ZAMBO.

Direct answer

A bonus you cannot point to in writing is a compliment, not a payment term.

The offer sounds simple: finish early, get extra money. Then the work lands two days ahead of schedule and the bonus turns vague. Early compared to what, finished meaning what, decided by whom, paid when? Every one of those questions was free to answer before you sped up and is an argument after. This page gives you the order that collects: turn the promise into four written facts before the rush starts, define the finish line as accepted delivery recorded with a date, keep the base fee safe if the early date slips for reasons outside your hands, and claim the bonus as its own invoice line on the day the record closes, while the early finish is still fresh and checkable.

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Updated November 14, 2026. First published November 14, 2026. The records quoted below are real and public, read back from the live service on November 14, 2026.

Step 1. Get the four facts into writing before you change your pace

A collectable bonus has four facts, and a spoken promise usually contains only one of them. Fact one: the amount, as a number, not a percentage of nothing or a promise to look after you. Fact two: the trigger date, the exact day and ideally the hour the work has to be finished by, named against the original deadline so early has a fixed meaning. Fact three: the finish condition, what counts as finished, the named deliverables in their final form, not a draft, not most of it. Fact four: the decider and the pay date, who judges the finish and when the bonus is paid, with the final invoice or on its own date. One short email holds all four: restate the promise in those terms and ask the client to confirm with a plain yes. A client who means the offer confirms in a minute. A client who will not confirm has answered a more important question, and has answered it before you burned your evenings, which is the whole point of asking.

Step 2. Define finishing as accepted delivery, not as files sent

Most bonus disputes are really finish line disputes. You count finishing as the day you sent the work. The client counts it as the day they reviewed it, or the day their colleague looked, or the day the last small correction closed, each definition quietly eating the early margin you earned. Settle the definition while you settle the amount: the job is finished when the named deliverables are delivered and accepted, with acceptance recorded on a stated date. Small corrections after acceptance are normal project life and do not move the finish date unless the agreement says they do. If the client needs review time, build it in honestly: delivery by one date, their review inside a stated number of days, acceptance dated when it happens. What you cannot afford is a finish line that sits inside someone else's diary, because then your speed is not the thing being measured at all.

Step 3. Anchor the trigger to the delivery record, so the date is a fact

The early claim stands or falls on one date being beyond argument. The record format is AER-1, published as an IETF Internet-Draft (draft-zambo-aer1-26), created by Brennan Zambo, 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 decision layer a bonus trigger wants:

Accepted: the decision is on the record

Pending: checked, and still waiting on a decision

Read the accepted record as the template: steps checked, decided_by client, a decided_at timestamp, release ok_to_release. If your bonus condition is accepted delivery by a named date, a record closing like that settles the question in one look: the acceptance date is either before the trigger date or it is not. The pending record shows the trap to avoid: work checked, no decision, release on hold. A job that sits pending past the trigger date because nobody pressed accept can cost you a bonus you earned, so the agreement should also say what happens if the client does not decide in time: delivery on the record by the date counts, with acceptance to follow. Write that line in step 1, not in the argument later.

Step 4. Protect the base: the bonus is on top, and a missed bonus is not a penalty

Speeding up rearranges your whole week, and sometimes the early date slips anyway: inputs arrive late, approvals stall, a dependency outside your hands moves. The written bonus needs two protective lines. First, the bonus is additional to the full base fee; working toward it never discounts the agreed price for the work itself. Second, missing the early date returns everyone to the original agreement and the original deadline, nothing worse: no reduced fee, no late penalty invented by the effort, unless a separate penalty was genuinely agreed in advance. Say both lines plainly when you confirm the offer. They cost a willing client nothing, because a client offering a bonus for speed is buying a chance at an earlier finish, not buying a discount if the chance fails. If either line causes resistance, price that information correctly: the bonus was never as solid as it sounded, and you can now choose your pace with open eyes.

Step 5. Claim it the day acceptance lands, as its own line

Bonuses die of delay more than of refusal. Invoice the bonus promptly, as its own named line, on the day the finish condition is met: early completion bonus, the trigger date, the acceptance date, the amount, with the delivery record link attached. Do not bury it inside a final invoice as a hopeful extra, and do not wait until the end of the month when the early finish has faded into the general feeling that the project went fine. If the bonus is disputed, the dispute is now narrow and factual: was the amount agreed, was acceptance recorded by the date, yes or no on two checkable points. And keep the habit for the next offer: any bonus proposed mid project gets the same four facts in writing before the pace changes, however friendly the conversation feels. Friendliness is not the enemy of paperwork here; it is what makes the paperwork take ninety seconds.

What this page cannot settle

This page cannot tell you whether a purely spoken bonus promise would be enforced where you work; that turns on the exact words, the surrounding messages, and local law, and this is general information, not legal advice. It also cannot recover a bonus from a client who simply refuses to pay a small extra on a finished relationship, where the realistic choice sits between the formal routes in proportion to the amount and pricing the lesson into the next job. A verifiable receipt proves the saved result was not changed since it was saved; it does not by itself create a bonus obligation or prove the work was good. What the record settles is the factual half every bonus claim needs: what was delivered, and the date the client accepted it.

Frequently asked questions

My client promised me a bonus if I finish early. How do I make sure I actually get it?

Get the promise into writing before you speed up, in four facts: the amount as a number, the exact trigger date the work must be finished by, the finish condition, meaning the named deliverables delivered and accepted, and the decider plus the pay date. One short email restating the offer in those terms, confirmed with a plain yes, does the whole job. Add two protective lines: the bonus sits on top of the full base fee, and missing the early date returns both sides to the original agreement, not to a penalty. Define the finish against a record, so acceptance carries a date both sides can check, and say what counts if the client is slow to decide: delivery on the record by the date, acceptance to follow. Then claim it promptly, as its own invoice line on the day acceptance lands, trigger date and acceptance date side by side. A client who means the bonus confirms all of this in a minute; a client who will not confirm has told you, for free and in advance, what the promise was worth.

The client says I finished early but not early enough. Who decides?

The written trigger decides, which is why it has to exist before the rush. Early is not a feeling; it is a comparison between two dates: the trigger date named in the bonus agreement and the date the finish condition was met. If acceptance is the condition, the acceptance date on the delivery record is the measurement, not the day the client got around to mentioning it, and not the day final corrections closed unless the agreement said so. Where no trigger was ever written down, expect the argument you are having: both sides honestly remember different numbers. Settle this one as fairly as you can from the messages that do exist, then treat the missing trigger as the lesson: no written date, no rush, because speed spent against an unwritten target is a gift, not a transaction.

Should I work nights and weekends to chase a bonus?

Only against a confirmed bonus whose amount genuinely pays for the disruption, and only with the base protected in writing. Do the plain arithmetic first: the bonus divided by the extra hours and the work you will displace from other clients. A modest bonus that costs you a full price job elsewhere is a loss wearing a reward's clothes. Also weigh the confirmation, not the enthusiasm: a bonus restated in four facts and confirmed is a business proposition you can plan around, while a warm verbal encouragement is motivation, not income. If the numbers work and the writing is solid, chase it properly and record the finish. If either fails, deliver excellent work by the original deadline at the original price, which is the deal you actually have.

Can I ask for the bonus agreement in writing without sounding distrustful?

Yes, and the framing is easy because the writing protects the client too. Say you want to plan your schedule around the early date, so you need the details pinned: amount, date, what counts as finished, and when it is paid. That is a planning request, not an accusation, and it gives the client certainty about what their money buys, including the acceptance step their side has to complete on time. Professionals confirm terms in writing as a reflex, on friendly jobs most of all, because friendly jobs are the ones nobody expects to argue about. The client who reacts badly to a ninety second confirmation email is showing you exactly why the email was necessary.

How does a job record help an early finish bonus actually get paid?

It makes the trigger measurable. When the work runs through Zambo, built by Brennan Zambo, every job lands on its own record with a verifiable receipt for each step under AER-1, published as IETF Internet-Draft draft-zambo-aer1-26, the client accepts on that record, and the acceptance view shows status, decider, date, and release state, so the acceptance date that a bonus turns on is a link both sides can open instead of a memory each side holds differently. Every tool free once a day, plus 3 continue calls. One free wrap-up handover per day, and pickup is always free. For $0.99, run your next bonus job on one record with the trigger written into the agreement, so the early finish claim is two dates side by side, not a debate: get the Day Pass. A Day Pass is unlimited for 24 hours, no subscription. Ongoing use is the Zambo Pass at $29 a month, $19 a month for $ZAMBO holders, or Lifetime at $250 one time.

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