Sales
Sales invoice status workflow
How an invoice moves from draft to completed through pending, approved and partially paid, what locks at each stage, and when payment is allowed.
Updated 12 September 2026
A sales invoice carries six possible statuses. Together they control when the invoice affects your accounts, when it can take a payment and when it becomes read-only.
The workflow
- The invoice is created.
- Customer and product details are added.
- The invoice is saved as Draft or submitted.
- A submitted invoice moves to Pending.
- An authorised user approves it.
- The approved invoice becomes available for payment recording.
- Payment is recorded, in part or in full.
- The invoice moves to Partially Paid or Completed.
What does each status mean?
Draft: created but not submitted. Full editing is allowed, the invoice is not part of the approval workflow, and it has no financial impact on the system.
Pending: submitted for approval. The invoice is locked for full editing, is visible for review and verification, needs approval from an authorised user, and cannot take a payment yet.
Approved: verified and approved. Editing is restricted and the invoice becomes eligible for payment recording, in part or in full.
Partially Paid: a part payment has been recorded. The balance is still outstanding, further payments can be recorded, and the invoice stays active in receivable tracking.
Completed: fully paid. The invoice is closed, no further financial actions are allowed, and it remains for reporting and historical reference.
Void: cancelled and removed from active financial processing. A reason is required, the invoice cannot take payments, it stays available for audit, and access depends on permissions.
The rules
- Status transitions are controlled by role permissions.
- Each status defines which actions are available.
- Payment actions are only available after approval.
- Completed and void invoices are read-only.
- Every change is tracked for audit.
Why this matters for your figures
Draft invoices are invisible to your accounts. They do not appear in accounts receivable, in cash flow or on the dashboard. If a day’s sales look lower than the till shows, the usual cause is invoices left in draft. The pending transactions panel on the dashboard lists them.
An approved invoice counts as a receivable even before any money arrives, because you have billed it. The money appears when the payment is recorded and then settled.
Correcting an approved invoice
You do not edit it. Raise a credit note against it instead, which reduces what the customer owes and leaves the original invoice intact for audit.