Progress billing milestone

The progress billing milestone (called SAL in Italian Stato Avanzamento Lavori) is a common practice in European Fixed Price projects: on agreed dates (monthly, bimonthly or per milestone), the vendor presents the client with a progress report including deliverables produced, completion percentage and the associated invoice tranche.

The client approves (or requests revisions) and approval triggers invoice issuance. The progress milestone is critical to recognize revenue under the percentage-of-completion principle (IFRS 15) and to avoid disputes on contested deliverables. A PSA links milestone, deliverable, timesheet and invoice in a single workflow.

The disputes that stall progress billing are almost always about acceptance criteria that were never written down. A deliverable described as a report can be considered complete on delivery or on approval, and the two readings can sit six weeks apart. Agreeing what constitutes acceptance, and how long the client has to respond before it is deemed accepted, removes most of the friction before it appears.

Progress billing also depends on the underlying data being trustworthy at the moment the report is produced. If timesheets close on the fifth working day, a report issued on the second is describing an incomplete month, and any correction later reads to the client as a revision rather than a routine update. Aligning the reporting calendar with the timesheet calendar is a small change that removes a recurring credibility problem.