Payment milestones link payments to progress. They protect clients from paying for unfinished work and protect developers from unpaid work.
A common structure
| Milestone | Typical share |
|---|---|
| Project start (advance) | 30–50% |
| Design approval | 20–30% |
| Development complete, before launch | 20–30% |
| Launch and handover | 10–20% |
Smaller projects often use two payments: advance and launch.
Tips
- Define what “complete” means for each milestone.
- Agree how extra work is billed.
- Include GST clearly in quotes; check with our GST calculator.
- Keep invoices and receipts.
Red flags
- 100% payment upfront for large projects.
- No written scope.
- Handover of accounts only after unrelated extra payments.
Estimate budgets with our website cost calculator. Read website contract checklist.
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