Something is wrong on a document. What you can do about it depends on how far it has gone — and the rules are strict on purpose, because a numbering sequence with a hole in it is a problem at audit.
The four things you can do
| Action | When it is allowed | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Edit | A draft, always. A quotation or proforma in any status until something is raised from it. A sales order while confirmed with nothing delivered, packed or invoiced. An invoice, bill of supply, credit note, retainer or delivery challan only as a draft. | Saved under the same number. A draft reaches nothing; an offer or order changes in place. |
| Delete | Draft only, and only the newest of its kind. | It is gone. Its number goes back to the counter. |
| Revise | A quotation, proposal, proforma or sales order that has gone out, if revisions are on, and nothing has been raised or delivered from it. | A numbered revision is raised. The original is marked superseded and stays readable. |
| Cancel | A draft, or an offer or order if nothing depends on it. A sent invoice is withdrawn with a credit note instead. | The document stays with its number, marked cancelled. |
Why only the newest draft can be deleted
Deleting an older one would leave a gap in the numbering that cannot be filled, because the numbers either side are already on documents somebody has been sent. A sequence with a hole in it is exactly what an auditor asks about.
When the newest goes, its number is handed back to the counter and the next document reuses it rather than skipping it. That only happens when it genuinely holds the last number issued, so two people deleting at once cannot wind the counter back twice.
A sent invoice is final
An invoice, bill of supply or credit note is edited while it is a draft. Before it goes, Mark as sent, Send and the status bar all ask first, because once sent it is the document your customer holds and the one GST was told about. After that, nothing it says changes; only its owner, tags, custom fields and internal notes can.
- Charged too much, or goods came back: a credit note for the difference.
- Charged too little: a debit note for the difference, raised from the invoice.
- Wrong from the start, for the wrong customer say: Cancel on its menu, which opens a credit note for its full value. It withdraws the sale from GST and your books, keeps both documents on record, and gives what the invoice took back to its sales order and quotation. Then raise the right invoice.
What can still be edited
| Document | Edited | Fixed once |
|---|---|---|
| Quotation, proforma | In any status, accepted, declined or expired included | An order, proforma or invoice is raised from it, or it is cancelled or converted |
| Proposal | Draft, sent, declined or expired | Accepted, converted or cancelled |
| Sales order | Draft, or confirmed | Anything is delivered, packed or invoiced against it, or it is cancelled, void or closed |
| Invoice, bill of supply, credit note, retainer, delivery challan | As a draft | Sent, issued or dispatched |
| Purchase order | Draft, or open | Anything is billed or received, or it is closed or cancelled |
| Purchase bill | Draft, or open while unpaid | Paid or cancelled |
Once fixed, only its owner, tags, custom fields and internal notes change. When Edit is not offered, the server refuses the change too, so nothing is changed behind the page.
Revisions
A quotation, proposal, proforma or sales order that has gone out and needs changing should not have a second one raised beside it, because that is how the wrong price gets accepted. It is replaced by a numbered revision: 0015 becomes 0015-R1. What it replaces is marked superseded rather than deleted, so what the customer is holding stays readable.
Once an invoice or an order has been raised from it, or goods delivered, it can no longer be revised: it would be a second document to bill from. Invoices, bills of supply and credit notes are never revised.
Revisions can be switched off in Settings, Plugins, Sales documents, in which case a document has to be cancelled and raised again.
A filed month is closed
Marking GSTR-1 filed closes its month: no invoice, bill of supply or credit note can be issued or cancelled in it, so the return you filed stays true. Marking GSTR-3B filed does the same for purchase bills and debit notes. Correct a filed month with a credit note or debit note dated in a month still open. If a return was marked filed by mistake, press Undo on it under GST, Returns.
Nothing is withdrawn from under something else
These refusals are the most useful thing on this page. Each one names what is in the way, so the order of unwinding is never a guess.
| You want to | And | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Delete a draft quotation | It is the newest one | Deleted, and its number is handed back. |
| Delete a draft quotation | A newer one exists | Refused — it would leave a gap. Cancel it instead. |
| Delete a quotation | It has been issued | Refused — cancel it, which keeps the number on record. |
| Cancel a quotation | A live sales order stands against it | Refused until that order is cancelled. |
| Cancel a sales order | An invoice has been raised from it | Refused until that invoice is cancelled. |
| Cancel an invoice | It is still a draft | Cancelled, keeping its number. |
| Cancel an invoice | It has been sent | Not cancelled: Cancel opens a credit note for its full value, which withdraws it. |
| Edit an invoice | It has been sent | Refused: a credit note for less, a debit note for more. |
| Revise an invoice | Any time | Not offered. Edit the draft, or raise a credit note once it is sent. |
| Revise a quotation | An invoice or order has been raised from it | Refused: cancel those first, or raise a new quotation. |
| Issue or cancel a credit note | GSTR-1 for its month is marked filed | Refused: date it in a month still open. |
A sent invoice is never cancelled. It has gone to the customer and into GST. It is withdrawn with a credit note, which leaves both documents on the record and the books able to explain themselves.
Who can do these
Deleting is its own permission, separate from editing. Most businesses give edit widely and delete to two people. See Who can do what.
Where to go next
Something missing or wrong here? Tell us. A question that needed asking usually means a page that needed writing.