Done, accepted, delivered: three different finish lines

Most businesses have one finish line. The job gets marked done and everyone moves on.

In practice there are three.

Done means the work happened. The crew painted the room. The report went out. The task is closed in the system.

Accepted means the person it was for agrees it is what they asked for. The client looked at the wall and said yes, that’s the green we picked.

Delivered means the promise did what it was meant to do. The client is happy, doesn’t call back, and books the next job.

Each one needs different proof, and often on a different date. A photo of the finished wall proves the first. A message from the client proves the second. The third can take months to show up, and sometimes needs numbers you don’t collect yet.

Why it matters

When a client calls to say something wasn’t done as agreed, the question is rarely whether someone did some work. Someone almost always did. The question is which finish line was missed, and whether anyone can show it.

If the only record is a closed task, you can’t answer that. You end up relaying messages between the client and the crew until someone remembers what was said on site.

What we do about it

Before the work starts, we agree what counts as done, who has to accept it, and how we’ll know it was delivered. Then we keep those three separate. A task can close. The promise stays open until the person who depends on it has been told and has confirmed it.

It’s a small change on paper. It is usually the difference between an owner who chases status and one who only hears when something is stuck.