Understanding Invoice Types

AccuArk handles several kinds of invoices, and understanding the differences is important for managing your workflow correctly. This guide explains each invoice type, what distinguishes them, and how the type affects what you can do with the invoice.

Active Invoices

An active invoice is any invoice where the IsClosed field is set to 0 (not closed). Active invoices are the ones you work with day to day. They can be edited, have payments recorded against them, move through order statuses, and receive team assignments.

Active invoices represent orders that are in progress. They might be quotes waiting for approval, orders in production, or delivered jobs waiting for final payment. The key characteristic is that the invoice is still part of your active workflow and can be modified.

When you open the Invoice List and filter for active invoices, you see every order that has not yet been closed. This is the primary view for managing your current workload.

What You Can Do with Active Invoices

• Edit line items (unless the current status has an edit lock)
• Change the order status
• Record payments and refunds
• Assign teams
• Request customer approval
• Confirm delivery
• Email and print
• Log progress updates
• Create purchase orders from line items

Closed Invoices

A closed invoice is one where the IsClosed field is set to 1. Closing an invoice is a deliberate action that signals the order is complete and no further changes should be made.

When you close an invoice, several things happen:

• The invoice becomes read-only. You cannot edit line items, change the order status, or record additional payments through normal means.
• The invoice moves from the active invoice list to the closed invoice view.
• Any remaining balance is preserved for reporting purposes but the invoice is no longer considered part of your active accounts receivable workflow.
• Status-driven inventory actions that occurred during the invoice's lifecycle are finalized. Stock that was subtracted remains subtracted.

Closed invoices are not deleted. They remain in the system permanently and contribute to all historical reports, sales totals, and customer purchase history.

When to Close an Invoice

Close an invoice when all of the following are true:

• The order has been fully delivered or completed
• All payments have been received (balance is zero) or the remaining balance has been written off
• No further status changes or team assignments are expected

You can also close an invoice to cancel it. A cancelled order that will never be fulfilled should be closed so it does not clutter the active invoice list. The status history will show that it was cancelled before being closed, preserving the full audit trail.

Reopening a Closed Invoice

If a closed invoice needs to be modified, an authorized user can reopen it. Reopening sets IsClosed back to 0, returning the invoice to the active list and allowing edits. This requires appropriate permissions. The reopen action is logged in the audit trail with the user and timestamp.

Common reasons to reopen a closed invoice include recording a late payment, correcting an error discovered after closing, or processing a return or refund.

Point of Sale Invoices

Point of Sale (POS) invoices are created automatically when a transaction is completed at the POS register. They differ from standard invoices in several important ways:

How POS Invoices Are Created

POS invoices are generated by the POS module, not by the invoice form. When a cashier rings up items at the register, selects a customer (optional), collects payment, and completes the transaction, the system creates a POS invoice behind the scenes.

Auto-Closed

POS invoices are automatically closed at the time of creation. Because the transaction is completed in a single interaction at the register (items scanned, payment collected, receipt printed), there is no need for the invoice to remain active. The IsClosed field is set to 1 immediately.

This means POS invoices do not appear in the active invoice list. They are visible in the closed invoice view and in POS reports.

No Order Status Workflow

POS invoices do not go through the order status workflow. There is no progression from Quote to Approved to In Production because the entire transaction happens at the register in one step. The order status on a POS invoice is typically set to a default completed status.

Inventory Impact

Inventory is subtracted immediately during the POS transaction. There is no reservation step because the items are being sold and handed to the customer on the spot. The stock reduction happens in real time as the transaction is processed.

Payments Already Recorded

POS invoices have their payments recorded as part of the transaction. The payment method and amount are captured at the register, so the balance on a POS invoice is typically zero when it is created. There is no need to record additional payments.

The InvoiceType Field

Every invoice has an InvoiceType field that indicates how it was created. The two primary values are:

The InvoiceType field affects the following behaviors:

• Listing and filtering -- The Invoice List can be filtered by type so you can view standard invoices and POS transactions separately
• Reporting -- Sales reports can break down revenue by invoice type, showing you how much comes from invoiced orders versus walk-in POS sales
• Form behavior -- When opening a POS invoice from the invoice list, the form displays the data in read-only mode since POS transactions are already completed and closed

Quotes and Estimates

Quotes and estimates are not a separate invoice type in AccuArk. Instead, they are standard invoices set to a quote or estimate order status. This means a quote is simply an active invoice whose current status is "Quote" or "Estimate" (or whatever you have named your initial statuses).

The advantage of this approach is that converting a quote to an order requires no data re-entry. You simply change the order status from "Quote" to the next status in your workflow (such as "Approved" or "Order Placed"). All line items, customer information, and pricing carry forward automatically.

If a quote is declined, you can either close the invoice (marking it as cancelled in the status history) or leave it in the quote status for follow-up later. There is no separate quote management screen because quotes live in the same invoice list as all other invoices.

Summary Table

What to Read Next

• Saving, Closing, and Reopening Invoices -- Learn the mechanics of saving changes and managing the open/closed lifecycle
• Order Status Workflow -- Configure the statuses that power your invoice workflow
• Payment Recording and Refunds -- Record payments against active invoices