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Payment milestones with draft invoices

Give a project a payment plan, such as 30 / 40 / 30. Its milestones fall due by hand, on a date, at a stage or when a key event is done. The client is told, a draft invoice is made, and an unpaid milestone can hold the project in its stage.

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Why it matters

Firms that work on stage payments lose money in the same way: the next phase starts before the last payment arrives. Then the client has the work, and you have nothing left to hold. Many tools can raise an invoice when a milestone is reached. In SmartMy Projects a milestone marked Stops Moving On also keeps the project in its stage until the money is in. The only way past is an approval that names who agreed and why.

The problem it solves

The milestone payment is due, but nobody raises the invoice until the client asks.
Work on the next phase starts while the last payment is still unpaid.
The client says they did not know a payment was due.
Finance and the project manager keep two lists of what was received, and they do not match.

How it works

An administrator sets up payment plans once under Projects > Configuration > Money > Payment Plans, for example 30 / 40 / 30. Each line is a % of the project's value or a fixed amount.
Each line says when it falls due. It can be by hand, on a date, or a number of days after the start. It can also be when a stage starts or ends, or when a key event is done.
On the project's Payments tab you pick the plan. The milestones are made with their amounts from the project's value, and you can change them for this project.
A milestone falls due by itself (dates are checked every day) or when a manager presses Make Due. The client and the client's people on the team are told the amount and the date to pay by.
With accounting, a draft customer invoice is made for the client at once. When that invoice is paid, the milestone is marked received within the hour.
Without accounting, a manager presses Received and types the date and the receipt or transfer number.
A due milestone marked Stops Moving On holds the project in its stage until it is received. Next Stage names the payment, and Ask to Move On needs an approval.

Everything it does

Payment plans

Any number of plans, for every Entity or one; Total % shown on the plan
Each line: name, % of Value or Fixed Amount, Falls Due, Days, Stops Moving On
Falls Due: By Hand, On a Date, Days After the Start, When a Stage Starts, When a Stage Ends, When a Key Event Is Done
Days: days after the start, or the days the client has to pay once due
A note for the client is kept with the plan

Milestones on a project

Made from the plan; picking another plan replaces the planned ones and keeps those due or received
Amount: the % of the project's value or the fixed amount, and it can be typed
Due On (Planned), Due By, Received, Received On, Reference, Notes
Status: Planned, Due, Received, Cancelled; overdue lines in red
Due Now and Received totals on the Payments tab
Buttons for managers: Make Due, Received, Make Invoice, Back to Planned, Cancel

When it falls due

Due By is the day it falls due, plus Days for milestones due by hand, at a stage or at an event
A dated milestone is due by its date
A key event milestone waits for that event, or for the next event of its type
The milestone is posted on the project feed for the team and the client

Invoices and money in

With accounting: a draft customer invoice for the client, with the sales journal's income account and the Entity's default sales taxes (GST or VAT)
The invoice's due date is the milestone's Due By; its reference is the project and the milestone
Every hour, milestones whose invoice is paid are marked received, with the invoice number as reference
With budgets (Scale), the posted invoice is revenue on the project's ledger and in profitability
A payment received is posted on the feed with a thank-you, and the client is told

Holding the stage

Stops Moving On: once due and not received, Next Stage refuses and says which payment, and how much
Ask to Move On passes it with a reason, through the Stage Override approval
Needs stages (Growth)

Lists and reports

Projects > Money > Billing > Payment Milestones: Due to start with; filters Overdue and Received; group by project or status; list and pivot
The client sees due and received milestones on the portal, with a link to their invoices

Who uses it

Projects AdministratorSets up the payment plans and their lines.

Projects ManagerPicks the plan, makes milestones due, records payments and makes invoices.

FinancePosts and collects the draft invoices in accounting; milestones follow by themselves.

Team memberSees the project's milestones, without changing them.

ClientIs told when a payment is due, sees it on the portal and the feed, and pays the invoice.

Where you use it

Web: the project's Payments tab and Projects > Money > Billing > Payment Milestones
Configuration: Projects > Configuration > Money > Payment Plans
Client portal: Payments, with a link to My invoices
Not in the phone app yet

What you control

Settings

Payment plans and their lines: % or amount, when due, days to pay
Stops Moving On per line: off to start with
Each project's own milestones, changed after the plan is applied

Approvals

Stage Override (with stages): passing a stage held by an unpaid milestone; a project manager approves to start with

Notifications

Project Payment Due: to the client and the client's people on the team. It goes by email, WhatsApp and in the app, with the amount and pay-by date
Project Update: the payment received, to the client, with the link to their page

Questions

Can a client pay a milestone in parts?

A milestone is received once. For part payments, split it into two milestones. You can also type the amount actually received before you press Received; the milestone is then closed.

Do we need accounting for this?

No. Without accounting you record payments by hand with the date and reference. With accounting, the draft invoice is made when the milestone falls due, and it is marked received when the invoice is paid.

What does Stops Moving On do without stages?

Nothing yet. It holds a project only when stages are in use, from Growth. In Starter the milestone is still due, told and shown as overdue.

Is this the same as fixed-price billing?

No. Billing runs (Growth) bill hours, retainers and fixed-price instalments. Payment milestones make their own invoices when due. A project uses one or the other.

Which plan has it?

Every plan, Starter included. Stage triggers and holding a stage come with Growth, and the key event trigger with Scale.

Related features

PROJECTSStages you leave only when the checks passEvery project moves through your stages, such as Planning, Execution and Closure. It leaves a stage only when its checks pass: tasks done, time approved, the payment received. Passing a check anyway takes an approval, with the reason on record.PROJECTSKey events with readiness checksKick-offs, steering reviews and go-lives run as key events. Each has readiness checks counted back from the day and invitations the client answers from a link. Reminders, follow-ups and the report come by themselves.MONEYBilling runs from approved hoursEach period, a billing run gathers what a project bills. That is approved hours at their rates, fixed-price instalments that are due, the retainer fee and overage, and expenses to pass on. Once approved, it becomes a draft invoice in accounting with the entity's GST or VAT.CLIENTS, DASHBOARDS, APPS, AIClient portalYour clients log in to see their projects. They see status and health with your note, the tasks you let them see, the updates meant for them and the payments due and received. Clients are free; they do not count as users.PROJECTSProject feed for the team and the clientOne timeline per project where updates, tasks done, payments, stage changes and key events land, each marked with who it is meant for. The client is told on WhatsApp or by email with a link to their own view, and confirms important items with Seen.ACCOUNTINGFull accounting with GST returnsKeep the books in the same system as your projects. You get journal entries, the chart of accounts, matching payments to invoices, and full reports from ledgers to cash flow. For Indian entities, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B are worked out from the posted invoices and bills.

See your next project on it.

Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.

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