Track your projects and invoicing without mixing up the steps

A project worth tracking describes a result promised to a client, not just a folder name. Break it into stages that each produce something verifiable: a concept presented, plans delivered, an installation completed. A stage called “Work in progress” says neither what to deliver nor when to invoice.

For each stage, note:

• the expected deliverable and the person who prepares it;
• the deadline, confirmed or only hoped for;
• progress, expressed as an observable fact;
• what is waiting on the client: an approval, a piece of information;
• the effect on invoicing set out in the agreement: deposit, stage invoice or final balance.

Name a single owner per stage, even if several people contribute: that person knows where the stage stands and who needs to act next. For progress, “three of five plans reviewed” tells you more than “60%”.

Take Atelier Riverain, a fictional interior design firm. Its project to fit out a shop has three stages: concept, construction plans and site supervision. The accepted proposal provides for a deposit at the start, an invoice when the plans are delivered and the balance at the end. These triggers are entered in the project from the outset, so that no one has to remember them three months later.

In the Serafex platform, tracked projects show their stage, owner, deadline and progress. A project note can bring together the relevant text, links and comments. These markers tell you where a file stands; the signed agreement remains the reference for amounts and terms.

A disputed invoice often raises the same question: why this amount? Accepted proposal, change order, approval email: every document that answers it should be easy to find from the project, without digging through several inboxes.

The client approves a specific version, not “the plans” in general. Note which one, by whom and on what date. A corrected version goes back through approval instead of inheriting the previous one’s status. It is the approved version that justifies the stage invoice.

Record decisions separately, in one line: what was decided, by whom, on which version and based on what source. At Atelier Riverain, the client asks for an additional display window. The team records it as a pending decision, prepares a change order and adds it to invoicing only after the client’s written agreement. Without this trail, the extra work risks being done without being invoiced, or invoiced without having been accepted.

In Serafex, the Documents space lets you search for a file, identify its version, comment on it and, depending on the file, compare the versions available. Business files also organize related documents, work, results and decisions. Presenting a document as a result makes it available for review; it does not certify that it complies and signs nothing on your behalf. The guide to organizing your business documents as a team details filing and naming.

The word “invoiced” often hides five different realities. An invoice prepared but never sent can look settled; a client who writes “it’s paid” doesn’t prove that the money has arrived. The following table, usable in any tool, is a working aid.

Each move from one status to the next is a specific action, taken by an authorized person. Invoice and contract management in Serafex follows this logic: an invoice draft keeps the data without issuing a number or sending an email, and both issuing and sending remain subject to the rights of the person acting. Tracking also separates amounts due, amounts received and a payment that has only been reported.

Depending on the connected mailbox and the rules you have authorized, Seraf can spot an invoice request in an email and suggest a draft. You accept it, refuse it or have it changed after checking the recipient, lines, amounts and taxes.

Two more precautions. Don’t silently change an invoice that has already been issued: ask your accountant how to correct it, for example with a credit note. And a partial payment doesn’t close the invoice; keep the balance visible until it is collected.

Expense receipts get lost when you keep them “for later”. File them as you go and attach to the project the ones that concern it, especially if they need to be rebilled to the client. A name that combines the date, the supplier and the amount lets you find a receipt without opening it.

In Serafex, the expense flow accepts a PDF or an image from Documents, up to 25 MB. This upload keeps a receipt you received; it doesn’t validate the amounts and creates no accounting entry. Serafex helps you prepare and find your documents; it doesn’t keep your books, file your returns or give tax advice.

Check that each image is legible. The CRA accepts converting paper documents into images (new tab) if the image reproduces the document exactly, provides the same information and stays clear. For the CRA, paper originals generally have to be kept, unless the scanning meets the applicable national standard. Before throwing out a paper receipt, ask your accountant.

Revenu Québec asks you to keep records and supporting documents related to the GST and QST (new tab) (in French) for six years after the end of the last year to which they relate, and longer in the event of an objection or appeal. The CRA applies the same general six-year rule (new tab); if you file an income tax return late, that period runs from the date you filed it, and some records, such as those related to the long-term acquisition of property, must be kept indefinitely. In electronic form, your files must allow accessible and usable copies to be produced. Revenu Québec also specifies (new tab) (in French) that electronic records must be kept in an intelligible form for the entire period, with the measures needed to ensure and maintain their integrity.

Revenu Québec does not impose an invoice template (new tab) (in French), except in the restaurant and taxi sectors. But if you are registered for the GST and QST, your registered clients need certain information to support their input tax credits and input tax refunds. This information varies with the total value of the sale, taxes included:

• in all cases: your name or your business’s name, the invoice date and the total amount;
• from $100: the amount of the taxes and your GST and QST registration numbers;
• from $500: the client’s name, the payment terms and a description of the property or service.

For the QST, the tax amount and the description are required even below these thresholds. The simplest approach is therefore to include all this information on every invoice. A registered client can also ask you for it in writing, and you are required to respond. Check the same items on your suppliers’ invoices.

Language matters too. The Office québécois de la langue française’s checklist (new tab) (in French) classifies invoices as commercial documents, which must be written at least in French; another language can be added if French appears in at least an equivalent way.

At the end of the period, ask your accountant for the exact list of documents expected. It often includes the invoices issued, the payments received with their date, expense receipts, agreements and bank statements. Attach a short list of questions: an expense whose purpose is uncertain, a partial payment, a corrected invoice.

A useful dashboard fits on one page, is reviewed at a set time each week and has an owner. It doesn’t measure everything: it brings out what is blocked and what is waiting for action. Answer these seven questions in order:

1. Which projects have a deadline in the next two weeks, and is their stage up to date?
2. Which decisions are waiting on a client or an approver, and since when?
3. Which delivered stages still have no invoice, not even a draft?
4. Which drafts are waiting to be checked before they are issued?
5. Which sent invoices are past due, and who is following up?
6. Which reported payments still need to be reconciled with the bank statement?
7. Which of this week’s receipts are missing, illegible or raise a question for the accountant?

Each answer leads to an action, a person and a date. If a question never produces anything, remove it. If the same invoice comes back three weeks in a row, the problem is no longer about tracking: it needs a decision, such as calling the client.

At Atelier Riverain, the Monday review shows that the plans were delivered on Friday without any invoice being prepared. A draft is created, checked by the owner, then issued and sent. The following week, the client writes that they have paid. The invoice moves to “payment reported” and stays there until the statement confirms the deposit.

Seraf can help prepare this summary from the information your account can access. Review it against the real statuses before acting: the decision is yours.

Let’s talk about tracking your projects and invoicing.