Milestones

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Milestones

    Milestones in ServiceNow represent formal acknowledgments that specific deliverables for a service have been achieved. They can be created against purchase lines and purchase order lines for service products when the acknowledgment type is set to Milestones. This feature helps track the progress and completion status of service deliverables tied to procurement processes.

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    Key Features

    • Milestone Fields: Key fields include Deliverable Name, Number (unique identifier), Assigned to (user responsible for confirmation), Primary contact (procurement team member for communication), Purchase line and Purchase order line associations, State (status), Due date, Summary, Completion date, Payout type (Percentage or Amount), Payout amount/percentage, Cancellation reason, and Deferral reason.
    • Assignment and Actions: Milestones are assigned to the recipient of the purchase line. Recipients can confirm completion, cancel (with required cancellation reason), or defer completion (with new completion date and updated state).
    • State Management: Confirming a milestone sets its state to Closed Complete, triggering the creation of a receipt and updating receipt fields like Amount received or Percentage received. Canceling or deferring milestones updates states accordingly.
    • Automation: The [PSM] Monitor Milestone Tasks scheduled job runs daily to monitor active milestones. On the expected completion date, it updates milestones from Pending Completion Date to Confirmation Required, enabling UI actions for confirmation or deferral.

    Key Outcomes

    • Accurate tracking and acknowledgment of deliverables in procurement services.
    • Automated state updates and receipt creation streamline purchase order line and purchase order status management, similar to goods receipt workflows.
    • Clear responsibilities and communication channels are established via assigned users and primary contacts.
    • Flexible handling of milestones allows customers to confirm, cancel, or defer milestones with appropriate recording of reasons and dates.

    Milestones represent an acknowledgment that a certain deliverable is achieved for a service. You can create a milestone against the purchase line and purchase order line for a service product type, when the acknowledgment type is set to Milestones.

    The key fields of a milestone are:

    Table 1. Milestone fields
    Field Description
    Deliverable Name Name of the milestone
    Number System-generated unique identifier of the milestone.
    Assigned to User primarily responsible for confirming the completion of this milestone.
    Primary contact Person within the procurement team who can be contacted with questions about receipts, milestones, invoices, or other activities related to acknowledgment. This field is populated or updated with the same user in the Assigned to field of the parent task record, as follows: For a milestone or acknowledgment task, from the referenced purchase order.
    Purchase line Purchase line associated with the milestone.
    Purchase order line Purchase order line associated with the milestone.
    State Status of the milestone.
    Due date Expected completion date from the user this milestone is assigned to.
    Summary Details
    Completion date Scheduled completion date for the milestone.
    Payout type The type of the payout associated with this milestone. For example, Percentage or Amount.
    Payout amount Amount associated with this milestone.

    This field is displayed if the payout type is set to Amount.

    Sum of the amount across all milestones can’t exceed the total amount on the purchase requisition.
    Payout percentage Percentage of the payout amount associated with this milestone.

    This field is displayed if the payout type is set to Percentage.

    Sum of the percentages across all milestones can’t exceed 100%.
    Cancellation reason Reason for the cancellation of the milestone.

    This field is required when the recipient cancels the milestone.
    Deferral reason Reason for the deferral of the delivery date of the milestone.

    Milestones are assigned to the recipient of the purchase line. A recipient can either confirm, cancel, or defer milestones using Confirm completion, Cancel, or Defer Completion options.

    • Confirming a milestone updates the state to Closed Complete.
    • Canceling a milestone requires a cancellation reason.
    • Deferring the completion of a milestone requires a completion date and the state is updated to Pending Completion Date.

    When the status of a milestone task is Closed Complete, a receipt is created and the Amount received or Percentage received fields are populated accordingly on the receipt. The receipt triggers the update of the states on the purchase order line and purchase order similar to the workflow of a good receipt.

    The [PSM] Monitor Milestone Tasks scheduled job monitors the completion date of each active milestone on a daily basis. On the specified date of completion, the job updates the state of the milestone from Pending Completion Date to Confirmation Required.

    The UI action to confirm or defer the milestone is displayed when the state of the milestone is Confirmation Required.