Freelance activity reports: who reports, approves and invoices?

What is each party’s role in the process?

Separate the work done, its approval, and the invoicing exchanges.

The activity report accounts for the time spent on the assignment. It lets the client examine what the consultant has reported. Filling it in and approving it are two distinct actions: a submission is not, on its own, client approval.

A submission is not, on its own, client approval.

What should be decided before the first month?

Set the contacts and the reference information before the first submission.

Start with a simple question: once the consultant has reported their activity, who can respond on the client side? Plan for a stand-in if that person is away. Identify who receives administrative questions too, which may not be the assignment lead.

Ask your WoW contact to confirm the schedule and the terms set for your file. A shared reference point is more useful than a date assumed to be the same for every assignment.

• The period each report covers, and how often it is submitted.
• The person who approves the activity, and the stand-in in their absence.
• The reference rate and the agreed treatment of half-days.
• The assignment or purchase order references the client requires.
• The route for reporting and correcting a difference.
• The invoicing and payment terms planned for the assignment.

How do you prepare a report that is easy to check?

Report the activity using the full days and half-days worked.

The consultant’s own space holds their assignments, their deadlines and their WoW contact, along with the activity report, the invoices and the messages. Before submitting, check the assignment concerned, the period and the total reported.

An example check: four full days and two half-days come to five days of activity. If the client expects a different total, reconcile the periods and the units used before concluding there is a disagreement about the work done.

Do not confuse the volume initially envisaged with the activity actually reported. If the assignment has changed, tell the client and WoW so the consequences for the agreed terms can be reviewed.

Find the steps for your own company and the role of your contact in the consultant journey.

How do you read the service amounts and the WoW fees?

The 5% management fee is added to the service amount.

For a service of €700 excluding VAT per day, the fee is €35 excluding VAT. The client total is therefore €735 excluding VAT per day. Comparing that total directly with the service rate, without separating the fee, can create an apparent difference. This calculation describes the invoice sent to the client. Who ultimately bears the fee depends on the commercial agreement between the parties.

The fee covers contract management, KYC, invoicing and payments. To reconcile a report with an invoice, check the quantity of activity, the service rate and the applicable fees separately.

The consultant remains independent: their company invoices WoW. They do not receive a salary from WoW under this contractor management arrangement.

What should you do about a difference or a payment question?

Tell your WoW contact precisely which item is concerned.

For a question about activity, state the assignment, the period and the day or half-day in question, and have the client confirm the point. For a question about an invoice, give its reference and the amount to reconcile. That avoids an exchange limited to “the total is wrong”.

An approved report is not a promise of immediate payment. Refer to the terms agreed for the assignment. Advances are possible subject to agreement and to the contractual terms and rate; they are neither promised nor included by default in the management fee.

An approved report is not a promise of immediate payment.

The contractor management fee calculator separates the base day rate from the amount invoiced to the client.