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Submitting a sales invoice and the credit limit check
Submitting runs five steps in one transaction. If one is blocked, none of them happened.
What happens when I submit a sales invoice?
Submitting runs five steps in one transaction: the credit limit check, the customer balance update, the stock deduction, the journal entry, and fixing the invoice number. Either all of them happen or none of them do.
Three ways to submit
- While creating — choose the Submitted status.
- While editing — open the draft, change the status, and save.
- From the Submit action — on the row in the invoices list.
All three do the same thing. The permission required is sales_invoices:submit.
The five steps in order
1. The credit limit check
The system locks the customer row and confirms that:
current balance + invoice remaining amount ≤ credit limit
If that does not hold, the submit stops here and you get a message showing the credit limit, the current balance and what the balance would have become.
- A credit limit of zero means unlimited — the check passes straight through.
- Return invoices are exempt — they reduce what is owed.
The lock stops two invoices for the same customer slipping past the limit together.
2. The customer balance updates
The remaining amount is added to the customer's current balance. For a return, it is subtracted.
3. Stock is deducted
For each line on the invoice:
- The quantity comes off the item's balance in that warehouse.
- And off the item's total stock.
- And a stock ledger row is written, type Sale, referencing the invoice number and recording the balance after the movement.
Items that do not maintain stock pass through with no effect.
4. The journal entry
The system posts a balanced entry:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Receivable | Total | |
| Sales | Subtotal | |
| Output VAT | VAT amount | |
| Discounts | If there is one |
The entry is linked to the invoice and visible under Finance → Journal Entries or in the General Ledger report.
There is no cost-of-goods-sold entry. A sales invoice does not touch inventory accounts in the ledger, so your margin will not be visible from sales postings alone.
5. The invoice number is fixed
In the form SINV-{company code}-{year}-{sequence}.
If your chart of accounts is incomplete
When a required account is missing (Accounts Receivable or Sales), the invoice still submits and stock still moves, but no journal entry is created.
That is deliberate, so an accounting setup problem does not halt your daily work — but it does mean your books will be incomplete. Check Finance → Accounts before you start real work.
Submitting is final
Before you confirm, a dialog tells you plainly that the action cannot be undone. There is no unsubmit.
The only way to reverse a submitted invoice is a return invoice linked to it.
Common problems
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Credit limit exceeded | Customer balance + remaining > limit | Collect, or raise the limit |
| Insufficient stock | The quantity exceeds the warehouse balance | Correct the quantity or add stock |
| Submitted with no journal entry | The chart of accounts is incomplete | Check your accounts |
| The Submit button is missing | The invoice is submitted, or you lack the permission | Check the status and your permissions |
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly happens at the moment of submission?
Five steps in one transaction: the customer's credit limit is checked, their balance is updated by the remaining amount, quantities are deducted and stock ledger rows written, the journal entry is created, and the invoice number is fixed. If any step is blocked, none of them happen.
What does the credit limit exceeded message mean?
It means the customer's current balance plus this invoice's remaining amount would go past their recorded credit limit. The message shows you the actual figures. Collect some of what they owe, or raise their limit on the Customers screen.
The invoice submitted but there is no journal entry — why?
Your chart of accounts is missing a required account such as Accounts Receivable or Sales. The system completes the submission and moves stock but skips the entry. Check Finance -> Accounts.
Are return invoices credit-limit checked?
No. A return invoice reduces what the customer owes rather than increasing it, so the check does not apply.
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