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Approved by your contact. Overruled by their boss. The redo is still their bill.

You did the work, your contact checked it and approved it, and then their boss saw it, disagreed, and ordered it redone. Now everyone is looking at you as if the redo should be free. It should not, and the reason is simple: approval was not a favor your contact did you. It was the client company accepting the work through the person they put in front of you. An internal disagreement after acceptance does not unpay the finished job, and it does not make the next version free. Here is how to separate the two jobs, and who pays for each.

See the instrument first: the live demo runs one real call and hands you its verifiable receipt, no signup.

Updated October 26, 2026. The two delivery records quoted below are real and public, with their client decision states read back from the live service on publication day.

Step 1. Separate the original job from the redo, in writing

Two different pieces of work are being blurred into one argument. Job one: the work that was briefed, delivered, checked, and approved. Job two: the different work the boss now wants. Write them as two lines, with the delivery date and approval date on the first line and the boss's requested changes on the second. Most overrule disputes dissolve once the lines are separate, because the client is no longer arguing about whether the first job happened. They are deciding whether to buy a second one. Keep the tone flat: you are not accusing anyone of anything, you are reading the project's own history back in order.

Step 2. Sort the boss's objection: a defect, a preference, or a new direction

If the boss found a real defect, work that does not do what the brief said, that repair is yours and it is free. Say so first and mean it; it is what makes the rest of your position credible. If the boss simply prefers a different style, tone, or approach than the one their own contact approved, that is a preference change after acceptance. If the boss wants a different scope, audience, or outcome entirely, that is a new direction. Preferences and new directions are new work. The test is never whose opinion is louder inside the client company. The test is whether the delivered work matched the brief their side gave you and their side accepted.

Step 3. Show the acceptance state, with the decider and the date on it

This is the moment a recorded acceptance earns its keep. The record format is AER-1, published as an IETF Internet-Draft (draft-zambo-aer1-26), and each step carries a verifiable receipt: a receipt proves the saved result was not changed since it was saved. The two public records below show the two states a job can sit in:

Accepted: the decision is on the record

Pending: checked, and still waiting on a decision

An accepted record, 4 of 4 steps checked, decided_by client, release_hint ok_to_release, names the decision, the decider, and the date: 2026-10-16T14:31:51.146Z. A boss who wants to overrule that has to overrule a dated decision made on their own side, not a freelancer's claim that someone once said it looked fine. A pending record, 5 of 5 steps checked and release_hint hold, is the honest opposite: checked work nobody has decided on yet, where a boss's opinion is still just one input into a decision that has not happened. Know which state your job is in before you reply, because the reply is different for each.

Step 4. Do not start the redo on the overrule alone

An overrule is an opinion, not an order you can bill against. Before any redo work starts, the boss's version of the job needs the same treatment the original got: the changes listed, a price for the redo, a delivery date, and an acceptance from the boss personally, in writing. That last part matters most. The person who overruled the first approval is the person whose approval closes the second job, otherwise you can do the redo and meet a third opinion at the end of it. If the boss will not put their name on the redo, the redo is not a real order yet, and starting it anyway is volunteering.

Step 5. Invoice the original job now, separately from the redo quote

Send the invoice for the approved original work as its own document, with the delivery and acceptance dates on it, and send the redo quote as a separate document. Bundling them invites the client to hold the earned payment hostage to the new decision. The answer to who pays is the client company in both cases: the company pays for the work it accepted, and the company pays again if it orders the work changed. Your contact does not pay personally, and you do not pay with free labor for an argument that happened entirely inside their building. If their internal rules say your contact lacked authority to approve, that is a real conversation, but it starts from the fact that the company presented that person as your approver and let the work run to delivery on their word.

Step 6. Name the decider, and their authority, before the next job starts

One question at kickoff prevents this whole episode: who accepts the finished work, and is there anyone above them who can reverse that acceptance? Get the name, and if a boss exists above the decider, get the boss's sign-off point built into the schedule, before final delivery rather than after it. Then let acceptances land on a record that carries the decider's name and the date, so a later reversal is visible as what it is: a new decision that starts a new, priced piece of work, not a discovery that the first decision never counted.

What a record does not settle

A verifiable receipt proves the saved result was not changed since it was saved; it does not decide whose approval binds a company, does not judge whether the boss's taste is better, and cannot make a company pay for either job. The brief, the delivery, the named acceptance, and the redo priced as its own order are what the conversation stands on. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Frequently asked questions

The person who approved my work got overruled by their boss, who wants it redone. Who pays for the redo?

The client company pays, for both jobs. The original work was briefed by their side, delivered, checked, and approved by the contact the company put in front of you, so its invoice stands in full. A redo ordered after that acceptance is a second piece of work: if the boss found a genuine defect, work that fails the brief, the repair is yours and free; if the boss wants a different preference, style, or direction than the one already approved, that change is priced as new work and accepted by the boss in writing before it starts. Your contact does not pay out of their own pocket, and you do not pay with free labor for a disagreement inside the client's building. Separate the two jobs in writing, invoice the first, quote the second, and let each carry its own decision.

My contact says they had no authority to approve. Does that cancel the approval?

It complicates it, but it does not erase what happened. You were given that person as your contact, the work ran on their instructions, and they accepted the delivery. Send the record of that sequence, the brief, the delivery dates, and the acceptance, to the boss, keep the tone factual, and pause further work until the company names who can decide. Companies usually honor approvals their own staff gave to an outside supplier acting in good faith, because the alternative is telling every supplier that no yes from their team can be trusted. Going forward, ask at kickoff who the decider is and whether anyone above them can reverse the decision, and get that name in writing.

Should I just do the redo free to keep the client happy?

Only if you price that choice honestly for yourself. A free redo after an acceptance teaches the client that approvals are drafts and your time absorbs their internal disagreements, and the second free redo is easier for them to expect than the first. The relationship version of firm is this: the defect repair is free and offered first, the preference redo is quoted fairly and quickly, and the boss's name goes on the new order so it closes properly. Clients who respect the work usually respect that structure, because it is visibly even-handed. A client who insists the redo is free because their own house is divided is asking you to fund their management problem.

What if the boss says the approved work is simply not good enough?

Ask which line of the brief it fails, and compare the delivery against that line together. Not good enough is a verdict, not a finding, and verdicts cannot be repaired because nobody knows what to change. If a brief line genuinely fails, fix it free and show the fix. If the work matches the brief and the boss wants a different outcome, name it what it is: a new direction, with a price and a date. The acceptance record keeps this honest in both directions: it shows what was delivered and checked, so a real defect is visible and a preference cannot dress itself up as one.

How do I make approvals stick on the next job?

Name the decider at kickoff, build any boss review into the schedule before final delivery, and let each job close as a handover the decider accepts on a record that keeps the decision, the decider, and the date. When the work runs through Zambo, every step carries a verifiable receipt under AER-1, published as IETF Internet-Draft draft-zambo-aer1-26, so a later overrule meets a dated acceptance instead of a memory. New users get 20 free calls per day, then they upgrade when the job needs more. For $0.99, run the next client job that way and let the acceptance state answer the next overrule before it costs you a redo: get the Day Pass. A Day Pass covers 24 hours, no subscription. Ongoing use is the Zambo Pass at $29 a month or $290 a year, and $19 a month for $ZAMBO holders, which adds private handover links, your branding, and the approval record as PDF and JSON files.

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