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Sales invoices

Approve and issue an invoice

Issuing is the step that turns a Draft into a finalised invoice. It assigns the permanent invoice number, records the sale in your accounts and produces the definitive PDF, ready…

Approve and issue an invoice

Issuing is the step that turns a Draft into a finalised invoice. It assigns the permanent invoice number, records the sale in your accounts and produces the definitive PDF, ready to send to your customer.

Before you begin

An invoice can only be issued when all of the following are true:

  • It is still a Draft.
  • It has at least one line.
  • Its total is greater than zero.
  • No line points at a deleted product — re-point or remove any such line.
  • Your Accounting Settings are configured. Issuing needs, as a minimum, an AR control account, a Sales Revenue account and an Output VAT account mapped under Settings → Accounting.

Steps

  1. Go to Sales → Invoices and open the draft.
  2. Check the details carefully — after issuing you cannot edit the invoice.
  3. Select Issue Invoice and confirm.

[Screenshot required: Invoice details page with the Issue Invoice button]

To issue several drafts at once, go to the invoices list, tick the ones you want and select Issue Selected. Drafts are issued; anything already issued, voided or written off is skipped, and you get a short summary of the result.

What happens next

  • The invoice status becomes Issued and you will see Invoice … issued successfully. Accounting entries created.
  • The permanent invoice number is fixed.
  • The invoice becomes sendable — you can now email it to the customer.
  • The invoice is no longer editable. To make changes you void it or raise a credit note.
  • The branding in force is captured and the PDF is archived, so later design changes never alter this invoice — see Download or print an invoice.
  • The customer's billing and delivery details are frozen as they appear on the invoice. Renaming the customer or changing their addresses later never alters an issued invoice — the edit screen's Billing & delivery panel shows a Frozen badge.

Accounting impact

Issuing records the sale in your general ledger:

  • Accounts receivable increases by the invoice total (what the customer owes you).
  • Revenue increases by the net of each line (any invoice-level discount is spread proportionally across the revenue accounts of the lines).
  • Output VAT increases by the tax.
  • For any stock item you sold (a product set to Track inventory and For resale with a cost price), cost of goods sold is recorded and your inventory value is reduced at the same time.

You do not enter any of these figures — Sales Scribe posts them automatically.

Troubleshooting

  • "Only Draft invoices can be issued" — the invoice has already been issued, voided or written off.
  • "… has no line items" / "… zero or negative total" — add at least one line and make sure the total is positive.
  • "… reference a product that has been deleted" — edit the invoice and re-point or remove those lines.
  • "… your accounting configuration is incomplete" — map the AR control, Sales Revenue and Output VAT accounts under Settings → Accounting, then try again. See Configure your accounting settings and Why can't I issue this invoice?.
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