You’ve tested all the features, caught the bugs, written automated tests, and run regression - seems like everything is done. But… is the application really ready for release? Does it truly meet the needs of the business and the user?
This is where acceptance testing steps in - the final check before saying: “Yes, we can ship it.”

What is Acceptance Testing?

Acceptance Testing is the final stage of testing, aimed at confirming that the product meets business requirements and the expectations of the customer or user.

It’s the moment when the business or client says: “Yes, this is exactly what we wanted.”

Who performs acceptance testing?

It depends on the context, but most often:

• The client or customer (if the project is external)
• A business analyst, product owner, or stakeholder (if internal)
• QA engineers (in some cases, if delegated this role)

Acceptance testing is not just “one more check.” It’s proof that the product does what it was created to do.

Main Goals

• Verify that all business requirements are implemented
• Ensure critical user scenarios work correctly
• Decide on release readiness
• Record formal approval from the client or product owner

When is it conducted?

• Before deploying to production
• After regression testing
• Sometimes on a dedicated test or staging environment
• Within a sprint - at the end, before the demo

Types of Acceptance Testing

Alpha Testing
Conducted within the team before handing over to the client. Often done by QA + business representatives.

Beta Testing
Conducted by real users in a real or near-real environment. The goal is to collect feedback before a large-scale launch.

What does acceptance testing look like?

Typically, it uses a set of acceptance cases - not technical unit tests, but scenarios written in business language.

Example:

• Scenario: A user can place an order with online payment
• Expected result: The invoice is generated successfully, the payment goes through, and the order status is “paid”

Sometimes the BDD format (Given-When-Then) is used, especially in Agile/Scrum projects.

Difference from other types of testing

| Test type        | Goal                                    | Who performs              |
|------------------|-----------------------------------------|---------------------------|
| Unit tests       | Verify individual functions             | Developers                |
| Integration      | Verify module interaction               | QA / Dev                  |
| System           | Verify the system as a whole            | QA                        |
| Acceptance       | Confirm the product meets business goals | Customer / Business       |

Common Mistakes

• Assuming regression testing alone means the product is ready
• Forgetting business context and checking “technically,” not by meaning
• Conducting acceptance without documentation (and then arguing later whether “it should be this way or not”)
• Delivering the product without business approval

Acceptance Criteria

Each feature in proper development should come with acceptance criteria - conditions under which it is considered done.

Example:

• The “Send” button is active only when all required fields are filled in
• After submitting the form, the user sees a confirmation
• The message is saved in the database

If all criteria are met - the feature is accepted.