A deliverable is a product, good, or service that is given to the requester for review. They can be tangible or intangible.
Deliverables can be for both internal (colleague to colleague) or external (business to customer) use. In both circumstances there is always a requester and a deliverer. The requester sets the parameters for the deliverable and informs the deliverer on what the deliverable should contain. An example of an internal deliverable could be a report on Q1 earnings. The requester will let his employee know exactly what figures he wants in the report and the deliverer will put together the deliverable and give it to the requester by the due date. An example of an external deliverable could be a marketing video. A financial institution might request a marketing video to be produced by a marketing firm, giving them the instructions on what they want to see in the video. The deliverer (marketing firm) will then put together the deliverable (marketing video) and present it to the requester (financial institution). Deliverables are important because it gives the deliverer a clear end goal of what their project should consist of and allows them to plan their time efficiently so the project can be completed.