About deleting and reversing bills

Learn the differences between deleting and reversing a bill, and the conditions that determine which option is available.

Differences between delete and reverse

Action Description

Delete

The transaction is removed from Sage Intacct, as though you never created it.

Reverse

The transaction remains in the system and the state changes to Reversed.

Intacct adds a new transaction for the vendor, with the following information:

  • State: Reversal.
  • The Bill number: Reversed - [original bill number].

    For example, if the original bill number is 28517, the bill number for the reversing transaction is Reversed - 28517.

  • Amount: The amount that reverses the original transaction.

    For example, if the original bill amount is $100, Intacct creates a reversal for the negative amount, ($100).

  • Description: The description that you gave when you initiated the reversal.
Reversing a bill provides an audit trail for the transaction.

Requirements to delete or reverse a bill

Whether you see the delete or reverse option is impacted by:

  • Where the bill is within the Accounts Payable workflow

    For example, whether it is paid or unpaid, in approval, or reconciled.

  • How your company is configured
  • Your user permissions

Unpaid bills

  • You have Accounts Payable permissions to delete bills.
  • Your company is not enabled for reversals.
  • You are a Business user type.
  • There are no payments made against the bill.
  • The bill isn't the result of a charge payoff.

    In this case, reverse the bill.

  • The bill hasn't been reconciled.

    After a bill has been reconciled, you can no longer delete or reverse it. Instead, reopen the reconciliation to make changes.

For a bill in an Approved state, you can only delete the bill if there isn't a payment made against it.

For a bill in a Selected or Partially Paid state, cancel the associated payment request, then delete the bill.

  • You have Accounts Payable permissions to reverse bills.
  • The bill is in a Draft or Posted state and your company is enabled for reversals.
  • The bill has not been reconciled.

    After a bill has been reconciled, you can no longer delete or reverse it. Instead, reopen the reconciliation to make changes.

Paid bills

You can't delete paid bills, you can only reverse them.

  • You have Accounts Payable permissions to reverse bills.
  • You are a Business user type.
  • The bill hasn't been reconciled.

    After a bill has been reconciled, you can no longer delete or reverse it. Instead, reopen the reconciliation to make changes.

Reverse or delete based on bill state and configuration

Determine the action that you can take on a bill based on its state and how Accounts Payable was configured.

After you reverse a transaction, you cannot undo the reversal. However, you can create another transaction to replace the original.

State Description Reversal disabled Reversal enabled

Draft

Created but not submitted or posted. The bill might be awaiting more input.

Delete the bill.

Delete the bill.

Partially approved

For companies configured for bill approvals.

This bill is pending subsequent approval from one or more approvers.

Delete the bill.

An approver needs to decline or fully approve the bill before you can reverse it.

Declined

For companies configured for bill approvals.

The bill was declined by an approver.

Delete the bill.

You can't reverse a declined bill. Instead, submit the bill again for approval and approve it. This puts the bill in a Selected state, and you can then reverse it.

Posted

Created and posted from the Bills page

Delete the bill.

If the bill is the result of a charge payoff, you can only reverse it.

You can reverse an unpaid bill that was entered directly in Accounts Payable.

Posted from PO/OE

Created and posted from OE/PO

Delete from OE/PO.

Delete from OE/PO.

Selected

A payment request was created for the bill and has not yet been completed.

You might see this status if your company is enabled for payment approvals or if payment requires more steps to complete. For example, you need to print or confirm a check to complete a payment request that uses this payment method.

First cancel the payment request, then delete the bill.

First cancel the payment request, then reverse the bill.

Partially Paid

The bill has a payment request and already has a partial payment against it.

First cancel the payment request. Then void the payment and reverse the bill.

First cancel the payment request. Then void the payment and reverse the bill.

Paid

The bill was paid.

Void the payment then reverse the bill.

Exception: If you recorded the bill and the payment simultaneously, using the manual payment process, voiding the payment automatically reverses the bill.

Void the payment then reverse the bill.

Exception: If you recorded the bill and the payment simultaneously, using the manual payment process, voiding the payment automatically reverses the bill.

No Value

The transaction is posted, but doesn't affect the General Ledger.

Reverse the bill.

Reverse the bill.