The states an invoice actually passes through
- Draft — amounts exist but nothing has been promised to the customer.
- Issued — the invoice has a number, a date, terms and a due date.
- Delivered — there is evidence the customer received it.
- Partially paid — a deposit or progress payment has been applied.
- Paid — the balance is zero and a receipt exists.
- Overdue — the due date passed with a balance remaining.
- Disputed — the customer contests scope, amount or quality.
- Written off — the balance is closed without payment, on purpose and on the record.
What has to be true before an invoice can be issued
An invoice is a claim about work. If the claim cannot be traced back to something the customer approved, it will be argued about. Before issuing, the amount should tie to an accepted estimate, a signed contract, an approved change order, or completed work that was documented at the time.
That traceability is also what makes collections calm later. "Here is the approved scope, here is the change order you signed, here is the completion photo" ends most disputes without a phone argument.
Why issued and delivered are different states
Plenty of unpaid invoices were never actually received. They went to a spelled-wrong address, a decommissioned inbox, or a spam folder. If your system only knows "we sent it", every one of those looks identical to a customer who is refusing to pay.
Track delivery separately: the address used, the timestamp, and whether the invoice was opened or viewed. When an invoice ages, the first question should be answerable in one click — did this ever reach a human?
Closing an invoice without losing the history
- Write-offs are decisions and should record who approved them and why.
- Corrections are new documents — credit notes or revised invoices — not silent edits.
- Voided invoices keep their number so the sequence stays auditable.
- Payment records, receipts and the invoice remain linked after closure.
- Deleting a paid or partially paid invoice destroys the payment's context.