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From Pitch Deck to Paid Invoice: The 90-Day Outcome Deal
A step-by-step guide from signed outcome-based deal to the first collected invoice.
About this guide
The contract is signed. Your customer is expecting results. And right now, you probably don't have the full infrastructure to measure, verify, and settle outcome-based deals at scale.
This guide walks through the first 90 days of an outcome deal — week by week — across sales, delivery, finance, and legal. It's practical, opinionated, and based on how the deals that actually collect payment are run.
Week 1
Delivery + EngineeringMeasurement infrastructure setup
- Identify which data systems will be the measurement source of record
- Confirm the designated data owner and their contact for monthly reconciliation
- Establish baseline export process from the agreed source system
- Document the outcome definition one more time — confirm the contract language matches operational reality
- Set up the Acretix measurement connection or equivalent data pipeline
Week 2
Delivery + FinanceBaseline establishment
- Export pre-AI historical data from the agreed source systems for the baseline period defined in the contract
- Calculate and document the baseline metric using the methodology in the contract
- Share the baseline calculation with the buyer's designated approver
- Get baseline signed off — both parties agree on the starting point before the AI goes live
- Store the signed baseline in the contract file
Week 3
DeliveryAI deployment and first measurement period
- Deploy AI into the buyer's environment
- Run the first measurement data pull at end of week to confirm the pipeline works
- Identify and document any edge cases not covered by the exclusion rules
- Flag any issues to the account team — do not wait until invoicing
- Confirm the first measurement period end date with buyer operations
Week 4–8
Delivery + Account ManagementFirst full measurement period
- Collect measurement data weekly; identify anomalies early
- Run the first formal reconciliation at end of month 1
- Resolve any discrepancies using the process defined in the contract
- Prepare the first invoice based on verified outcomes
- Send invoice with the reconciliation data attached — transparency accelerates payment
Month 3
Finance + Account ManagementFirst collected invoice + renewal groundwork
- Confirm payment received — if delayed, investigate the cause (AP process, dispute, or data question)
- Review the first 60 days of outcome data with the buyer — is the deal working as modeled?
- Document any operational improvements to the measurement process
- If the deal is performing above the cap, initiate discussion about cap removal or deal expansion
- Begin documenting the case study — with buyer permission
Need the measurement infrastructure?
Acretix provides the platform that makes these 90 days operational: measurement, reconciliation, verification, and settlement. Built for outcome-based AI deals.