Invoice Workflow

Understand the Draft, Sent, and Paid invoice lifecycle.

Every invoice moves through three statuses: Draft, Sent, and Paid. Each status determines what actions are available and how the invoice appears to you and your customer.

Draft

A new invoice starts as a draft. In this status:

• You can edit all fields — customer, line items, tax, discounts, dates, notes, and terms
• You can delete the invoice (with a 10-second undo)
• You can share a portal link, but a warning reminds you it’s still a draft
• You can duplicate it to create a copy
• You can mark as paid directly (skipping the Sent stage)

The invoice is not yet finalized. Edit freely until you’re ready to send.

Sent

When you share the invoice via link or email, the status changes to Sent. In this status:

• The invoice is locked — editing is restricted to prevent changes after the customer has seen it
• A branding snapshot is captured, preserving your logo, colors, and business info as they appeared at send time. This ensures the customer always sees a consistent invoice, even if you update your branding later.
• Your customer can view the invoice in the customer portal
• You can mark as paid when you receive payment

Paid

When payment is received — either recorded manually or received through online payment — the invoice moves to Paid. In this status:

• The invoice is read-only
• A green Invoice Paid banner shows the payment date, method, and any notes
• The payment is reflected in your dashboard revenue metrics

Status Transitions

Draft → Sent → Paid
  └──────────────┘
   (can skip Sent)

• Draft → Sent — happens when you share the invoice via link or email
• Sent → Paid — happens when you mark as paid or when the customer pays online (Pro)
• Draft → Paid — you can mark a draft as paid directly if you received payment before sending

There’s no way to move an invoice backwards (e.g., from Paid back to Sent). If you need to make changes after sending, duplicate the invoice and work with the new copy.

Branding Snapshots

When an invoice is sent, Service Invoice Pro captures a snapshot of your current branding and business info. This includes:

• Your business logo
• Primary and secondary colors
• Business name, address, phone, email, and website

This snapshot is used whenever the invoice is viewed in the portal or downloaded as a PDF. If you change your branding after sending, previously sent invoices keep their original appearance.

Available Actions by Status

Related

• Sending Invoices — how to share invoices via link or email
• Marking as Paid — record offline payments
• Customer Portal — what your customer sees