How do I track milestone billing for a branding project?

Record each billing stage — deposit, draft approval, final delivery — as its own invoice under the client, each with its own status, so you can see exactly which stage is paid and which is outstanding.

Can I keep retainers and project invoices separate?

Yes. Keep retainer invoices as their own monthly series on the client and project invoices tagged to the project, so the two never get confused on one list.

How do I see every unpaid invoice at once?

Set a status on each invoice and filter for sent and overdue across all clients, giving you one follow-up list instead of digging through email.

Does Cash Workspace send the invoice or chase the client?

No. You send and follow up however you already do; Cash Workspace records the invoice, its status, and the agreement so you always know where each one stands.

Cash Workspace

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Design finance · Invoicing

Track design invoices by milestone and retainer

Design work bills in stages — a deposit to start, a payment at draft approval, the balance on final delivery — and on top of that you may run monthly retainers. When all of that lives across emails and a couple of spreadsheets, following up on an unpaid invoice means reconstructing where each project stood. Cash Workspace lets you record each invoice per client and milestone with a clear status, so follow-up is a filter, not a memory test.

Start a free workspace See milestone invoice records

The problem

Why design invoices get hard to track

Branding and web projects bill in milestones while retainers bill monthly, so a single client can have several open invoices at once. Without one place to record them, the status of each lives in your head.

A deposit was paid but the draft-approval invoice was never sent.
A retainer invoice and a project milestone invoice for the same client get confused.
You can't say at a glance which brand projects have an unpaid stage.
Revision rounds blur the line on what 'final' was, and the final invoice stalls.
Overdue invoices across several clients are scattered, so follow-up never happens consistently.

The workflow

Record invoices per client and milestone

Give every project a predictable set of milestone invoices and keep retainers on the same client so nothing is double-counted or lost.

1
Set up the client
Create one client record per brand or company so every project and retainer invoice rolls up to the same place.
2
Record each milestone invoice
When you reach a billing stage — deposit, draft approval, or final delivery — record an invoice with the amount, dates, and milestone name.
3
Set a clear status
Mark each invoice draft, sent, paid, or overdue and update it as payment moves.
4
Note revision rounds
Add a short note on the final-delivery record about which revision round was approved, so 'final' is unambiguous.
5
Keep retainers separate
Record monthly retainer invoices as their own series on the client so they don't blur with project milestones.
6
Filter all unpaid
Pull one view of every sent or overdue invoice across projects and retainers so follow-up is a single list.

Record structure

What to record for each design invoice

These fields keep each invoice tied to the right project stage and client.

Client: The brand or company, kept as one record so projects and retainers stay grouped.
Project: Which engagement the invoice belongs to — a logo, a website, a brand refresh — used as a consistent tag.
Milestone: The billing stage: deposit, draft approval, or final delivery.
Amount: The invoice total and currency for that stage.
Issue & due dates: When you sent it and when it's due, so overdue is easy to spot.
Status: Draft, sent, paid, or overdue, updated as payment lands.
Revision note: Which revision round was signed off, so the final invoice is defensible.
Design agreement: The signed agreement or proposal attached to the client record.

Example setup

An example design invoice setup

One way to structure project and retainer invoices in the workspace.

Active projects

Every open brand or web project with its deposit, draft-approval, and final-delivery invoice statuses.

Retainers

Monthly retainer invoices per client, kept as their own series with status.

Unpaid view

A filtered list of all sent and overdue invoices across projects and retainers for follow-up.

Signed agreements

The signed design agreement or SOW attached to each client record.

Common mistakes

Mistakes designers make

Billing the deposit but forgetting to record the draft-approval and final invoices.
Mixing retainer invoices with project milestone invoices on one undated list.
Leaving 'final' undefined, so the last invoice waits on an endless revision loop.
Tracking overdue invoices in your head instead of one filtered view.
Keeping the signed agreement in email instead of attached to the client.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

Milestones on one client

Record deposit, draft-approval, and final invoices as separate records under the same client so the whole project's billing is visible.

One unpaid view

Group invoices by status to see every unpaid project and retainer invoice in a single filtered list.

Revision notes on the record

Keep a note of which revision round was approved on the final invoice so it's unambiguous.

Attach the agreement

Keep the signed design agreement attached to the client so the contract and invoices stay together.

Finance workspace for designers

The full organizing setup for a design business.

Milestone invoice records

Keep each project's billing stages recorded in order.

Design studio finance organizer

Organize project costs and invoices for a small studio.

Unpaid invoice tracker

Organize unpaid invoices so follow-up is simple.

All finance workflows

Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.

FAQ

Designer invoice tracking FAQ

How do I track milestone billing for a branding project?: Record each billing stage — deposit, draft approval, final delivery — as its own invoice under the client, each with its own status, so you can see exactly which stage is paid and which is outstanding.
Can I keep retainers and project invoices separate?: Yes. Keep retainer invoices as their own monthly series on the client and project invoices tagged to the project, so the two never get confused on one list.
How do I see every unpaid invoice at once?: Set a status on each invoice and filter for sent and overdue across all clients, giving you one follow-up list instead of digging through email.
Does Cash Workspace send the invoice or chase the client?: No. You send and follow up however you already do; Cash Workspace records the invoice, its status, and the agreement so you always know where each one stands.

Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance

Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.

Make follow-up a filter, not a memory test

Start a free workspace and record each project and retainer invoice with its milestone and status so every unpaid invoice is one filtered view away.