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Editing an order after posting

Once an order has been invoiced, the invoice has been sent. Editing the order cannot un-send it.

So Yessort does not rewrite the original. It posts a further document for the difference, and links it to what came before.

What gets posted​

More is owed — a supplementary invoice for the increase.

Less is owed — a credit note for the reduction.

Either way the original stands, and the pair together state the true position. That is also what your customer needs: they already have the first document, and reissuing it silently changed would be worse than useless.

The chain​

Each further document points back at the one it follows, so an order edited three times has a chain rather than four unrelated documents. The chain is what makes "what have we actually invoiced for this order?" answerable — it is the sum of the chain, not the latest document.

Why the detail per rate matters​

This is the part that is easy to get wrong and is worth understanding.

A post records its composition per account and tax code pair, not just as a total. So an invoice is not stored as "£500" but as its constituent parts, each with the account and tax code it belongs to.

Consider an edit that swaps a standard-rated item for a zero-rated one of similar value. The order total barely moves. If Yessort reconciled on totals alone it would post roughly nothing — and your tax would be wrong, quietly, in a way that nets out and looks fine.

Because composition is held per rate and account, the edit books faithfully: one rate down, another up, each recognised. The totals happening to be close is irrelevant.

Working out the difference​

The already-invoiced position is the sum across the chain, per account and tax code. The new document covers the gap between that and what the order now says — which is why an edit after several previous edits still books correctly rather than double-counting.

The edit itself​

How to edit an order, and what can be edited when, is Orders' — see editing orders. This page covers only what the accounting side does about it.

Returns and refunds​

Value going back to the customer through a return or a refund also produces a credit note, by the same principle: the original stands and the reversal is posted alongside it.