Invoice proof of work: an evidence checklist

Start with the question the evidence must answer

The consultancy billing workflow focuses on approved advisory hours and suitable invoice evidence without exposing confidential recommendations.

An evidence pack is useful when a billing contact can identify the service, the period and the basis of the amount. Start with the agreement and ask what would let someone unfamiliar with daily delivery check the charge. A timesheet can explain elapsed effort, while a deliverable reference can explain the output. Neither substitutes for agreement about what the client purchased.

Use the proof-backed invoices feature page to understand the product workflow. This guide covers the preparation checklist around that workflow. It does not recreate the demo or imply that every internal artifact becomes visible on a public invoice. Choose the minimum evidence needed to answer a reasonable billing question, then add detail when the recipient actually needs it.

Purchased costs need different evidence from delivery hours. Review the ad spend and pass-through billing guide before sharing supplier receipts.

Map each line to a reviewable record

Make an internal worksheet with the proposed invoice line, work dates, client, project, task, billable hours, rate and reference. Keep one row per meaningful service category rather than one row per mouse click. If work spans a month boundary, separate the dates before calculating totals. Check the time-tracking invoice guide for the logging and invoice preparation sequence.

A reference might identify an approved design file version, a delivery email or a task with an acceptance note. Write enough context to find the record later. Avoid references such as final-final that cannot distinguish versions. If the invoice has a fixed fee, show the agreed deliverable basis instead of treating logged hours as an extra charge. Internal time may still help your team review delivery without changing the client's price.

Review time before treating it as evidence

Check that the hours belong to the correct client and project, then remove internal meetings, duplicate entries and work that the agreement excludes. Resolve unclear descriptions with the person who logged the work. A useful entry says what task progressed and when, without embedding passwords, personal information or confidential client strategy. The timesheet approval guide explains how to separate approved billable time from disputed or internal hours.

ABH supports time-entry approval. That approval is an internal review of time, not client acceptance of a price increase or an invoice approval feature. If extra work needs commercial authorization, retain the external written agreement separately. Do not approve a disputed entry simply to make the invoice total match a target. Hold it for resolution and explain any resulting change to the billing contact.

Worked example: a design sprint with two rates

Illustrative fictional example, USD, excluding taxes. A design sprint includes 6 approved discovery hours at $110.00 and 14 approved design hours at $125.00. Discovery is $660.00; design is $1,750.00. The two invoice lines total $2,410.00. These are manually reviewed line rates for the example, not a claim that ABH provides per-person rate cards.

The internal discovery worksheet points to dated interview tasks and a shareable findings summary. The design worksheet points to dated layout tasks and the approved prototype version. Private interview notes stay internal. The invoice describes the sprint period and service categories, while the agency retains the deeper evidence for a specific question. If two design hours are later disputed, the team investigates the task record instead of exposing every internal note or silently changing the recorded history.

Share a useful summary without leaking notes

Prepare a client-facing summary separately from the internal worksheet. Confirm the intended recipient and whether each linked artifact is accessible to that person. A document in your private project workspace can contain other clients' names, staff discussions or unpublished drafts. Sharing its URL does not make it appropriate evidence. Use an approved export or a restricted copy when the original contains more information than the client should receive.

ABH provides tokenized public invoice links and PDF downloads without a client account. Treat the invoice link as a shareable access link and send it only to the intended billing contacts. External evidence files keep their own access controls; an invoice link does not grant permission to those files. Open the client-facing copy in the intended viewing context and check that references explain the work without revealing private material.

Evidence checklist before sending

Run this check while the invoice is still a draft. Ask a colleague who was not involved in delivery to follow one line from scope to evidence and amount. If they cannot explain the line, fix the description or reference before adding more attachments. Keep the free invoice template nearby for the basic invoice fields. * Confirm the billing period and agreement that authorize each service category. * Match every time-based line to approved billable hours for this client and project. * Confirm rates and decimal calculations against the agreed basis, including any separately authorized extras. * Check that fixed-fee deliverables are described without adding the same work again as hourly charges. * Remove private staff notes, unrelated client details and sensitive information from the shared summary. * Test access to each external deliverable reference using the intended recipient's permissions. * Save the reviewed invoice version and internal evidence worksheet together with the reviewer and review date.

• Confirm the billing period and agreement that authorize each service category.
• Match every time-based line to approved billable hours for this client and project.
• Confirm rates and decimal calculations against the agreed basis, including any separately authorized extras.
• Check that fixed-fee deliverables are described without adding the same work again as hourly charges.
• Remove private staff notes, unrelated client details and sensitive information from the shared summary.
• Test access to each external deliverable reference using the intended recipient's permissions.
• Save the reviewed invoice version and internal evidence worksheet together with the reviewer and review date.

Keep the evidence useful after delivery

When a billing question arrives, identify the specific line and return the relevant summary first. Ask whether the question concerns hours, scope, delivery or payment instructions. Each needs a different answer. Do not send an entire project archive when a dated deliverable reference will resolve the uncertainty. Record the question and its resolution so later reminders do not ignore an active dispute.

After sending, keep a record of which invoice version and evidence summary the client received. If a correction is necessary, follow your normal correction process and preserve the explanation. Payment is a separate event: ABH does not collect client money. Verify external receipts before recording them manually. A strong evidence trail supports a clear conversation, but it does not guarantee acceptance, eliminate disputes or replace the commercial agreement.

When a client contests a charge, use the invoice dispute workflow.

To explain the difference between duration and charged units, use the guide to rounding and minimum increments.

To turn vague activity labels into useful descriptions, use the time entry description examples.