Duplicating documents and creating credit notes

A new document can start from an existing one in three ways: duplicating, converting an estimate to an invoice, and issuing a credit note. Each reuses the source as a starting point, but they differ in what is copied and how the two documents stay linked afterwards.

Duplicating a document

Duplication creates a fresh draft prefilled with the original document's customer, items, and settings.

From any invoice or estimate's detail page, open the More actions menu and choose Duplicate invoice or Duplicate estimate. You'll land on the new document's editor with:

  • All line items, taxes, and discounts copied.
  • The same customer, currency, and language.
  • A fresh document number (the next one in sequence — see Invoice and estimate numbering).
  • Today's date as the issue date.
  • Status reset to Draft, so you can edit freely before sending.

The duplicate is not linked to the original — the two documents are independent. Changes to one don't affect the other.

Converting an estimate to an invoice

Once a customer accepts an estimate, you can turn it into an invoice without retyping anything. From the estimate's detail page, open More actions → Convert to invoice.

This works just like duplication — all items, the customer, and the totals are carried over — but with two important differences:

  • The new document is an invoice, not another estimate, with its own invoice number.
  • The two documents stay linked. On the invoice you'll see a small panel showing the source estimate; on the estimate, a panel showing the invoice it was converted into. Either side can be opened with one click.

Converting also nudges the estimate's status — see How does estimate status work? for the full lifecycle.

Issuing a credit note

A credit note is the standard way to reverse or partially refund a completed invoice — for returns, billing corrections, or goodwill discounts. From the invoice's detail page, open More actions → Add credit note.

What happens:

  • A new credit note is created in draft, linked back to the original invoice.
  • Line items, taxes, and amounts are copied across with quantities and totals flipped to negative values, so the credit note reduces the customer's balance.
  • The customer, currency, and language match the source invoice. You can edit anything before issuing.
  • Once issued, the original invoice is marked as credited (fully or partially, depending on how much you credited).

You'll find the credit note linked from the invoice it was issued against, and vice versa, via the same source/target panel as estimate-to-invoice links.

Why drafts can't be credited

The Add credit note action is hidden while an invoice is still a Draft. There's no need for a credit note against a draft — you can just edit or delete the draft directly. Credit notes only make sense once an invoice has been issued (and especially once it's been sent or paid), because they create the audit trail your accountant and the tax authority expect.

If you need to "credit" a draft, delete it and start over.

Standalone credit notes

If you need a credit note that isn't tied to a specific invoice — a goodwill refund, a manual accounting adjustment — create a new invoice from scratch and enter the line item totals as negative values. As soon as the net total goes below zero, Sliptree automatically switches the document type to credit note: the title, the numbering sequence, and the PDF all change to match. There's no separate "new credit note" action — negative totals are the signal.

Linked documents are surfaced in a side panel on both ends of the link:

  • Estimate ↔ Invoice — the estimate shows the invoice it was converted into; the invoice shows the source estimate.
  • Invoice ↔ Credit note — the invoice shows any credit notes issued against it; the credit note shows the invoice it credits.

Deleting one side breaks the link cleanly — the remaining document stays put and the panel disappears.

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