Understanding sales statuses

Every quote and invoice has a status that defines where it stands in its lifecycle. Understanding these statuses lets you know which actions are available, what happens accounting-wise, and how to move a document toward its final state.

Quote statuses

Status	Description	Accounting entry	Available actions
DRAFT	Being written, not sent	None	Edit, Delete, Send
SENT	Transmitted to customer by email	None	Mark accepted, Mark refused, Follow up
ACCEPTED	Customer confirmed	None	Convert to invoice, Duplicate
REFUSED	Customer declined	None	Duplicate, Archive
EXPIRED	Validity date passed	None	Duplicate and update
CONVERTED	Invoice created from this quote	Created on invoice	View associated invoice

Quote lifecycle

DRAFT ──→ SENT ──→ ACCEPTED ──→ CONVERTED
            │
            ├──→ REFUSED ──→ (archived)
            │
            └──→ EXPIRED ──→ (duplicate)

Tip

A quote has no accounting impact. The VTE journal entry is only created when the invoice derived from the quote is validated.

Customer invoice statuses

Status	Description	Accounting entry	Available actions
DRAFT	Invoice not yet validated	None	Edit, Delete, Validate
SENT	Validated, sent to customer	Created (debit 411, credit 70x + 44310)	Record payment, Send reminder
AWAITING PAYMENT	Validated, due date not passed	Created	Record payment, Send reminder
PARTIALLY PAID	Partial payment received	Created + partial payment	Record balance, Send reminder
SETTLED	Fully paid	Complete (matching closed)	Export, Archive
CANCELLED	Cancelled by credit note	Credit note generated (reversal)	View associated credit note

Invoice lifecycle

DRAFT ──→ SENT ──→ AWAITING ──→ PARTIALLY PAID ──→ SETTLED
            │
            └──→ CANCELLED (via credit note)

Allowed transitions — business rules

Quotes: allowed transitions

From	To	Condition
DRAFT	SENT	Click “Send by email”
SENT	ACCEPTED	Confirm customer agreement
SENT	REFUSED	Confirm customer refusal
SENT	EXPIRED	Expiry date passed (automatic)
ACCEPTED	CONVERTED	Click “Convert to invoice”
REFUSED / EXPIRED	→	Duplicate only (no reverting)

Invoices: allowed transitions

From	To	Condition
DRAFT	SENT	Validate the invoice
SENT	AWAITING	Delay since sending (automatic)
AWAITING	PARTIALLY PAID	Record a partial payment
PARTIALLY PAID	SETTLED	Record balance (full matching)
SENT / AWAITING	CANCELLED	Issue a credit note (reversal)

Caution

A validated invoice (all statuses except DRAFT) can never be directly edited. This is a SYSCOHADA accounting immutability rule. The only correction path is issuing a credit note.

CANCELLED invoice vs Credit note — accounting difference

These two concepts are related but distinct:

CANCELLED invoice

The original invoice moves to CANCELLED status. A credit note is automatically created to reverse the initial entry:

Account	Description	Debit	Credit
706000	Service (credit note)	1,200,000 XAF
44310	VAT collected (credit note)	231,813 XAF
411001	Customer (reversal)		1,431,813 XAF

The customer 411xxx account is settled. If a payment had already been received, it must be refunded.

Partial credit note

A credit note can be issued for part of the invoice (discount granted after the fact, partial dispute). The original invoice remains active but its balance is reduced. The entry is identical but for the partial amount only.

Automatic archiving of expired quotes

SynkriaOps automatically processes quotes whose expiry date has passed:

• The status changes to EXPIRED on the night following the expiry date
• The quote no longer appears in the main list (filtered to active statuses)
• It remains accessible via the Expired filter or by number search

To reactivate an expired quote: open it → Duplicate → update the expiry date and amounts if needed → resend to the customer.

Actions by status — summary table

Action	DRAFT	SENT/AWAITING	PARTIAL	SETTLED	CANCELLED
Edit	✓	—	—	—	—
Delete	✓	—	—	—	—
Send email	✓	✓	✓	—	—
Record payment	—	✓	✓	—	—
Issue credit note	—	✓	✓	✓	—
Send reminder	—	✓	✓	—	—
Export PDF	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Further reading

• Creating a quote — draft and send a professional quote
• Creating a customer invoice — issue a direct invoice or from a quote
• Automatic payment reminders — configure follow-up for unpaid invoices
• Validating and reversing an entry — understand credit notes and reversals