--- title: "Milestone-based freelance work: who confirms acceptance before invoicing?" canonical: https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/freelance-milestones-acceptance-invoicing/ lang: en alternate: https://www.billabex.com/fr/blog/freelance-jalons-reception-facture.md updated: 2026-10-16 index: https://www.billabex.com/llms.txt --- # Milestone-based freelance work: who confirms acceptance before invoicing? The deliverable has been sent, the business contact says “looks fine to me”, and accounts payable then requests the project owner's approval before processing the invoice. The freelancer discovers that three people are discussing three different things: receipt of the file, conformity of the work and internal payment authorisation. For a milestone-based assignment, clarify that route while preparing the milestone. It helps obtain a precise response about the work supplied and assemble useful invoicing evidence. It does not create a right to delay issuing an invoice indefinitely while waiting for an internal sign-off. Applicable invoicing requirements and contractual commitments remain separate from the customer's administrative workflow. The legal references in this article concern French B2B work. For assignments governed elsewhere in Europe, keep the organisational distinctions while checking the applicable national rules. ## Name the decision required at each milestone A useful milestone corresponds to an identifiable result. “Progress on the assignment” leaves too much room for interpretation. “Delivery of the five screens defined in the approved scope, including their agreed variants” establishes what needs examination. Delivery date, submitted version and agreed criteria then provide a basis for the response. The European Commission's PM² artefacts include a deliverables acceptance plan. It separates criteria, verification activities and the acceptance decision. Its acceptance note also distinguishes the person verifying from the person accepting. This is a project-management reference, not a legal requirement imposed on freelancers. [PM² 3.1 acceptance plan, PDF pages 84–90](https://pm2.europa.eu/document/download/8e06613a-5a57-4424-b7ab-c8a92e36cb80_en?filename=PM2-Project-Artefacts-v3.1.v1.pdf). For a small assignment, a few lines may suffice. Identify the deliverable, how it will be checked, who performs that check and who may confirm acceptance for the customer. Also identify where accounts payable needs the supporting information. One person may hold several roles, but establish that rather than assuming it. This preparation is most useful before the delivery meeting. Asking who can accept the work after everyone has left often turns a completed review into another round of introductions. ## Do not turn verification progress into a payable percentage Consider a fictional interface-design assignment worth €12,000 excluding VAT, divided into three distinct services in the contract: €3,000 for discovery, €5,000 for design and €4,000 for final delivery. These figures describe the simulation. They are neither pricing guidance nor a universal invoicing timetable. The design milestone covers five screens and ten agreed criteria. On 16 October, all five screens are delivered. Nine criteria have been checked; the tenth awaits the person responsible for accessibility. A user confirms that the files open correctly. That response records a useful observation without answering every acceptance question. Nine of ten criteria means 90% of the expected checks are complete. It does not automatically mean that 90% of €5,000, or €4,500, has been accepted or is immediately payable. Criteria do not necessarily carry equal weight, and this example's contract does not value the work in proportion to the number of checks completed. The question for the customer concerns the outstanding verification and who may decide its consequences. A missing screen, a defect requiring correction and a check that simply has not happened are different situations. Labelling all three “rejected” creates ambiguity that can later enter payment reminders. ## Separate an included correction from a new request During the review, the customer asks for three additional screens. Compare that request with the existing scope. If the screens were included, their absence represents work still to perform. If they introduce a new requirement, assess price and timing as a separate proposal without rewriting the original milestone retrospectively. In our simulation, the freelancer prices that potential addition at €1,800 excluding VAT. The budget would rise from €12,000 to €13,800 only if the addition were accepted. Adding €1,800 directly to the design invoice and asking accounts payable to regularise it afterwards would create an avoidable disagreement. Keep the request, the response about its scope and the actual decision. Do not invent agreement merely because the customer viewed a mock-up. Handling [one disputed invoice line](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/disputed-invoice-line-partial-payment/) becomes easier when agreed delivery and additional work were distinguished before invoicing. The same discipline protects the customer. A correction needed to meet an existing criterion should not be recast as an extra solely because the delivery date has passed. ## Do not let internal approval become an unlimited delay French Commercial Code article L441-9 requires invoice delivery when the goods or services are supplied, within its referenced framework. Service Public explains the principle and permitted deferrals. Missing internal sign-off is therefore not, by itself, general permission to wait. [Commercial Code L441-9](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000038414397), [Service Public invoicing guidance](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F23208). Article L441-10 III also regulates verification procedures: a general 30-day limit and no automatic postponement of maximum payment terms, subject to the express, non-abusive contractual exceptions in the text. This is a French legal framework, not a recommendation to take thirty days to answer a freelancer. [Commercial Code L441-10 III](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/article_lc/LEGIARTI000038414392). Where a contract links a milestone to a particular acceptance procedure, check how that provision relates to the work actually completed and the invoicing rules. If there is disagreement, assemble the case and have the issue examined. Do not let a software status silently determine the invoice date. Good organisation obtains the relevant information sooner; it does not replace assessment of what that information establishes. ## Send a request the recipient can resolve A useful request identifies the accepted quotation or contract, the milestone, the submitted version and the decision required. It also states known reservations. The recipient should be able to confirm, request a specific correction or identify the authorised person without guessing what “please approve” means. For our example, the message might read: “The five screens for the design milestone are available in the version delivered on 16 October. The accessibility criterion still requires verification. Could you confirm who performs that check and who records the milestone decision? The request for three additional screens is being handled separately.” Retain the response with the case documents. Approval inside a project messaging tool, unknown to accounts payable, resolves only part of the route. If a contact changes, the method for [finding the payment route after an employee leaves](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/accounts-payable-contact-left-payment-route/) helps transfer context without making the freelancer repeat every previous step. ## Carry the facts into payment follow-up When the invoice enters collections, distinguish work delivered, decisions obtained, unresolved reservations and expected payment. Evidence should answer a specific blockage. It does not justify sending every recipient the entire working folder, internal comments or project access credentials. If the exchange concerns conformity, identify who answers the substantive question. If conformity is confirmed but invoice processing remains incomplete, identify the accounts-payable action. Clear responsibilities for an [invoice dispute](https://www.billabex.com/en/blog/invoice-dispute-decision-owner/) prevent repeated identical reminders to people who cannot decide. [Billabex's customer view 360](https://www.billabex.com/en/product/customer-view-360/) provides a way to explore keeping relevant exchanges in the follow-up context. Bring a milestone with a specific reservation and approval scattered between two contacts to a demonstration. Check whether the team can understand the next step without presenting file receipt as payment already authorised. ## Sources - European Commission, PM² 3.1 artefacts, file published 9 December 2025, deliverables acceptance plan. - French Commercial Code, articles L441-9 and L441-10 III, versions applicable to October 2026 publication. - Service Public Entreprendre, invoicing guidance verified 7 August 2026. Sources consulted on 7 September 2026.