How to reconcile billable hours and invoices

Billable delivery and billed revenue are related, but they are not the same field. A useful reconciliation answers three different questions: what was delivered, what was assigned to an invoice, and what was actually collected?

Keep three numbers separate

• Delivered value: admissible hours multiplied by the confirmed rate for the period.
• Billed value: the invoice amount and reference assigned to that delivery.
• Collected value: payment events actually recorded against the invoice.

Combining them into one “revenue” column hides both underbilling and late collection. A zero billed amount may mean no invoice has been entered, not that no work was delivered.

Work through an example

40 admissible hours × 100 USD = 4,000 USD delivered value
3,000 USD billed and assigned to the period
4,000 − 3,000 = 1,000 USD to reconcile

The 1,000 USD difference is a reconciliation item. It is not automatically a receivable: the team must check scope, rate, credits, write-offs, and the contract before deciding whether anything should be invoiced.

Attach the evidence

For each period, retain the engagement, period boundaries, currency, rate source, delivery references, invoice reference, and the person who recorded the assignment. Use one currency per calculation. If the invoice covers multiple engagements, record the allocation explicitly instead of copying the full invoice amount into each row.

Choose the next action

A useful result ends with an action: verify the terms, ask finance to reconcile the invoice, decide that the difference is goodwill, or create a documented change order. Revenue Recovery OS keeps the estimated, verified, invoiced, and collected states separate so the next step is visible without claiming that the app issued a bill.