I Can't Edit an Invoice or Bill
Invoices and bills can only be edited at the very start of their life. Once you move one forward, the Edit button goes away. This is deliberate — it stops a document changing after someone has been sent it or agreed to pay it.
Invoices
Section titled “Invoices”An invoice is editable only while it is a Draft.
| Status | Can you edit it? | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Yes | Edit freely, or mark it as Sent |
| Sent | No | Rescind it back to Draft, then edit |
| Partial | No | Nothing — see below |
| Paid | No | Nothing — see below |
| Void | No | Nothing; it’s cancelled |
To change a sent invoice, use Rescind. It appears on sent invoices and pulls the invoice back to Draft so you can edit and send it again. There is no direct edit.
Once a payment is recorded, Rescind disappears. A partially or fully paid invoice cannot be pulled back to Draft, and cannot be voided either — voiding is only possible while nothing has been paid against it. The same goes for an invoice with a credit applied to it.
To reduce a sent or paid invoice, issue a credit memo. It lowers what the client owes without touching the invoice. See Credit Memos.
You also never set Partial or Paid yourself. Those are set for you as payments are recorded and credits applied.
Bills work the same way, one status earlier.
| Status | Can you edit it? | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Yes | Edit freely, or approve it |
| Approved | No | Rescind it back to Pending, then edit |
| Partial | No | Nothing |
| Paid | No | Nothing |
| Void | No | Nothing; it’s cancelled |
Approving a bill is not paying it. Approved means cleared for payment — nothing has left your account. Partial and Paid arrive on their own as you record disbursements or apply vendor credits against it.
As with invoices, once any payment is recorded or credit applied, the bill can no longer be rescinded or voided.
To reduce an approved or paid bill, record a vendor credit from the payee and apply it. See Vendor Credits.
If there’s no Edit button at all
Section titled “If there’s no Edit button at all”If you can’t edit even a Draft invoice or a Pending bill, it isn’t the status — your role doesn’t include permission to manage them. See I can’t see a feature or button.