How to Read a Treasury Proposal's Milestones
Milestones are where a budget becomes falsifiable - or where it quietly avoids being falsifiable at all.
Key points
- A milestone that cannot fail is not a milestone.
- Payment schedules should trail verification, not lead it.
- Named deliverables beat percentage-complete reporting.
The falsifiability test
For each milestone, ask what observable artefact would demonstrate completion, and what would demonstrate failure. If both answers are the same document written by the proposer, the milestone is decorative.
Sequencing money and evidence
Front-loaded payments transfer risk to the treasury. That is sometimes justified for teams with no working capital - but it should be argued, not assumed.
What we could not establish
- Verification capacity across the ecosystem is uneven and undocumented.
Sources and references
- [1]Milestone evidence checklist v2 - Source link placeholder
- [2]Sampled 2025 grant reports - Source link placeholder
Author
Raj Mehta
Audit contributor
Chartered accountant specialising in milestone verification for grant programmes.
Reviewer
Amara Nwosu
Reviewer, delivery
Reviews scope and staffing realism in proposals.
Related
Treasury proposal review template
Resource library
Treasury & Budget Analysis track
DRep Academy