Understand invoice statuses
A sales invoice moves through a small number of statuses. Some you set by taking an action (issuing, voiding, writing off); the rest are worked out automatically from the invoice's balance and due date. This guide explains each one.
The two kinds of status
Statuses you create by an action:
- Draft — a work-in-progress invoice. Editable, not in your accounts, not visible to the customer.
- Issued — finalised. The sale is recorded in your accounts and the invoice can be sent.
- Voided — an issued invoice that has been cancelled with a reversing entry. See Void or cancel an invoice.
- Write-Off — an issued invoice whose outstanding balance has been written off as a bad debt. See Write off an invoice as bad debt.
Statuses Sales Scribe works out for you (only while an invoice is issued, from its balance and due date):
- Partially Paid — some, but not all, of the invoice has been paid or credited.
- Paid — the balance has been cleared in full.
- Overdue — money is still outstanding and the due date has passed.
- Overpaid — more has been received or credited than the invoice was for.
You never set Partially Paid, Paid, Overdue or Overpaid by hand. Recording a payment, applying a credit note, or the due date passing changes the status automatically the next time you look.
Lifecycle
stateDiagram-v2
state "Write-Off" as WriteOff
[*] --> Draft: Create
Draft --> Issued: Issue
Draft --> [*]: Delete
Issued --> Voided: Void
Issued --> WriteOff: Write off balance
note right of Issued
While Issued, the status you see is
derived from the balance and due date:
Partially Paid, Paid, Overdue, Overpaid.
Payments and credit notes change it
automatically.
end note
How the automatic status is decided
When an invoice is issued, Sales Scribe looks at how much is still outstanding and whether the due date has passed, and shows the most relevant label. In order of precedence: Voided and Write-Off always win; otherwise a Draft is a draft; then Overpaid, Paid, Overdue, Partially Paid, and finally plain Issued if nothing has been paid yet and it is not overdue.
Important notes
- Only Draft, Issued, Voided and Write-Off are stored on the invoice. The payment-related labels are calculated each time the invoice is displayed.
- To clear an Overdue status, settle the balance — by recording a payment, applying a credit note, or writing it off.