entered here is part of the operating record; the team should reconcile it with its banking or accounting source when closing a period.

A consulting engagement has a milestone for delivery of a diagnostic report. The Engagement Manager checks the summary and attachment, confirms the amount, and marks the milestone Approved. Finance Manager runs invoice preparation, checks that the milestone became Invoiced, and reads the successful operation receipt. If an invoice attempt fails, inspect the receipt, correct the milestone and run the operation again.

When the client pays the invoice, Finance Manager records the payment as Received with its paid date and method. The Payment Record receipt and the milestone’s received amount provide a path from the promised deliverable to the recorded collection.

• Milestones Ready To Invoice — Review approved milestones with amounts and billing readiness.
• Milestone Billing Exceptions — Investigate approved or missed milestones requiring attention.
• Payments Overdue Or Disputed — Follow due dates and disputed collections.

See milestone billing and margin review.