Can you make an invoice pending?

Hi there, TLS Construction.

 Allow me to share some information about invoices in QuickBooks Online (QBO). 

The option to mark an invoice as pending isn't available in QuickBooks Online (QBO). For now, these are the available status in the program once an invoice is created:

•  Open You haven’t emailed the invoice yet.
• Open (Sent) You already emailed the invoice to the customer.
•  Open (Viewed) Your customer opened the invoice.
•  Paid Your customer paid the invoice.
• Overdue The invoice is past due and isn’t paid yet.
• Overdue (Viewed) Your customer opened but didn’t pay the past-due invoice.

I can see how this functionality would be beneficial to your business. I encourage sending feedback directly to our Product Development team. This helps us improve the features of the program. I'll show you how:

1. Select the Gear icon at the top, then Feedback.
   
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions then select Next.
3. You'll be provided a list of suggested Help articles related to your comment. You can read through them or select Skip and send a message.
4. From the drop-down, choose the appropriate category, then select Send a message.

For your reference, check out this link: How to Submit Feedback.

I've added this article to learn more about reminding customers about invoice due dates: Send invoice reminders automatically or manually in QuickBooks Online. 

If you need further assistance with managing invoices in QuickBooks, let us know. We're always here to help you.

Has anyone resolved the issue of no option for making an invoice pending?  This is crucial to our business.

We are an aircraft maintenance business and some of our jobs take a month or more.  I need to be able to have a running invoice that will remove products from inventory, while not applying the unfinished invoice to a customers statement.  When will this be available?? Is it already available??

Hi AgAirAircraft,

The moment you create an invoice or sales receipt, it will reflect on your customer's statement and will affect your inventory. While the option to create a transaction without affecting the inventory is unavailable, we can send your customer an estimate instead as a proposal. Here's how:

1. From the + New tab, select Estimate.
2. Select the customer's name.
3. Fill in the necessary details.
4. Click Save and send.

When you're ready to create an invoice, you'll have to convert the transaction. Here's an article as your guide: Convert an estimate to an invoice.

 I encourage you to send Feedback to our developer's team to have the option to send invoices without affecting the inventory lists. To send your suggestion, here's how:

1. Click the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Type in your suggestions and then click Next.

Moreover, you may also want to check out this article to learn how to personalize and add specific info to your sales forms: Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.

I'm always around whenever you have concerns about processing an estimate.

I need the invoice to remove inventory to keep it current but NOT show up on the customer's statement.  We resolved the issue ourselves though.  For those who are having the same problem, you can create the invoice to remove the products from inventory but if you don't want it showing up on the customer's statement until the job is complete, just date the invoice for a later date, then set your statement dates for the timeframe you need.  You will have to correct the invoice date once you are ready to send to your customer. 

I want to see "pending" or open or sent in the status list. I have to look at each invoice individually to find out if it was compete and sent. Thats a major pain.

Please add this missing feature that we had in desktop to the online  product

I understand the importance of having the option to change your invoice status to pending, @KH-19. I know that some products or services have been invoiced and are pending due to the amount of time needed to complete those products or services. 

Changing the invoice transaction according to its actual status would be beneficial for your business for factual data and tracking of what items need to be worked on. 

You're right that QuickBooks doesn't have a Pending status yet for invoices that are in progress. While the feature isn't available on the application, I suggest forwarding your suggestion to our product development team. They are responsible for evaluating and implementing new features for our users. They are better equipped to determine the feasibility and benefits of your idea:

1. Go to the Gear icon.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter a brief description of your product suggestion.
4. Click Next to submit feedback.

In the meantime, we can create an estimate as a proposal before we convert it to the invoice, or once the product and services are complete. 

Don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have about QuickBooks. The Community is always ready and willing to assist you. Take good care of yourself and be safe.

I too have this problem. Along with others that were no issue in the desktop version. The worst thing QB did was force everyone e online. I have a very small service business, just a ma and pop shop with no employees and no inventory. QB Online has made my bookkeeping a daily nightmare. I am actively looking for a better option. 

I know how important it is for you to manage your invoices in QuickBooks Online (QBO), @Evegrant. Let me share some information on how you can utilize your estimate before converting it to an invoice.

Making the invoice pending isn't possible in QuickBooks Online. Hence, I suggest utilizing an estimate and converting it to an invoice once you're ready to bill your customer.

Here's how to convert an estimate to an invoice:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online.
2. Go to the Sales Tab, then select All Sales.
3. Locate the estimate you want to convert.
4. In the action column, click on Convert to Invoice.
5. If the invoice needs to be updated, you can update it.
6. Once done hit Save.

Additionally, you can visit these helpful articles on how to manage your sales transactions in QuickBooks Online:

• Customize invoices, estimates, and sales receipts in QuickBooks Online.
• Create and Send invoices in QuickBooks Online.

I'll always be around if you need help managing invoices in QuickBooks Online. Don't hesitate to reach out. Stay safe.

The Estimate function may work for some things but I have not found a way to make it work for Billable time and items. My situation is such that we do both Billable and non-billable invoicing. I need to create draft invoices that do not affect the aging reports so that the project managers can review/edit invoices and then I make the final changes. Once the final changes are approves, I remove the Pending flag and release the invoice to the customer. Not having the Pending status on the invoice affects our aging reports, so not having this status makes the software very bad for our business practices.

We know that generating draft invoices without impacting your aging reports is essential for maintaining clarity and accuracy in your financial records, EBCON_Corp.

Currently, the ability to assign a Pending status to invoices isn't an option in QuickBooks Online (QBO). In the meantime, you can use the Estimate feature and convert it to an invoice when you're ready to send it to your customer.

At Intuit, we're committed to providing an outstanding experience for all QuickBooks users around the globe. While the feature you're looking for isn’t available at the moment, your feedback is valuable to us. I recommend passing your request along to our product engineers. They love hearing from users like you, and it helps us improve the program's features.

To submit feedback, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Gear icon at the top.
2. Select Feedback.
3. Enter your comments or product suggestions. 
4. Then select Next to submit feedback.

If you ever need a hand with recording invoice payments, I've got a great resource for you: Record invoice payments in QuickBooks Online. It's super helpful and easy to follow. Feel free to check it out anytime.

If you ever need a hand with managing invoices or any other aspect of QuickBooks Online, we're just a message away. You can easily get help by replying to this thread.

As I stated before, the Estimate feature does not allow me to pull Billable time and item data, making it useless for the majority of the invoices I need to send for review and approval. Additionally, these invoices for Billable items and time tend to take much longer to review than our contract invoices, increasing the size of the window for exposure to our reporting.