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Invoice Statuses

What this is for​

Every invoice carries a status that tells everyone on the team where it is in the process. Use the status to answer: "Is this one done?" "Has this gone to the customer?" "Has this been pushed to accounting?"

The four statuses are Draft, Finalized, Exported, and Archived.

Screenshot pending

Draft and Finalized invoice status badges.

This screenshot will be added in a future docs update once the underlying state is reproducible in dev.

Steps​

The lifecycle​

Draft​

The invoice has just been generated. The numbers are set but the invoice is not ready to send to the customer yet. This is the default status for every new invoice.

What you can do in Draft: download the PDF to review, delete the invoice, regenerate it, or move it to Finalized once it looks right.

Finalized​

The invoice has been reviewed and the numbers are locked in. It is ready to send to the customer and ready to push to accounting.

What you can do in Finalized: download the final PDF, send it to the customer, push it to accounting (which moves it to Exported), or move it back to Draft if you need to fix something.

Screenshot pending

Exported and Archived invoice status badges.

This screenshot will be added in a future docs update once the underlying state is reproducible in dev.

Exported​

The invoice has been pushed into the accounting system (QuickBooks, Sage, etc.). No one should change the numbers anymore — they are already on the books.

What you can do in Exported: download the PDF for your records, or move it to Archived when the period closes.

Archived​

The invoice is closed out and filed away. This is the end state. Archived invoices stay searchable in the list but they are hidden from the default view.

What you can do in Archived: view and download only. No more edits.

How to change a status​

  1. Open the invoice's detail page.
  2. Click the status badge at the top.
  3. Pick the new status from the menu.
  4. The change is saved immediately.

Common mistakes​

  • Leaving every invoice in Draft. Once you have reviewed the numbers, move it to Finalized so your team knows it is ready.
  • Skipping Exported. If you push to accounting but don't update the status, the next person will try to push it again.
  • Archiving early. Don't archive until the accounting period is closed — you may still need to edit.
  • Moving back to Draft after exporting. Don't do this. If the invoice is already in accounting, create a credit memo in the accounting system instead.

What to do if it goes wrong​

  • If you moved an invoice to the wrong status, open it again and pick the correct one. No information is lost when you change a status.
  • If you can't change the status, you may not have permission. Ask your administrator.
  • If a Draft invoice has the wrong numbers, fix the underlying time record with a Time Correction, then delete and regenerate the invoice.
  • If an Exported invoice has an error, do not change its status. Fix it in the accounting system and use a credit memo.