Glossary · Invoices and billing
Progress billing
Also called Milestone billing, Stage payments
Progress billing means invoicing a project in stages as work is completed, instead of one invoice at the end.
In progress billing, a project fee is split into instalments tied to milestones (design approved, phase one delivered) or to a percentage of completion. Each stage is invoiced when it is reached.
For service firms it is one of the most effective collection tools there is, because it limits exposure. If a client stops paying at stage two, you are owed one stage rather than the whole project, and you can pause before more unpaid hours pile up.
Make the stages, and the evidence that each is reached, explicit in the contract. Arguments over whether a milestone was met are the main way progress invoices end up overdue.
Example
A €60,000 software project is billed 30% at signing, 40% at beta delivery and 30% at launch. When the client delays the beta sign-off, €24,000 is waiting, not €60,000.