Who Says the Work Is Finished? Agree Acceptance Before You Start

Before starting a project for a business customer, agree what counts as completion, who will check it and how that connects to your invoice. A friendly relationship helps, but it does not replace a shared understanding of the finish line.

Imagine a small design business delivering a new set of sales materials. Its customer contact is pleased. The files have been sent. The team moves on to the next job.

Then the invoice comes back: accounts needs a purchase order, the contact has not recorded approval, and someone else wants another round of changes. The supplier thought the project was complete. The customer's internal process says something different.

This is a fictional example, but it illustrates a useful distinction. Delivering work, accepting work and processing an invoice are separate steps. When a business grows, those steps may involve different people. Your agreement should make the route between them understandable.

Start with something both sides can check

"A complete marketing package" sounds clear until two people explain what it means. One expects editable files, another expects print-ready artwork, and someone else assumes uploading the files is included.

Describe the actual deliverables and the standard they need to meet. Record the formats, quantities, agreed functions and any important dependencies. If the customer must provide content or access, explain how that affects the timetable.

This is not about writing a long document for its own sake. It is about giving the person checking the work a usable reference. A short, specific description is more useful than a broad promise that each side interprets differently.

Name the review process

Agree how the customer will receive the work and what happens next. Is there a demonstration, a testing period, a review meeting or written approval? Who gathers feedback, and through which channel?

For a project with several stages, consider a separate review point for each meaningful deliverable. That can help the customer make decisions while the project is still moving, rather than leaving every question until the end.

Any review period needs to fit the work and the customer's process. A deadline that nobody can realistically meet will not make the relationship easier. Nor should you assume that silence automatically counts as acceptance. If that is intended, it needs careful agreement and wording appropriate to the contract.

Identify who can approve

The person who gives day-to-day feedback may not be authorised to accept a deliverable, change the price or release an invoice. Ask about those roles early.

You need not collect a complicated organisation chart. Find the named contact for review, the person who can approve changes and the route to accounts. Ask what happens when someone is away or leaves the business.

A growing customer may have several stakeholders. It is usually easier to work with a single agreed feedback route than to receive separate instructions from everyone involved. Make sure that arrangement is actually understood on the customer's side.

Separate a defect from a new request

A customer saying "this isn't right" could mean the work fails to meet the agreed description. It could also mean a new preference has emerged, or the business now wants something different.

Those situations should not automatically be handled in the same way. Check the request against the agreed deliverables, record what is being raised and agree the next step. Avoid promising that every new idea will be included simply to get approval over the line.

Equally, do not treat every complaint as extra work. A fair process lets the customer identify a genuine problem and gives both sides a route to deal with it. For complex work, the distinction between acceptance, correction and continuing obligations deserves particular attention.

Connect the process to payment

Agree when an invoice can be raised and when payment is due. Do not leave the relationship between a milestone, approval and invoicing to assumption.

Ask whether the customer needs a purchase order number, a particular invoice description or submission through a payment portal. Find out which department receives invoices and which information makes them processable.

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner recommends identifying the invoice recipient, requesting purchase order details early and confirming the payment schedule. These are practical steps you can take before your first invoice reaches accounts.

For longer projects, staged payments may be worth discussing. Their timing, amount and conditions need to be agreed, rather than introduced after the work has started. A milestone should be clear enough for both sides to recognise when it has been reached.

Keep a short completion record

At each agreed stage, keep the delivery record, the customer's response and any agreed outstanding points together. If the customer approves one part while asking for changes elsewhere, record that distinction accurately.

Do not write "all approved" because a meeting felt positive. Use the actual approval and its scope. A simple record helps the project team, the customer and accounts understand what has happened without reconstructing a month of messages.

Make completion part of your growth process

Before your next project starts, ask: what are we delivering, who checks it, what happens if something needs attention, and how does the invoice reach the right person?

As your business takes on more work, keeping these steps consistent can make handovers easier. Ongoing legal support can help you keep agreements and working processes aligned as customers, services and responsibilities change.

Your Legal Team supports growing businesses with contracts and wider business arrangements. Contact us to discuss how your project terms and completion process work together.

This article provides general business information, not advice on a particular agreement. Consumer contracts and specialist sectors may require different treatment.