Unbilled Work Register: Find Finished Jobs You Haven't Invoiced

Start with the work list, not the unpaid-invoice report

A finished job won't appear on your invoice report until someone bills it. Pull your completed jobs from the calendar, job app, delivery sheets or signed timesheets, then compare them with the invoice list. Keep unresolved items from earlier weeks on the list too.

For a sole trader, this might be a Friday check of the diary against accounting software. With a team, someone needs to own the handover from completion to billing. The wider cash flow routine still matters, but this check catches money before it reaches your receivables report.

business.gov.au's invoicing guide recommends collecting customer details, tracking invoices and using a delivery method that leaves retrievable records. The register below adds a practical completeness check to that process.

Give each billing block a useful name

Use one row per job or separately billable milestone. Put a variation on a separate linked row if it has its own approval or billing date. Your statuses should tell the next person what to do:

• Work unfinished: record the expected completion date; don't include the whole quote in the ready-to-bill total.
• Completed, evidence missing: describe the missing document and name the person getting it.
• Ready to invoice: the agreed billing trigger and supporting documents have been checked.
• Invoice drafted: record its reference, but keep the item open until it is approved and sent.
• Invoice issued: save the reference, issue date and submission evidence, then close the billing task.

Use separate fields for the work completion date and the date it became ready to bill. Otherwise a week spent waiting for a signed service sheet looks like slow work rather than slow administration.

Copy this filled job-to-invoice register

The fictional example follows a small equipment-servicing business. Amounts are customer totals, including any applicable GST. "Ready" here means the business has checked the agreed billing conditions; it is not a revenue-recognition or tax decision.

Assumptions: First-check amounts on 11 September 2026; the invoice column records action by the end of that review. Amounts are customer totals in AUD. Later dates are illustrative.

Job / agreed total	Completion and acceptance evidence	Ready at first check	Blocker / responsible person / next action	Invoice issued
J-218 / $2,640	Finished 7 Sep; signed sheet S-218; variation V-12 approved by email	$2,640	Missed billing handover / Alex / issue and submit today	INV-604, 11 Sep; email receipt saved
J-219 / $1,320	Finished 9 Sep; technician note saved; customer acceptance sheet missing	$0 until checked	Missing sheet / Priya / obtain and check on 14 Sep	Not yet issued
J-220 / $4,400	Work still in progress; expected completion 18 Sep	$0	Finish agreed work / Alex / review 18 Sep	Not yet issued
J-217 / $880	Finished and accepted 4 Sep	$0: already billed	No billing action; follow in receivables	INV-603, 4 Sep

Original ASBG fictional example. Use the assumptions above when replacing these figures with your own.

At the first check, completed but uninvoiced work totals $3,960: $2,640 ready and $1,320 waiting for documents. The unfinished $4,400 and previously invoiced $880 do not belong in that total. Keep unfinished work and issued invoices in their own statuses so you can see the completed work still waiting for billing.

Recover the missed job without billing it twice

J-218 fell out of the process when Alex finished the service visit but didn't notify the office. Before raising a bill, the office searches issued and draft invoices for the job ID, customer, purchase order and amount. It also checks whether any earlier deposit or progress invoice already covers part of the work.

The agreed base charge is $2,400 and approved variation V-12 is $240, giving $2,640. The office links both approvals, checks the customer billing details and sends INV-604. It records the issue date and saves submission evidence. If the invoice already existed, the right action would have been to link it to the job, not create a second one.

For the document itself, use the tax invoice requirements guide. If the job crosses a reporting period, ask your accountant about the accounting treatment rather than changing dates to make the weekly list look tidy.

Send a precise request for the missing evidence

For J-219, Priya can send this administrative request:

Job J-219 was completed on 9 September. Before we finalise billing, could you send the signed acceptance sheet or let us know which part needs checking? The agreed customer total is $1,320. I've attached the technician's completion note so you can identify the visit.

Save the reply beside the job, including any disagreement. If acceptance is genuinely disputed, don't turn a missing-document label into an assumption that the work was accepted. Give the issue to the person responsible for the customer agreement.

Close the loop each week

Add three columns to the reusable sheet: next action date, last checked date and invoice reference. Filter for completed jobs with a blank invoice reference, then for issued invoices missing submission evidence. Carry forward every unresolved row with a named owner.

When an invoice is issued, replace the corresponding unbilled receipt in your pipeline cash forecast. It is the same expected payment moving to a later stage, not extra cash. For the rest of that journey, browse cash flow and getting paid.

Next, confirm the account details before the next job starts.

Key takeaways

• Compare completed job records with invoice records; an unpaid-invoice report cannot find missing invoices.
• Separate unfinished work, missing evidence, ready work and invoices already issued.
• Give every blocked row an owner, a specific action and a review date.
• Close the task with an invoice reference and submission evidence, while retaining the job history.

Where to get help

• business.gov.au: How to invoice covers invoice administration and delivery records.
• Your bookkeeper can help compare job exports with invoice records. Ask your accountant about reporting-period or revenue-recognition questions that the register exposes.