Invoice lifecycle

Invoice lifecycle at a glance

An invoice records an amount owed, its approval position, and its payment position. Invoices move from preparation through approval and then into Due, Overdue, or Paid.

mermaid
stateDiagram-v2
    Draft --> "Awaiting Approval": Request approval
    Draft --> Approved: Approve
    "Released for Invoicing" --> "Awaiting Approval": Request approval
    "Released for Invoicing" --> Approved: Approve
    "Awaiting Approval" --> Approved: Approve
    "Awaiting Approval" --> Draft: Cancel request for approval
    "Awaiting Approval" --> "Rejected Approval": Reject approval request
    Approved --> Draft: Consider as not approved
    Approved --> Due: Consider as sent
    Due --> Overdue: payment period passes
    Due --> Paid: due amount is zero or less
    Overdue --> Paid: due amount is zero or less

The status list includes Draft, Released for Invoicing, Awaiting Approval, Rejected Approval, Approved, Due, Overdue, and Paid. An invoice is Paid when its due amount is zero or less. It is Overdue when its payment period has passed and the due amount remains; otherwise, it is Due.

Before you start

The invoice workspace is the finance area where you locate an invoice, review its status, and continue the action available for that status.

An approval process determines whether approval actions apply, and approval permission determines which permitted action you can use.

Prerequisites

• Your account includes the invoice feature.
• You have a saved invoice for approval actions and saved-record areas.
• You have no unsaved invoice changes before requesting or completing approval.
• An approval process applies before Approve or Request approval appears.
• You have the approval permission required for the action.
• You have the invoice information needed for the form, including Invoicing Address and Issued By.

After these checks, open Financial and choose All Invoices to locate the invoice.

Find and open an invoice

The invoice list is the starting point for locating a saved invoice by invoice type or status. Open Financial and choose All Invoices.

Prerequisites

• You can open the finance invoice workspace.

Steps

1. Open Financial and choose All Invoices.

2. Choose the list that matches your work.

   If you need to…	Choose
   Review all invoice records	All
   Review sales invoices	Sales Invoices
   Review commission invoices	Commission Invoices
   Review incoming payments	Incoming Payments
   Track principal invoices	Tracking Principal Invoices

   The invoice workspace can also include Payment List and Principals Invoices. Account Invoices is not an active list tab; use the invoice creation route instead.

3. Choose the status view that matches the invoice position.

   If you need to…	Choose
   Review upcoming invoices	Upcoming
   Review drafts	Draft
   Review approved invoices	Approved
   Review receivables	Receivable
   Review paid invoices	Paid

   For commission invoices, Awaiting Principal Payoff is available as an additional status view. The Due/Overdue filter opens the Due list; read the row status to distinguish Due from Overdue.

4. Use the invoice number and status in a row to identify the record.

5. Choose the list tool that matches your purpose.

   If you need to…	Select
   Reload the list	Refresh
   Review list-layout choices	Table Layout
   Open list settings	Settings

6. Open a row action menu when you need a different destination.

   If you need to…	Select
   Open the invoice	Open
   Open the related sales job	Open job page
   Open the invoice in another browser tab	Open in new tab

7. In Settings, select Export when you need a file of the current list.

8. In the export dialog, choose Export to Excel or Export to PDF.

9. Select Export.

   If there are no rows to export, the list reports NO Data to Export.

Result: The invoice list is open at the selected invoice type and status position.

Read the invoice workspace

An invoice record brings together account and date information, invoice amounts, approval actions, payment areas, and history for one invoice.

The header fields are Account, Invoice Date, Invoicing Address, Payment Period, Issued By, Vendor Order No., External invoice no., Client, Client Order No., Order Date, Delivery Date, Delivery Term, Payment Method, L/C Number, Freight No., and Invoice Note. Invoicing Address and Issued By are required by the form rules.

The amount area includes Invoice amount, Total taxes, Total incl. tax, Paid Amount, Deductions, and Due amount. For sales, additional, commission-additional, and account invoices, due amount is total after taxes minus paid and deducted amounts.

The status marker identifies Draft, Awaiting Approval, Approved, Due, Overdue, or Paid. The list can use the available list setup, so use the headers visible in your list.

The saved-invoice action area provides Save and Save and Close when editing is allowed. They are disabled when there are no changes or while saving.

When you need a new invoice rather than an existing record, continue to Choose an invoice creation route.

Choose an invoice creation route

The finance invoice area provides separate entry points for account invoices and additional invoices. Field-by-field entry belongs in Create an Account Invoice.

Prerequisites

• You know whether you are creating an account invoice or an additional invoice.
• You have the invoice information required by the selected form.

Steps

1. Open the invoice creation choices.

2. Choose the route that matches the document you need.

   If you need to…	Choose
   Create an account invoice	Account Invoices
   Create an additional invoice	Additional Invoices

3. Continue the detailed entry in Create an Account Invoice.

The account-invoice item grid uses Item, Unit, Quantity, Unit Price, Discount, Item Price, Tax, and Currency Code. Quantity accepts 1 through 999,999; unit price, sales price, and tax must be greater than 0; and discount ranges from 0 through 100.

For a new account invoice, the application starts the invoice in Draft, uses the signed-in user's currency, and creates one initial item row. Changing the invoice currency applies the new currency code and symbol to every item and recalculates the items.

Result: The selected invoice creation route is open for detailed invoice entry.

After entering the invoice, continue with Request and complete approval when the invoice is ready for approval.

Request and complete approval

Approval is the handoff from an invoice prepared for approval to an invoice ready for the next finance action.

Prerequisites

• The invoice is Draft, Released for Invoicing, or Awaiting Approval, as applicable.
• An approval process applies.
• You have the permission required for the action.

Steps

1. Open the saved invoice and read its status marker.

2. Choose the action that matches your permission and the current status.

   If…	Select
   The invoice is Draft or Released for Invoicing and you cannot approve it	Request approval
   The invoice is Draft, Released for Invoicing, or Awaiting Approval and you can approve it	Approve
   The invoice is Awaiting Approval and you need to withdraw the request	Cancel request for approval
   The invoice is Awaiting Approval and you can reject it	Reject approval request
   The invoice is Approved and must return to draft	Consider as not approved

3. Read the status marker after the action completes.

   A successful status update reports Invoice updated successfully. If the approval limit does not allow approval, the application reports This invoice exceeds your approval limit.

Result: The invoice status marker shows the status produced by the selected approval action.

Follow Due, Overdue, and Paid branches

Payment status tells you whether an invoice is still due, has passed its payment period, or has no remaining amount due.

Steps

1. Open the invoice and read Due amount.

2. Read the payment period associated with the invoice.

3. Read the paid amount and deductions shown in the amount area.

4. Choose the status that matches the due amount and payment period.

   If…	Choose
   The due amount is zero or less	Paid
   The payment period has passed and the due amount remains	Overdue
   The payment period has not passed and the due amount remains	Due

5. Select the sent action that matches the invoice type and approval state.

   If you need to…	Select
   Record that the invoice was sent to the principal	Consider as sent to principal
   Record that the invoice was sent to the client	Consider as sent to client
   Record that it was not sent to the principal	Consider as not sent to principal
   Record that it was not sent to the client	Consider as not sent to client

6. Choose Due, Overdue, or Paid in the invoice list.

Result: The invoice appears under the status that matches its due amount and payment timing; if the status or action differs, open When an invoice action does not work.

When an invoice action does not work

Use this table when a save, approval, validation, permission, or route result differs from the expected invoice action.

If the selected creation route returns you to the finance workspace, return to Financial and open the invoice area again before continuing.

Out of scope: messages from related areas

These messages belong to embedded activity, contact, file, or other related areas rather than the invoice lifecycle:

Continue with the next finance task

The saved invoice hands work to payment, principal-invoice, purchase-invoice, and related-record areas.

Prerequisites

• You have a saved invoice.
• You can open the applicable finance workspace.

1. Choose the related area that matches your next task.

   If you need to…	Open or use
   Review the related principal invoice	(principal Invoice), then Principal invoices
   Work with purchase invoices or outgoing payments	Payables
   Review related saved-record information when the area is available	Attachment, Tasks, Activities, or Last Modifications

Result: You know which finance page or saved-record area owns the next action.