Bill across as many stages as the work actually has. Raise an invoice and collect payment at every milestone, so your cash flow matches your delivery instead of waiting until the end.
Use Milestone Billing to divide a fixed-price service into two or more billing stages. Each milestone has its own amount and timing, so you can invoice your client as the work progresses.
Add milestone billing to a proposal
To add a milestone billing item to a proposal, in the Services step → select the fixed-price service you want to bill in stages.
Open the service’s billing options and select Milestone. Two milestones will be added by default.
The service will be created with two milestones as part of the billing rule. Set the amount and billing timing for each milestone.
Enter a clear name for each milestone. Use names that tell your client what they are paying for, such as: Project kickoff, Draft delivered, Final approval.
Select Add milestone to create additional billing stages. Ignition keeps the milestone amounts aligned with the service’s total fixed price and automatically calculates the final milestone as the remaining balance.
Review the milestone schedule carefully. Confirm that:
Every stage is included.
The milestone amounts add up to the service total.
The dates or completion points match your agreement with the client.
The billing mode is correct for each billing item.
Complete the remaining proposal steps and send the proposal to your client.
What happens after the proposal is accepted
Each milestone becomes a separate billing item and raises its own invoice. You can find the upcoming items by opening the client and selecting Billing Schedule:
Billed Automatically contains milestones scheduled to raise an invoice automatically on a specified date.
Billed Manually contains milestones that require you to confirm when the work has reached that stage.
If you use Ignition Payments, payment is collected according to the payment method and collection schedule agreed to in the proposal.
Invoice a milestone manually
When you complete a manually billed milestone:
Open the client’s Billing Schedule.
Select the milestone under Billed Manually.
Select Invoice now.
Review the price, quantity, payment method, and invoice details.
Select Next.
Review the invoice, then select Issue invoice.
You can instead select Schedule Invoice if you want Ignition to raise the invoice automatically on a future date.
Edit an upcoming milestone
Open the client’s Billing Schedule.
Select the billing item.
Select Actions → Edit or open its billing group.
Update the date, billing mode, price, quantity, discount, notes, or payment details.
Select Review & confirm.
Review the updated item and save your changes.
FAQs
How many billing stages must a milestone schedule contain?
A milestone schedule must contain at least two billing stages.
Does Milestone Billing create one invoice or multiple invoices?
Each milestone raises a separate invoice. Milestone Billing does not create one invoice with multiple payment due dates.
Can I create a recurring milestone schedule?
No. Recurring milestone schedules are not currently supported.
Can I use Milestone Billing with a one-time invoice?
No. Milestone Billing is available in proposals, not the one-time invoice flow.