Elance Help / Billing and Payment
What Milestones Should I Specify Within The Job Terms?
admin May 04, 2009
Milestones are key dates in the job schedule in which work deliverables can be reviewed, approved, and paid for. Jobs may be set up with a single milestone (the final result) or with as many interim steps along the way as needed. Milestones can be used to link payments with actual deliverables, or can be used simply as pre-scheduled check points to help with progress and communication.
Examples of milestones:
| Example: Logo design project | Delivery Date | Amount |
| Milestone 1: Start fee deposit | (today's date) | $75 |
| Milestone 2: 6 concepts | 10 Nov 2008 | $75 |
| Milestone 3: 1st Revision of chosen concept | 15 Nov 2008 | $75 |
| Milestone 4: 2nd Revision of chosen concept | 20 Nov 2008 | $75 |
| Final: Delivery of final print-ready files | 24 Nov 2008 | $100 |
| Total: | $400 |
| Example: Microsoft Access project | Delivery Date | Amount |
| Milestone 1: Initial schema design | 10 Nov 2008 | $200 |
| Milestone 2: Implementation | 15 Nov 2008 | $200 |
| Milestone 3: QA | 24 Nov 2008 | $200 |
| Final: Release/Final Product | 30 Nov 2008 | $200 |
| Total: | $800 |
What if I need to increase or decrease milestone amounts after the job is active?
If the milestone funds have not been released, the milestone can be reduced or deleted, dates changed, and name and description edited. If the milestone amount needs to increase, it must be deleted and a new milestone created. Both parties should communicate in the Workroom to negotiate and document any modification to the Terms.
