What is the difference between deleting and voiding an invoice?

Problem Statement

You want to understand what the difference between deleting and voiding an invoice is.

Solution

Invoices in Chargebee are auto generated and the invoice numbers are sequentially generated. For accounting purposes, it is usually important to maintain a sequential invoice numbers for easier audit, and it's not recommended to Delete an invoice.

If you are a business selling in Nordic countries, use the void invoice with credit note workflow. A credit note is created and applied to the voided invoice automatically. Refer to this link to avail the Void invoice with credit note setting on your Chargebee site.

Deleting an invoice:

When you delete an invoice, it is removed from the system and this action is irreversible. Deleting an invoice results in a missing invoice from the sequence of invoices listed in your Chargebee site. Hence this action is usually not recommended.

If you'd like to perform this action, open the invoice under the Invoices & Credit Notes tab and use the Delete option on the Actions panel on the right.

Voiding an invoice:

If an invoice is generated incorrectly, you can Void it instead of deleting. This would make the invoice invalid, but it will remain in your system and can be used for audit purposes.

Note:

1. A paid invoice can neither be Deleted nor Voided. You'd first need to remove the payments linked to the invoice.

2. You can use Regenerate Invoice feature to regenerate an incorrectly generated invoice after Voiding it.