Xero bill statuses: Draft, Awaiting Approval, Paid
Draft means a bill is saved but not approved, Awaiting Approval means it has been submitted for approval, Awaiting Payment means it is approved and owed, and Paid means a payment is recorded. Your user role decides whether you can approve a bill yourself or only send it for approval.
Can I approve my own bill in Xero?
Yes, if your role allows approving bills. Administrator, Standard, Sales and purchases, and Purchases users can approve and pay bills. Draft sales and purchases users can only prepare bills and send them for approval.
A bill stuck in Draft has not been approved by anyone yet.
What each Xero bill status means
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Saved, not approved. You can edit any field and delete it. |
| Awaiting Approval | Submitted for approval. Still editable and deletable. |
| Awaiting Payment | Approved and ready to pay. Payment is not yet recorded. |
| Paid | Payment recorded against the bill. |
You find each group under Purchases, then Bills, on the Draft, Awaiting Approval, Awaiting Payment and Paid tabs. The All tab shows the lot.
How a bill moves between statuses
You add a bill in Purchases, then Bills, New bill. When you finish, you save it, send it for approval or approve it yourself, and which of those you see depends on your user role. Xero Central describes it in Add and approve a bill.
To approve a draft, open the Draft tab, find the bill, check it and click Approve & next. For several at once, tick each bill and click Approve, then confirm. The bill moves to Awaiting Payment. Recording a payment moves it to Paid.
Who can approve a bill in Xero
Xero's user role table for purchases sets this by role, not by amount:
- Administrator, Standard, Sales and purchases, and Purchases can draft, approve, edit and pay bills.
- Draft sales and purchases can draft and edit their own bills but cannot approve or pay any.
- Viewer can only view bills created by others.
So a bookkeeper on the Draft sales and purchases role can prepare bills all day, and someone with approval rights still has to move them on. The role table lists no approval amount per user, so a rule like "over £5,000 needs a second person" is not something it sets. The invoice approval workflow article covers how teams add that step.
Why do bills save as Draft when I reach my plan limit?
The limit is the number of sales invoices or bills your Xero plan allows in a month, not an amount that one person may approve. Xero's FAQ says that once you reach it, additional ones save as drafts. You can upgrade, wait for the next month, or on some entry plans use a one-off extension. If the extension is not offered, you have already used it. Check your plan's bill allowance in Xero if bills keep saving as Draft.
How do I edit or undo a bill after approval or payment?
Xero Central covers this in Edit bills and Delete or void a bill.
- Draft or Awaiting Approval: open the bill and change any field. To remove it, use Delete from the tab.
- Awaiting Payment: open the bill, click Bill Options, then Edit. You can change any field if there are no part-payments or credit notes on it. To cancel it, use Void.
- Paid: you cannot edit the Tax Rate. You can still change fields that do not affect the total, such as contact, reference, account code, description and tracking. To change anything else, first remove the payment. The bill goes back to Awaiting Payment and you can edit it or void it.
You cannot restore a deleted or voided bill, but you can copy it into a new one. Voiding can have tax implications, so check with your accountant first.
Example: a £480 bill was paid and then you notice the wrong account code. Open it from the Paid tab and change the account code directly. If the amount was wrong, remove the payment, edit the bill, save it and record the payment again.
Why does a bill arrive in Xero as Draft?
Bills created by another app carry a status chosen by that app. Xero's own document publishing guidance shows the three choices: Draft, Awaiting Approval or Awaiting Payment. Two common causes of a Draft:
- The sending tool was set to publish as Draft.
- You went past your plan's monthly bill limit, as described above.
Datamolino exports bills to Xero with the status you choose in the folder or supplier settings: Draft, Awaiting Approval or Awaiting Payment. If your team already approves in Datamolino, you can export as Awaiting Payment and skip the second approval in Xero. See the Xero integration and invoice approvals. For when to automate export, read when to use automatic invoice export.
How do I change a bill that is already paid in Xero?
You can edit fields that do not affect the total, such as reference, account code, description and tracking, directly. To change amounts, first remove the payment, then edit the bill, which is back at Awaiting Payment.
