Milestone

A milestone marks a stage in a project, such as approval of a design concept, delivery of a first draft, or launch. Contracts commonly use milestones to break a larger project into steps that are easier to track.

Milestones are often linked to payments. Instead of paying everything at the end, the client pays a set amount when each milestone is reached or accepted. This spreads the risk for both sides. The contract usually says what counts as reaching the milestone, for example written approval or no objection within a set number of days.

Milestones usually appear in the statement of work or project schedule, alongside the deliverables and deadlines. If a milestone slips, the contract commonly says whether later dates and payments move with it.