--- title: "Collecting payment for additional agency work" canonical: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/collecting-additional-agency-work/ lang: en alternate: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/prestations-supplementaires-accord-relance.md alternates: fr: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/prestations-supplementaires-accord-relance.md en: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/collecting-additional-agency-work.md es: https://www.billabex.com/es/blog/prestaciones-adicionales-obtener-acuerdo-util-antes-de-reclamar.md updated: 2026-11-08 index: https://www.billabex.com/llms.txt --- # Collecting payment for additional agency work “Could you also adapt the campaign into six formats?” The agency agrees to meet the launch date and sends the additional quote after delivery. When finance follows up, the customer says those adaptations were included in the fixed fee. A firmer reminder will not settle the disagreement. The agency must establish what was requested, what the original scope included and what the parties agreed financially. This is common territory for creative services: a correction, an adaptation and a new deliverable may look similar on a production board while carrying different commercial consequences. A useful record makes the disagreement specific enough for an authorised person to decide. It does not treat every customer request as chargeable, and it does not abandon a valid fee merely because part of the discussion was informal. This article addresses French business contracts and keeps that legal scope explicit. ## Classify the work before counting the hours Return to the original scope before adding up time entries. Correcting an agency error, making a revision included in the fee and responding to a new customer requirement are different situations. Time spent helps explain the work involved. On its own, however, it does not establish that the additional work was ordered at the price now being requested. The AACC industry guide distinguishes the scope of a fixed-fee assignment from later development work that can be quoted separately. This October 2014 document is used here to structure the operational review, not to impose its contractual recommendations on a customer. [AACC, pages 10 and 22](https://www.aacc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Com-fin-digitale_relation-agence-annonceur-1.pdf). Prepare a short comparison showing the original request, the new request and the observable difference. “The campaign became more complicated” does not give the customer much to assess. “An English version and four formats absent from the accepted quote were added” can be checked against documents. Attach the relevant brief versions rather than every project task. A list of delivered files does not explain where the additional scope begins unless it is compared with the original order. ## Separate approval of the work from approval of its price A customer may approve an idea, request execution and discuss the budget at three different moments. Enthusiasm about a mock-up can establish creative approval without confirming an additional fee. Similarly, the customer's project coordinator may organise production without holding authority to authorise further expenditure. Treating all those responses as the same kind of approval creates avoidable uncertainty. The French Civil Code provides that contracts are modified by mutual consent, apart from circumstances authorised by law. That is a starting point for reviewing the record, not an automatic conclusion about the meaning of any particular email. [Civil Code, Article 1193](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006070721/LEGISCTA000032009282). Record agreement on the additional work, agreement on the price or pricing method, and confirmation by the appropriate person separately. If something is missing, say so. “Additional price awaiting confirmation” is more useful than an “approved” status that means different things to different teams. It also prevents an automated workflow from turning an internal commercial assumption into a confident claim sent to the customer. ## A calculation that keeps the disagreement contained Consider this **illustrative negotiation**, which is not a customer case study. The original agreement is worth EUR 8,000 excluding VAT, of which EUR 4,000 has been paid. The agency performs additional work valued at EUR 1,200 excluding VAT. It then issues an invoice for EUR 5,200 excluding VAT, combining the original EUR 4,000 balance with the addition. The customer acknowledges the original balance but disputes agreeing to the extra price. The immediate job is not to request EUR 5,200 more frequently. It is to establish whether the acknowledged amount is due and can be addressed separately under the agreement and circumstances. If it can, the conversation may separate payment of the acknowledged EUR 4,000 from the commercial decision about EUR 1,200. Any necessary invoice correction still belongs in the accounting process. | Illustrative component | What needs to be established | Internal owner | | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | | Original balance: EUR 4,000 excluding VAT | Agreed work, performance, due date and absence of payment | Finance and project lead | | Additional work: EUR 1,200 excluding VAT | Scope difference, price agreement and appropriate approval | Commercial owner | | Issued invoice: EUR 5,200 excluding VAT | Original document and any documented correction | Finance | The example uses amounts excluding VAT to make the composition visible. An actual payment request must use the invoiced totals and recorded movements. A disagreement about the addition should not automatically produce a percentage discount on the entire project. That would conceal both the cost of the compromise and the reason it was offered. ## Present a chronology that supports a decision Retain the dates of the request, estimate, response and delivery. Connect each event to its original document and author. Preserve the customer's reservations too: removing them would erase the context explaining the refusal to pay. A concise extract is useful only if an authorised reviewer can return to the complete correspondence when required. Article 1353 of the French Civil Code places the burden of proving an obligation on the person seeking its performance. That explains why an invoice and timesheet do not remove the need to examine the order. The legal weight of the available evidence may require qualified advice if the disagreement persists. [Civil Code, Article 1353](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000032042341). Ask the commercial owner to state the agency's position: maintain the request with supporting evidence, propose a compromise, or acknowledge an error. Collections staff should not quietly decide that the extra work is free. Equally, they should not continue requesting the full amount after someone with the necessary authority has agreed a concession. The record must connect the decision to the balance used in subsequent correspondence. ## Ask a precise financial question A useful follow-up separates the agreed point from the unresolved one. In the example, it could explain that the original balance is acknowledged and that the disagreement concerns the additional formats, then ask who can review the supplementary proposal and attached exchanges. This gives the recipient a concrete action without asserting that they have already accepted the additional charge. Once the amount is agreed, document its invoicing and payment conditions. In the general French business-to-business case, the DGCCRF identifies an agreed maximum of **60 days net** after invoice issue, subject to exceptions and the separately regulated 45-days-end-of-month option. This benchmark does not justify backdating an agreement or erasing the payment period applying to the original balance. [DGCCRF guidance on payment periods](https://www.economie.gouv.fr/dgccrf/les-fiches-pratiques/delais-de-paiement-les-regles-connaitre). If instalments are accepted, document the [payment schedule](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/payment-schedule/) separately from the disagreement about price. Establishing how much is owed should come before treating an answer about when it might be paid as the basis for future reminders. A payment date attached to an unclear amount leaves the underlying problem unresolved. ## Move the price conversation earlier next time The lesson should change when the agency discusses the additional fee. A new request should receive a short response describing the added work, proposed price, effect on the schedule and approval required. If urgency leads to execution before the full agreement is established, the commercial owner should explicitly accept that risk. The exception must not be recorded as an approval that never happened. Connect an accepted addition to its own financial event. The article on [agency milestones and invoices](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/agency-project-milestones-invoice-collections/) explains that connection without mixing production progress with amounts to collect. The existing [invoice follow-up guidance](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/tips-for-following-up-on-unpaid-invoices/) helps with tone and clarity once the underlying record has been established. Automation can continue a conversation, identify a dispute and bring a decision to the right person. It cannot create a missing commercial agreement. Explore [Billabex follow-ups and conversations](https://www.billabex.com/en/product/follow-ups-conversations/) to delegate the ongoing dialogue while keeping concessions and scope disagreements with the people authorised to resolve them.