Billing Data Handoff to Finance (Handoff)

Billing Data Handoff to Finance (Handoff)

1. 01

   Freeze the billing period before anyone exports a number

   Lock timesheets and expense entries at a stated cutoff (for example, the last business day of the month at 5pm client time) so late edits cannot change an invoice that finance already reconciled.

2. 02

   Reconcile tracked hours against the signed scope document line by line

   Flag any project where delivered hours exceed the retainer allowance by more than 10 percent and route it to the account lead for a written change-order decision before invoicing.

3. 03

   Map every billable item to the correct client entity, currency, and tax treatment

   Multi-entity clients routinely receive invoices against the wrong legal name; confirm the billing entity against the master services agreement rather than the project brief.

4. 04

   Convert approved time and expenses into draft invoices inside the billing platform

   Platforms such as Harvest and Bill4Time generate drafts directly from tracked time, which removes manual re-keying but still requires a human pass on rate cards and discounts.

5. 05

   Run a three-point variance check against the prior period

   Compare total billed, total collected, and outstanding balance month over month; a swing above 15 percent usually signals a missed milestone, a duplicate line, or an unapplied credit.

6. 06

   Package the draft with supporting detail for the finance owner

   Attach the timesheet summary, expense receipts, and any approved change orders so the approver is not chasing evidence across email threads.

7. 07

   Record the handoff in a shared log with owner and timestamp

   A single line per client per period (who sent it, who approved it, when it went out) turns month-end disputes into a lookup instead of an archaeology project.