The client is using my work but hasn’t ‘approved’ it. Can I invoice?

You delivered the files. The client has put them on its website, sent the campaign or started using the system. Yet your contact still says the work is “waiting for final approval,” and the contract says you invoice after approval.

Do not treat use as meaningless. Do not assume it settles every contractual question either. Build a short record showing what was promised, delivered, used and left unresolved. That gives the client a concrete decision instead of another vague reminder.

Put four events on one timeline

Approval, acceptance, use and payment can be different events. Read the scope, acceptance clause, invoice terms and change process together.

Also identify who can approve. A friendly “looks great” from an employee may not be the approval named in the contract. Conversely, an accounts team asking for an invoice may be relevant evidence even if the project manager has not closed a workflow ticket.

Turn “not approved” into a specific issue

Ask what remains. Is there a real defect, an unfinished deliverable, an internal sign-off delay or no decision at all?

Use a simple approval record:

This fictional table does not decide whether payment is legally due. It makes the unresolved point visible. If the client says the homepage is defective, ask for the clause or specification it does not meet. If the remaining obstacle is internal procurement, ask whether the contractual work has nevertheless been accepted.

Send a three-way approval request

Give the authorised person choices they can answer:

I delivered the agreed homepage design and checkout copy on 18 September, and both have been live since 21 September. I have not received any outstanding issue against the agreed scope. Please could you confirm by 29 September whether (1) the deliverables are approved and I may invoice, (2) a specific item does not meet the agreed requirement, or (3) another named person must approve them? If there is an issue, please identify the requirement and requested correction so I can address it through the agreed process.

Use the notice method and contacts in your agreement where required. A deadline you invent for project management is not automatically a contractual deadline, so label it honestly.

If you invoice, make the basis clear

An invoice should match the contracting party, agreed amount, tax treatment and payment terms. For a UK business example, GOV.UK’s invoicing guidance distinguishes an invoice from a receipt and lists required information for relevant invoices. Other locations have different requirements.

Describe the milestone accurately: “Homepage and checkout copy delivered 18 September under milestone 2,” rather than “final approval” if approval has not been given. Do not quietly change the payment trigger in your own paperwork.

If the client disputes the invoice, separate the questions: what work is allegedly incomplete, what the approval clause requires, and when an undisputed amount is due. The pay-when-paid guide helps when the explanation shifts from approval to the client waiting for someone else’s money.

The useful question is not simply “Are they using it?” It is “What event makes the amount invoiceable, what evidence shows that event, and who must make the remaining decision?”