From Draft to Paid: Follow the Journey
Every invoice in Officaid has a status that reflects where it is in the payment cycle. Understanding these statuses helps you quickly identify which invoices need attention, track outstanding payments, and keep your accounts receivable organized.
Invoice Statuses Explained
Officaid uses five statuses to track the lifecycle of an invoice:
- Draft – The invoice is saved but has not been finalized or sent to your client. You can continue editing it freely.
- Due – The invoice has been approved and is awaiting payment. Officaid displays how many days remain until the due date.
- Overdue – The due date has passed and no full payment has been received. Officaid displays how many days the invoice is past due.
- Partial Payment – The client has paid a portion of the invoice amount, but a balance remains outstanding.
- Paid – The invoice has been fully paid and no further action is required.
The Invoice Lifecycle
Here's how a typical invoice moves through the system:
- You create an invoice and save it as a Draft.
- Once finalized, you approve the draft, and the status changes to Due.
- If the due date passes without payment, the status changes to Overdue.
- When you record a payment, the status updates to Partial Payment or Paid depending on the amount received.
Converting a Draft to an Invoice
Draft invoices are internal documents that have not been sent to your client. The document itself is marked as "Draft Invoice" to distinguish it from finalized invoices.
To finalize a draft and make it ready for sending:
- 1 Open the draft invoice you want to finalize.
- 2 Review all details to ensure accuracy.
- 3 Click the Approve Draft button.
Once approved, the document title changes to Tax Invoice (if tax is applied to any line item) or Invoice (if no tax is applied). The status also changes from Draft to Due.
Filtering Invoices by Status
When you have many invoices, filtering by status helps you focus on what needs attention. To filter your invoice list:
- 1 Navigate to Finance → Income and open the Invoices tab.
- 2 Click one of the filter buttons at the top: All, Draft, Due, Overdue, or Paid.
The list will update to show only invoices matching your selected status. This makes it easy to review all overdue invoices at once or check which drafts still need to be finalized.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Invoice statuses update automatically based on your actions. When you approve a draft, the status changes to Due. When you record a payment, it changes to Partial Payment or Paid. When the due date passes, it changes to Overdue. This ensures your records always reflect the true state of each invoice.
Open the invoice and scroll to the Invoice Activity section. This displays a complete history of all payments received, including dates and amounts. You can also see the remaining balance at the top of the invoice.
The document title depends on whether tax is applied. If any line item has tax, the document is titled Tax Invoice. If no tax is applied to any line item, it's simply titled Invoice. This distinction helps with compliance in regions that require tax invoices for claiming input tax.
No. You must approve the draft first before you can send it. This ensures that only finalized invoices reach your clients, preventing incomplete or incorrect documents from being sent accidentally.
Officaid will still mark the invoice as Paid. The payment record will reflect the actual amount received. If you need to refund the overpayment, you can create a credit note or handle it as a separate transaction.
What's Next?
Now that you understand invoice statuses, explore these related guides:
- Recording a Payment – Mark invoices as paid when you receive funds
- Sending an Invoice – Email invoices directly to your clients
- Adding a Credit Note – Issue refunds or make corrections to existing invoices