HKSM

Outputs that have been formally reviewed and approved by authorized stakeholders as meeting agreed requirements and acceptance criteria. They are ready for handover, transition, or inclusion in the final product baseline.

Key Points

• Represent formal stakeholder approval that deliverables meet agreed acceptance criteria.
• Evidence includes sign-off forms, e-signatures, approval logs, or equivalent records.
• May be granted incrementally by phase, iteration, feature, or contract milestone.
• Trigger transitions, payments, and closure activities in accordance with governance.
• Maintained under configuration control; any change requires formal change control.
• Provide inputs to performance reporting, lessons learned, and benefits realization planning.

Purpose

To formally confirm that deliverables meet defined acceptance criteria and stakeholder needs, reducing ambiguity and rework. Accepted deliverables enable transition, contract fulfillment, and project or phase closure while ensuring accountability and traceability.

Who Approves

• Customer or sponsor identified in the charter, contract, or governance plan.
• Product owner in adaptive approaches for items meeting acceptance criteria and the Definition of Done.
• Business owner or operations lead responsible for receiving and using the deliverable.
• Regulatory or compliance authority when policy or law requires formal acceptance.
• The project manager facilitates the process but does not approve on behalf of the business.

How to Prepare

• Confirm the scope baseline and acceptance criteria for each deliverable.
• Collect verification evidence such as test results, inspection reports, demos, and review notes.
• Map each acceptance criterion to objective evidence; resolve defects or document approved residuals.
• Complete an acceptance record capturing item, version, criteria met, variances, and impacts.
• Route the record through the defined approval workflow to obtain signatures or e-approvals.
• Update configuration identifiers and baselines; store artifacts in the project repository.
• Communicate acceptance status and update the requirements and deliverables registers.

How to Use

• Authorize handover, release, or deployment according to the transition plan.
• Close work packages or iterations and update status and performance reports.
• Fulfill contract obligations and trigger milestone payments where applicable.
• Feed change, release, and operations processes with final specifications and evidence.
• Archive acceptance records and capture lessons learned for future work.

Gate Checklist Example

• Acceptance criteria for the deliverable are clearly referenced from the scope baseline.
• All required tests, inspections, and reviews are completed with results attached.
• No open critical defects, or residual issues are formally accepted with owners and dates.
• Formal approvals captured with names, roles, dates, and versions.
• Requirements traceability shows linkage from requirement to the accepted deliverable.
• Configuration item identifiers and baseline version are recorded.
• Compliance and regulatory approvals obtained where applicable.
• Handover and support readiness (training, docs, SLAs) are confirmed.

Governance Rules

• Define acceptance authorities, thresholds, and workflows in the governance plan or contract.
• Use objective, evidence-based acceptance criteria; verbal-only approvals are not sufficient.
• Record approvals in a controlled repository with versioning and audit trail.
• Allow partial acceptance only with documented conditions, timelines, and controls.
• Do not deploy or invoice before required acceptance unless a documented waiver or risk acceptance exists.
• Apply formal change control for any alterations to accepted items.
• Track and report acceptance status at each gate and in regular governance reviews.

PMP Example Question

During a phase-end review, the project manager needs documented evidence that the customer has formally approved product increments that met the acceptance criteria. Which artifact should the manager reference?

1. Verified deliverables
2. Accepted deliverables
3. Requirements traceability matrix
4. Approved change requests

Correct Answer: B — Accepted deliverables

Explanation: Accepted deliverables provide formal stakeholder approval that criteria were met. Verified deliverables show quality checks were completed but do not confirm customer acceptance.