What are the different invoice statuses and what does each mean?

Tracking invoice status accurately is the foundation of AR management. An invoice that moves from 'sent' to 'overdue' without triggering any action is a leak in the process. Each status transition should have an associated workflow: 'overdue' triggers a reminder; 'disputed' triggers a review; 'written off' triggers a bad-debt expense entry.

The most common invoice statuses in modern accounting software: Draft (created but not sent), Sent (delivered to the customer), Viewed (customer opened the invoice — only trackable in some platforms), Partial (partially paid, open balance remains), Paid (fully collected), Overdue (past due date), Disputed (customer has raised a formal objection), Void (cancelled), Written Off (removed from AR as uncollectable).

Businesses with clean invoice status tracking can measure conversion rates at each stage — what percentage of sent invoices move to paid without follow-up? What percentage go overdue? Of those that go overdue, what percentage resolve within 30 days? These metrics identify exactly where the AR process breaks down and where investment in automation or process change will have the most impact.