Advanced: Invoice Editing Rules

This article explains the rules behind invoice editing. New to it? Start with Editing an Invoice.

Only Admins can edit invoices.

What you can and cannot change

You can change:

• The Invoice Date and the Terms. The due date is worked out again when you save.
• Each work line’s Service Date, Description, Qty and Rate.
• Which lines are on the invoice: add a line, add unbilled work, or remove a line.
• The card surcharge: remove it, or add it.

You cannot change:

• The invoice number and the customer. Void the invoice and generate it again.
• Lines with a lock: the monthly subscription fee, Less: included in subscription and Less: Prepayment applied. Void the invoice and generate it again.

The rules for each kind of invoice

The invoice is…	What you can do
Draft or sent, not paid	Everything listed above.
Partly paid	Everything, as long as the new total is not less than what was paid. Otherwise you see Payments exceed the new total.
Paid, HWIT Invoicing	Nothing. To take the surcharge off for a cash or check payer, tick Remove card surcharge in Receive payment when you record the payment.
Paid, QuickBooks Online	Only Remove card surcharge. QuickBooks keeps the difference as a credit on the customer’s QuickBooks account.
Paid, Zoho Books or Zoho Invoice	Nothing. Change it in Zoho, or void it and generate it again.
Uses a prepayment	The Less: Prepayment applied line is locked. A change that makes the work smaller than the prepaid credit is refused: Void and regenerate to re-apply the prepayment.

These invoices cannot be edited at all:

• A voided invoice.
• An invoice that could not be sent to your accounting system when it was made.
• An invoice with an automatic card payment in progress. Wait a few minutes and try again.

How the card surcharge works

• It is worked out again every time you save, from the new total.
• It always uses the invoice’s own percentage. That is the percentage when the invoice was made, not today’s company setting.
• Once removed, it stays removed. Saving again does not bring it back.
• Add card surcharge shows only when the invoice has no surcharge and the surcharge is turned on for your company and for this customer.

Cash or check payers (HWIT Invoicing): in Receive payment, type a payment method that is not a card, such as Cash or Check. If the invoice has a surcharge, the tick box Remove card surcharge appears with the amount. Tick it, and the surcharge comes off before the payment is recorded. The customer is not overpaid.

Removing work, and Billed work

• Removing a line that came from a visit or a billing item sends that work back to unbilled. The next Generate Invoices picks it up, or you can add it back with Add unbilled work.
• Add unbilled work lists only this customer’s work that is not on any invoice yet.
• In Billed work, while you edit, any work with no matching line on the invoice shows Return to unbilled. Click it to send that work back to unbilled. Click Keep on invoice to change your mind. Nothing happens until you click Save.

How each accounting system handles a change

HWIT Invoicing

The change is saved in HWIT only.

An invoice you change after emailing it shows Edited since emailed next to its Emailed date. Nothing is sent to the customer by itself. Click Email invoice to send the corrected invoice.

QuickBooks Online

• HWIT changes the invoice in QuickBooks first, then in HWIT. While it works, the button reads Saving to QuickBooks…
• Someone changed it in QuickBooks meanwhile? HWIT does not save your change. It brings in the latest invoice from QuickBooks and shows: This invoice was changed in QuickBooks. It has been refreshed: review it and edit again.
• QuickBooks says no (for example, the date is in a closed period)? You see the message from QuickBooks. Nothing is changed.
• Payments stay linked to the invoice in QuickBooks.
• Changes made in QuickBooks come back to HWIT. If you delete a visit’s line in QuickBooks, that visit goes back to unbilled in HWIT.
• Paid invoices: only Remove card surcharge. QuickBooks keeps the difference as a credit on the customer’s account.

Zoho Books and Zoho Invoice

• Not paid or partly paid: works the same as QuickBooks. Zoho is changed first, then HWIT. If the invoice was changed in Zoho meanwhile, HWIT refreshes it and asks you to edit again.
• Paid: cannot be edited here. Change it in Zoho, or void it and generate it again.
• Changes made in Zoho: they come back to HWIT. If a visit’s line is deleted in Zoho, that visit goes back to unbilled in HWIT.

InvoiceXpress

• Draft in InvoiceXpress: can be edited.
• Finalized in InvoiceXpress: cannot be edited at all. The Edit button says Finalized in InvoiceXpress — void and regenerate. Void it (it is cancelled in InvoiceXpress), then generate it again.

PennyLane

Invoices cannot be edited. There is no Edit button. Void the invoice and generate it again.

Messages you may see

Message	What to do
This invoice is paid, so it can no longer be edited.	See the rules. For a cash payer, remove the surcharge when you record the payment.
This invoice is paid: only the card surcharge can be removed.	QuickBooks Online. Click Remove card surcharge, then Save.
Payments exceed the new total.	The new total is less than what was paid. Change the lines so the total is at least the amount paid.
Void and regenerate to re-apply the prepayment.	Your change makes the work smaller than the prepaid credit. Void the invoice and generate it again.
Prepayment and subscription lines cannot be changed. Void and regenerate the invoice instead.	Leave the locked lines as they are, or void and generate again.
This invoice was changed in QuickBooks. It has been refreshed: review it and edit again.	Check the invoice, click Edit and make your change again. (Zoho shows the same message with Zoho.)
Finalized in InvoiceXpress — void and regenerate.	Void the invoice and generate it again.
An automatic card payment is in progress for this invoice. Try again in a few minutes.	Wait, then open the invoice again.
Choose an active item for each new line.	Pick an item in every line you added.

FAQ

Why can’t I change the subscription fee on the invoice? It is locked, the same as the subscription credits. Change the subscription, then void the invoice and generate it again.

I changed my company’s surcharge percentage. Will it change old invoices when I edit them? No. An invoice keeps the percentage it was made with.

I removed the surcharge by mistake. Can I put it back? Yes, if the surcharge is on for your company and this customer. Click Edit, then Add card surcharge, then Save.

A QuickBooks customer paid cash on a paid invoice that has a surcharge. What happens? Click Edit, then Remove card surcharge, then Save. The extra they paid stays as a credit on their QuickBooks account.

Can I change the customer on an invoice? No. Void the invoice and generate it again for the right customer.