Define the start and finish
Create the project record from the accepted scope. Billing milestones and customer acceptance requirements should be visible before the team begins delivery.
Workflow record and acceptance checklist
| Record | Information required |
|---|---|
| Commercial baseline | Accepted scope, fee basis, exclusions, and billing milestones |
| Delivery plan | Work packages, owners, dependencies, and expected effort |
| Scope changes | Requests, estimates, approval evidence, and revised work |
| Completion evidence | Deliverable status and agreed acceptance record |
| Invoice readiness | Approved charges, billing contact, reference information, and open issues |
Run the workflow
- Project manager checks that the delivery plan matches the scope and billing structure.
- Team records actual effort and flags scope requests while there is time to resolve them.
- Project and finance owners reconcile completion, approved changes, and invoice prerequisites.
Worked example
Illustrative example: a client adds a workshop midway through a project. The delivery team records the request and obtains acceptance for the additional session. At closeout, finance can trace the approved addition to a delivered workshop and the invoice line.
Handle the exception explicitly
If acceptance or a billing prerequisite is missing, assign the item rather than labeling the project fully closed. Keep commercial disputes separate from administrative missing information.
Measures to review
Review unbilled approved work, time between milestone completion and invoice readiness, and quoted versus actual effort. Use a consistent margin definition with finance.
Pilot before standardizing
Test this workflow on a small set of real cases with the people who send and receive the work. Keep a record of missing information and decisions that were unclear. Assign one owner to revise the operating instructions, then review the next completed case against the revised version.
Related implementation resources
Discuss the operating problem
Elixir consulting starts at $5,000 per month, with final pricing based on scope. Bring a recent example, the current workflow, and the person who owns the result to define the appropriate implementation scope.