The next team / Billing & payment
Delivered, invoiced and paid each need their own record.
Cleaner completion evidence can help Billing keep pace. A person reviews the invoice, while the customer’s payment remains a separate event.
- Delivered
Operations confirms completed and accepted work.
- Invoiced
Billing checks scope, price and approvals before sending.
- Paid
Finance records the customer’s payment and follows up when it is late.
Open the detail
Keep the setup, assumptions and checks in view.
Delivery gained capacity. Why is Billing now behind?
Billing · moments 4 and 5
Delivery gained capacity. Why is Billing now behind?
Operations finishes more, but Billing was set up for the old pace and may struggle to see what was completed or ready to bill. Delivered, invoiced and paid are three separate events, each with its own owner and record.
- Delivered
- Owner: Operations. Completion record, accepted where required. Not yet an invoice.
- Invoiced
- Owner: Billing. An invoice a person reviewed, sent to the right contact. Not yet payment.
- Paid
- The customer pays. In this example, Billing or Finance records the payment and matches it to the invoice, and the named owner follows up if it is late.
The same job, before Billing is equipped
Delivery posts “done” in a chat. Billing asks what was finished, whether the customer accepted it and whether extras were agreed. The invoice waits until someone answers.
Unpaid invoices get chased only when someone remembers.
The same job, Billing equipped
AI assembles a draft invoice from the completion record and flags anything missing, such as an approval. A billing person confirms it and sends it.
Open invoices get a scheduled follow-up, and the billing lead can see which are overdue without building a report.
Owner, and what changes
Owner: the billing or finance lead. Billing and finance get timely numbers from each department, so leaders can see revenue, costs and margins and decide what to improve next.
What must be in place
- One meaning of “done.” The same one Operations uses.
- Billing sees completed work. It shouldn’t have to ask for it.
- A person confirms. AI can assemble the invoice and flag gaps. The responsible person says it is ready.
- Watch the three separately. Track invoice delays and time to payment on their own.
Next question: if invoices go out promptly and every team has room, is enough qualified demand coming in?