Void, cancel or write off an invoice

Stop billing for an invoice the right way. Discard or cancel a draft, void a sent invoice nobody has paid, or write off a balance you will not collect.

In the sidebar, open Sales & Billing, then Invoices, and open the invoice from the list.

Pick the right action

• Discard draft: a draft made by mistake. It goes to the trash and can be brought back for 30 days.
• Cancel draft: a draft you want kept on record as cancelled.
• Void invoice: an invoice that is no longer a draft, with no payment, credit, refund or deposit on it. It stays in your history as Voided and cannot be brought back.
• Write off as bad debt: an invoice that is no longer a draft, with a balance the customer will never pay. Nova records a bad-debt expense and lowers the balance. No money changes hands.

Steps

1. Open the actions menu (the three dots at the top of the invoice) and press See more. These actions sit last, in red.
2. Choose the action that fits.
3. For Void invoice or Cancel draft, a window opens. Pick a Reason category when Nova asks for one, and add a Business explanation if it helps. For a void on an invoice the customer already has, Email the customer about this status change is ticked; check the Recipients, or untick it. Press Void invoice or Cancel draft.
4. For Discard draft, Nova moves the draft to the trash straight away, unless your organization asks for a reason first.
5. For Write off as bad debt, a panel opens with the full amount due in Amount to write off. Lower it to write off only part, type a Reason, check the amounts Nova shows, and press Record write-off.

What you see

• A voided invoice's status chip reads Voided. A cancelled draft reads Canceled.
• A discarded draft leaves the list. To get it back within 30 days, press Recently discarded on the Invoices list and choose Restore draft.
• An invoice written off in full reads Written off, not Paid. Payments already received stay as they were.
• The write-off appears in Payments as its own entry. If the customer pays later, reverse the write-off there first, then record their payment. See Move or reverse a recorded payment.

If something looks different

• Void invoice is greyed out: the invoice has a payment, credit, refund or deposit on it. Hover it to read why. Reverse or refund the payment first, or use Write off as bad debt for the unpaid part.
• Write off as bad debt is missing: the invoice is paid, voided or still a draft, or your role cannot record bookkeeping expenses.
• The amount was wrong rather than uncollectible: correct the invoice instead. See Correct a sent or paid invoice with a replacement.
• The status email could not be delivered: choose Retry status email from the actions menu.

Open Invoices