Campaign operations workshop / 5 MIN READ
Separate supplier delivery from acceptance and payment
Check the agreed service before confirming completion or authorizing payment.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook
Sources checked 2026-11-06
An invoice, delivery notice and acceptance decision are different events. Campaign teams need a clear record of what was ordered, what arrived and who can confirm that the agreed conditions were met.
What you will leave with: A supplier acceptance checklist and an exception route for disputed or incomplete work.
Use this when
- Campaign suppliers invoice before the project team checks completion.
- Staff are unsure who can accept a service or approve an extra charge.
This is not legal advice, a guide to withholding valid payment or authorization to change supplier contracts.
Identify the acceptance responsibility
Atlassian’s roles guidance surfaces responsibility gaps and overlaps. Apply that clarity to the person checking delivery, the person accepting it and the person authorized to approve payment.
Start from the actual approved order or agreement, not a remembered conversation. Identify the deliverable or service, acceptance conditions and any relevant inspection period. A project coordinator may collect evidence without authority to alter terms. Finance may process an approved invoice without knowing whether the service was delivered. Make the handoff explicit so nobody assumes another team completed the substantive check.
Check against the agreed scope
Compare what arrived with the requirements that were actually authorized. For a venue service, this might include the booked space, operating hours and agreed staffing. For a research supplier, it might include the approved session and fulfillment obligations. Use the contractually relevant criteria rather than adding new preferences after delivery.
Document incomplete items and material discrepancies factually. Distinguish a defect, an approved change and a new request. A supplier should not be asked to provide extra work for free because the campaign team changed its mind. Equally, a delivery email should not force the team to accept something that does not meet the agreed condition.
Resolve exceptions through the proper route
If there is a discrepancy, notify the supplier through the agreed contact and explain the specific issue and supporting evidence. Ask the authorized commercial owner how correction, acceptance or dispute handling should proceed under the agreement. Avoid making legal threats or promising deductions without authority.
Check additional charges against approved changes. An unexpected line item may be an error, an agreed pass-through cost or work someone requested informally. Investigate before approving or rejecting it. Keep internal disagreements out of accusatory supplier messages, and do not let a rushed campaign close conceal an unresolved financial obligation.
Complete the acceptance and payment handoff
Record the accepted scope, any conditions still open and the person who made the authorized decision. Provide finance with the necessary approval reference and accurate supplier information through the approved process. Do not send sensitive payment details through an informal channel merely to speed things up.
Confirm that outstanding corrective work has an owner and a date under the agreed arrangement. Close the operational task only when the relevant obligations are resolved or properly transferred. Keep useful supplier performance notes factual and proportionate. The goal is fair, traceable completion, not maximizing paperwork or delaying payment after valid acceptance.
Make the reasoning concrete.
A fictional campaign books a staffed demonstration venue. The invoice includes an extra setup charge, and the event lead is unsure whether a colleague approved it during preparation.
Approve because the event happened
Opening: Mark the full invoice accepted to close the project quickly.
Hypothesis: The administrative task disappears.
Risk: The extra charge may not match the authorized scope.
Reconcile the order and changes
Opening: Check the agreement, approved instructions and actual service before routing the invoice.
Hypothesis: The team can distinguish a valid charge from an unresolved discrepancy.
Risk: A commercial owner may need to clarify or resolve the issue with the supplier.
The coordinator gathers the relevant records without accusing the supplier. The authorized owner confirms the accepted service and handles the additional charge through the agreed process before payment approval.
Take the questions into your next brief.
Use these prompts in your own notes. Nothing is submitted from this page.
Agreement
Which approved order and conditions govern acceptance?
Check
What evidence confirms the service met those conditions?
Difference
Is the issue a defect, approved change or new request?
Authority
Who can accept the work and separately approve payment?
Closure
Which corrective or financial obligations remain open?
Watch for the wrong conclusion.
- Treating an invoice as proof of satisfactory completion.
- Adding new acceptance criteria after the supplier delivers.
- Approving extra charges without checking who authorized the work.
Your next action
Take one open supplier invoice and trace it to the approved scope, acceptance evidence and authorized payment decision.
Sources & scope
The workflow, worksheets and hypothetical examples are original editorial analysis. Sources support only the identified principles. No measured business results or named human reviewer are claimed.
- Atlassian Team Playbook: Roles and Responsibilities →Primary framework-publisher guidance · Supports: Explicit responsibility discussions expose overlaps and unassigned work; the campaign or sales application is original editorial analysis.