Invoice Statuses
Every invoice in Duefy moves through one of five states. Only active invoices are touched by the collection sequence.
| Status | Meaning | Reminders? |
|---|---|---|
pending |
Draft — created but not yet started | ❌ No |
active |
Live — Duefy emails reminders per your sequence | ✅ Yes |
paid |
Settled — fully collected (manually marked or via Stripe) | ❌ Done |
paused |
Collection paused — usually for a dispute or temporary hold | ❌ No |
cancelled |
Voided — kept for audit but no further action | ❌ No |
Common transitions
- pending → active: when you hit Activate. Imported, PDF-scanned, and synced invoices always start
pending— you choose which to activate, so Duefy never starts emailing your customers without your say-so. - active → paid: marked manually, or Stripe webhook fires when the client pays the link.
- active → paused: use this if a client disputes the bill. Reminders stop until you resume or cancel.
- any → cancelled: on the invoice, hit Cancel in the action row (created in error, a duplicate, or the deal fell through). It stops all reminders and locks the invoice. You can also cancel several at once from the invoice list with bulk actions.
- any → written off: hit Write off in the action row to close an uncollectable balance as bad debt (distinct from Cancel — write-off keeps it on the books as a loss, not a void). A reason is required.
- cancelled / written off → pending: these are terminal but recoverable — open the invoice and hit Restore invoice to bring it back to
pending(then re-activate if you want reminders again). - paid → active: not allowed. If you made a mistake, create a new invoice instead.
Partial payments
If a client pays only part of the balance, use Record Partial Payment on the invoice page. The invoice stays active until the remaining balance reaches zero, at which point it auto-flips to paid.
Changing status on your phone
You don't need to open each invoice on mobile. In the invoice list, every card shows the status-relevant actions right on it — one tap:
- Pending → Activate / Mark paid
- Active → Mark paid / Pause
- Partial → Mark paid
- Paused → Resume / Mark paid
(For an exact partial amount, open the invoice and use Record Partial Payment.)