This article explains how to edit or delete an invoice depending on its status. In the day-to-day management of your business, an invoice may contain an error or need to be canceled. Depending on its status, certain modifications remain possible, while others are limited for legal and accounting reasons.
Before making any changes or deleting an invoice, please note the following:
- Deleting an invoice is irreversible.
- A deleted invoice cannot be recovered.
- The number of a deleted invoice is not automatically reassigned.
Summary:
- Edit invoice based on its status
- Status "Draft"
- Status "Open" or "Overdue"
- Status "Partially paid" or "Paid"
- Delete invoice
- Invoices with "Draft" status
- Invoices with "Open", "Overdue" or "Paid" status
- The invoice has been deleted and you want to reuse the same number?
1. Edit invoice based on its status
The level of modification allowed depends entirely on the current status of your invoice.
Status "Draft"
You can edit everything (client details, positions, prices, conditions).
Status "Open" or "Overdue"
A finalized invoice cannot be edited directly anymore. To make corrections, you must first change it back to Draft status.
Prerequisite: The invoice must be completely unpaid; no payments must have been recorded.
How to do it:
- Open the relevant invoice.
- Click on the action button Edit invoice again.
- The invoice status changes back to "Draft": you can now correct all information.
Status "Partially paid" or "Paid"
For legal and accounting reasons, a paid invoice cannot have its content modified anymore (amounts, items, client information). However, you can correct accounting allocation errors.
You can correct the allocation accounts.
Prerequisites:
- You must have the user permission "Edit invoice".
- The relevant financial year must be open.
- The relevant VAT period must be open.
How to do it:
- Open the relevant invoice (which must have the status "Paid" or "Partially paid"), then click on the "Change accounting accounts" button.
- Modify the account for the desired line items.
- Click on Save. The change will be automatically reflected in the invoice and in the journal entry.
All these changes are tracked. You can see which user modified the accounting accounts and when, directly in the Invoice history.
Note regarding credit notes: If your invoice has been settled with a credit note, the latter is not affected by the modification. You must correct the allocation accounts of the credit note separately.
2. Delete invoice
Deleting an invoice is only possible if it has no definitive legal or accounting existence.
Invoices with "Draft" status
An invoice in draft status can be deleted at any time.
How to do it:
- Open the invoice in question.
- Click on the trash icon to delete it.
Invoices with "Open", "Overdue" or "Paid" status
Invoices that have already been finalised or paid cannot be deleted directly.
Recommended alternative
If the invoice has already been sent to the client or a payment has been recorded, we recommend proceeding as follows:
- Click on the "Cancel invoice" button (if the option is available).
- Or create a credit note under the "Incoming payments & credit notes" tab to cancel the invoice in your accounting records.
If you need to make manual journal entries as a result, we highly recommend consulting your accountant to ensure the compliance of your accounting entries and VAT.
3. The invoice has been deleted and you want to reuse the same number?
If you have deleted an invoice and absolutely need to reassign its number to a new document, here is the workaround procedure to follow:
- Go to "Settings" → "All settings" → "Features & Modules" → "Invoices".
- In the default document settings, uncheck the box "Assign numbers automatically", then click "Save".
- Then create a new document and manually enter the number of the previously deleted invoice.
Important: Once the invoice is created with the desired number, do not forget to go back to the standard settings to reactivate automatic numbering.