Edit or delete a sales invoice
How you delete or edit a sales invoice, depends on a number of factors, including whether you’ve included it on a VAT Return or marked it as paid, either with a customer receipt or credit note.
To help you, decide what action you need to take, follow this wizard.
Is the invoice outstanding or paid? If it’s part paid, click Paid.
You can check this on the Sales Invoices tab in the Status column. To check whether you marked it as paid with a receipt or credit note, click the invoice then click the amount paid.
OutstandingPaid with a credit notePaid with a receiptRestart
What VAT scheme do you use?
- Option 1 – Not registered, VAT Cash Accounting or Flat Rate Cash Based.
- Option 2 – Standard VAT or Flat Rate Invoice Based.
To check this, go to More, then click Settings, then Business Settings then Accounting Dates & VAT.
As the invoice isn’t paid or included on a VAT Return, you can edit it as necessary. If you need to delete an invoice, you can’t do this but you can mark it as void. This removes the values from your accounts but the invoice remains on your list so you can view it if you need to. This also ensures the invoice numbers remain sequential.
Edit the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices, click the required invoice then make the changes as required and click Save.
Void the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices then select the check box next to the relevant invoice.
- On the action toolbar, click Delete.
- Enter a reason, then click Yes.
Have you included the invoice on a VAT Return?
To check this, go to More, click VAT Returns, click the required return then click Detailed Report, then PDF. The report downloads and when it’s ready, a notification appears on the menu bar. You can then view the report.
As the invoice isn’t paid or included on a VAT Return, you can edit it as necessary. If you need to delete an invoice, you can’t do this but you can mark it as void. This removes the values from your accounts but the invoice remains on your list so you can view it as required. This also ensures the invoice numbers remain sequential.
Edit the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices, click the required invoice then make the changes as required and click Save.
Void the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices then select the check box next to the relevant invoice.
- On the action toolbar, click Delete.
- Enter a reason, then click Yes.
You can’t edit or delete an invoice once you’ve included it on a VAT Return. Instead, you should issue a credit note for the full invoice. This cancels the values from your accounts and the credit note is included on your next return, which corrects your liability to HMRC.
- Go to Sales Invoices and click the relevant invoice.
- On the More menu, click Create Credit Note.
- Change the credit date to the same date as the invoice.
- Click Save.
Your values in Accounting Start are now correct. If you needed to edit the invoice, you can now create another one with the correct details.
Depending on the date of the credit note, the next time you run your VAT Return, you may receive a prompt advising there are earlier transactions. To include the credit note, click Yes.
What VAT scheme do you use?
- Option 1 – Not registered, Standard VAT or Flat Rate Invoice Based.
- Option 2 – VAT Cash Accounting or Flat Rate Cash Based.
To check this, go to More, then click Settings, then Business Settings then Accounting Dates & VAT.
Have you bank reconciled the customer receipt?
To check this, go to Banking, click the relevant bank account then check if a tick appears in the Reconciled column.
Have you included the sales invoice on a VAT Return?
To check this, go to More, click VAT Returns, click the required return then click Detailed Report, then PDF. The report downloads and when it’s ready, a notification appears on the menu bar. You can then view the report.
If you haven’t bank reconciled the receipt or included the invoice on the VAT Return, you can delete the receipt then edit or void the invoice. Voiding the invoice removes the values from your accounts but the invoice remains on your list so you can view it if you need to. This also ensures the invoice numbers remain sequential.
Delete the receipt
- Go to Banking then click the relevant bank account.
- Select the check box next to the receipt you want to delete.
- Click the Delete button
, then click Yes.
Edit the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices, click the required invoice then make the changes as required and click Save.
If you need to, you can then record the receipt again against the amended invoice.
Void the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices then select the check box next to the relevant invoice.
- On the action toolbar, click Delete.
- Enter a reason, then click Yes.
You can’t edit or delete an invoice once you’ve included it on a VAT Return. Instead, you should delete the payment then issue a credit note for the full invoice. This cancels the values from your accounts and the credit note is included on your next return, which corrects your liability to HMRC.
Delete the receipt
- Go to Banking then click the relevant bank account.
- Select the check box next to the receipt you want to delete.
- Click the Delete button , then click Yes.
Credit the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices and click the relevant invoice.
- On the More menu, click Create Credit Note.
- Change the credit date to the same date as the invoice.
- Click Save.
Your values in Accounting Start are now correct. If you needed to edit the invoice, you can now create another one with the correct details. If necessary, you can also record the receipt again against the new invoice.
Depending on the date of the credit note, the next time you run your VAT Return, you may receive a prompt advising there are earlier transactions. To include the credit note, click Yes.
If you’ve included the receipt in a bank reconciliation, you can’t delete it. Instead, you can create a money out transaction for the same values as the receipt. This corrects your accounts, corrects your liability to HMRC and also takes the money out of your bank account. Before you can do this, you need to make sure the sales category you used on the invoice is available for recording money out.
Although this corrects your accounts, the money out transactions doesn’t appear in your customer’s activity.
Flag your sales category for money out
If you’re not sure which category you used, you can see this on the original invoice.
- Go to More then click Settings, then Business Settings.
- Click Chart of Accounts then enter the sales category in the search box.
- Click the category then under Visibility, select the Other Payment check box.
- Click Save.
Record the money out transaction
- Go to Cashbook or Banking
- On the New Entry menu, click Money Out.
- Leave the Contact box blank, then choose the bank account you recorded the receipt into.
- Enter the date paid as the same date as the receipt.
- Enter a reference and the amount of the original receipt.
- On the Category menu, click the sales category you used.
- Enter the details, if applicable a VAT rate and the total.
- Click Save.
You’ve now recorded the other payment, which corrects your values and, if you’re registered for VAT, is included on your next VAT Return.
Have you included the receipt on a VAT Return or bank reconciliation?
To check the VAT Return, go to More, click VAT Returns, click the required return then click Detailed Report, then PDF. The report downloads and when it’s ready, a notification appears on the menu bar. You can then view the report.
To check if you’ve bank reconciled it, go to Banking, click the relevant bank account then check if a tick appears in the Reconciled column.
If you haven’t bank reconciled the receipt or included it on a VAT Return, you can delete the receipt then edit or void the invoice. Voiding the invoice removes the values from your accounts but the invoice remains on your list so you can view it if you need to. This also ensures the invoice numbers remain sequential.
Delete the receipt
- Go to Banking then click the relevant bank account.
- Select the check box next to the receipt you want to delete.
- Click the Delete button , then click Yes.
Edit the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices, click the required invoice then make the changes as required and click Save.
If you need to, you can then record the receipt again against the amended invoice.
Void the invoice
- Go to Sales Invoices then select the check box next to the relevant invoice.
- On the action toolbar, click Delete.
- Enter a reason, then click Yes.
If you’ve included the receipt in a bank reconciliation or VAT Return, you can’t delete it. Instead, you can create a money out transaction for the same values as the receipt. This corrects your accounts, corrects your liability to HMRC and also takes the money out of your bank account. Before you can do this, you need to make sure the sales category you used on the invoice is available for recording money out.
Although this corrects your accounts, the money out transactions doesn’t appear in your customer’s activity.
Flag your sales category for money out
If you’re not sure which category you used, you can see this on the original invoice.
- Go to More then click Settings, then Business Settings.
- Click Chart of Accounts then enter the sales category in the search box.
- Click the category then under Visibility, select the Other Payment check box.
- Click Save.
Record the money out transaction
- Go to Cashbook or Banking
- On the New Entry menu, click Money Out.
- Leave the Contact box blank, then choose the bank account you recorded the receipt into.
- Enter the date paid as the same date as the receipt.
- Enter a reference and the amount of the original receipt.
- On the Category menu, click the sales category you used.
- Enter the details, if applicable a VAT rate and the total.
- Click Save.
You’ve now recorded the other payment, which corrects your values and, if you’re registered for VAT, is included on your next VAT Return.
You can’t edit or delete a credit note. If you entered an invoice in error, the credit note cancels out the invoice. If the credit note only covers part of the invoice, you should credit the remaining amount as normal. If you need to, you can then enter a new invoice with the right details.
