How to Reopen a Disputed / Approved Supplier Invoice

Reopening a supplier invoice puts a disputed or approved invoice back into Open status, so you can correct the lines, add the ones that were missed, and take it through the process again.

Overview

A dispute usually ends with something needing to change on the invoice - a freight line that shouldn't be there, a quantity that doesn't match the delivery, a purchase order line that was never picked up. Reopening is the switch that lets you make those changes, because most of what you need is only available while an invoice is Open.

Reopen Invoice only appears on invoices in Disputed or Approved status. It is hidden on Open, Completed, Paid and Cancelled invoices.
Reopening does one thing: it sets the status back to Open. Lines, totals, documents and the link to the purchase order or sub hire order are all left exactly as they were.
It is what gets you back to Add Details, Add Purchase Order Details and Complete Invoice, which are only offered while an invoice is Open.
Nobody is notified when an invoice is reopened. Disputing and approving both send a notification; reopening is silent.
The Dispute Details panel is not cleared. The original dispute - and the approval, if there was one - stays on the invoice.
You can reopen an invoice as often as you need to, whatever it was created from (manual, purchase order, sub hire order or finance schedule).

Before You Begin

No setting turns this on - reopening is controlled entirely by permissions.

Requirement	Where to Find It
Reopen Disputed/Approved Supplier Invoice permission	Security › Configuration › your permission group › Suppliers › Option
A supplier invoice in Disputed or Approved status	Suppliers › Supplier Invoices
Create Supplier Invoice Detail and Edit Supplier Invoice permissions, if you plan to change the invoice once it's open	Security › Configuration › your permission group › Suppliers › Option

Reopening is a separate permission from approving. In the seeded Finance Payable group, Reopen is on while Approve Disputed Supplier Invoice is off, so the team can send an invoice back for correction without being able to sign it off

The permission is checked against the invoice's branch. If your permission group grants Reopen for some branches only, an invoice raised in another branch refuses the action with "You do not have permission to perform this action in this branch".

Reopening the Invoice

Step 1 - Find the invoice

Go to Suppliers › Supplier Invoices. The Quick Filters menu has a Disputed and an Approved filter, which between them cover everything that can be reopened; Disputes Assigned to Me narrows it to the ones you are meant to be resolving. If disputes are your job day to day, the Suppliers › Supplier Daybook screen has a Disputed Invoices tab that lists them oldest first.

The Supplier Invoices list. Only the Disputed and Approved rows can be reopened - Open, Completed, Paid and Cancelled invoices have no Reopen option at all

Step 2 - Open it and read the dispute

Open the invoice and check the Status at the top of the page, then read the Dispute Details panel on the right. It holds the Date Disputed, Disputed By and Dispute Notes that were recorded when the dispute was raised, plus Date Approved and Approved By if it has since been approved. That note is usually the description of what you are about to change.

A disputed invoice. The Dispute Details panel is the record of why the invoice was stopped, and it is worth reading before you reopen - reopening does not remove it, but raising a fresh dispute later overwrites it

Step 3 - Choose Reopen Invoice

Select Options › Reopen Invoice. On a disputed invoice you'll see the alternative next to it: Approve Disputed Invoice, for when the invoice turns out to have been right. Notice what is greyed out while the invoice sits in Disputed - Add Details, Add Purchase Order Details and Complete Invoice are all unavailable, which is the reason you're reopening.

The Options menu on a disputed invoice. Reopen Invoice carries the tooltip "Reopen the Supplier Invoice to make changes", and the three greyed-out entries above it are what reopening gives you back

Step 4 - Confirm

Latner asks Are you sure that you want to Reopen this Supplier Invoice? Choose Yes. There is nothing to fill in - no reason, no note - so if you want the reason recorded, put it in Internal Notes on the invoice before or after you reopen.

The Reopen Supplier Invoice confirmation. Answering No leaves the invoice exactly as it was

Step 5 - Check the status

The invoice reports Supplier Invoice Reopened and the Status at the top of the page changes to Open. That's the whole change - nothing on the invoice itself has moved.

The reopened invoice. Status reads Open again, and the invoice total is untouched at $4,427.50

Reopening an Approved Invoice

An approved invoice reopens exactly the same way, and for the same reason: the lines still can't be changed while it sits in Approved. The Options menu looks slightly different - Dispute Invoice and Approve Disputed Invoice are both gone, and Complete Invoice is available, because an approved invoice is meant to be completed. Reopen it only if the lines themselves need work; if the invoice is right, complete it instead.

The Options menu on an approved invoice. Reopen Invoice is still there, but Add Details stays greyed out until the invoice is actually back in Open status

After Reopening

The invoice is Open, so Add Details, Add Purchase Order Details and Complete Invoice are available again, and Dispute Invoice comes back for when the supplier's answer isn't good enough.
The invoice drops out of the Disputed quick filter and off the Supplier Daybook's Disputed Invoices tab, so it no longer reads as an open query.
The Dispute Details panel stays on the invoice, including Date Approved and Approved By on an invoice that had already been approved.
Nobody is notified. If the person who raised the dispute needs to know it's been sent back, tell them.
Nothing is sent to your accounting system. Supplier invoices are only pushed to an integration when they're completed, and a completed invoice can't be reopened.

Dispute Details after reopening. The status is Open but the original dispute is still recorded, which is how you tell a reopened invoice from one that was never queried

Reopening an approved invoice cannot be undone by re-approving it. Approve Disputed Invoice only works on an invoice in Disputed status, so the only way back to Approved is to raise a fresh dispute and approve that one - which overwrites the original dispute's assignee, date and notes. If the approval trail matters, copy the existing Dispute Notes somewhere first.

FAQs

Reopen Invoice isn't in the Options menu. Why?

Either the invoice isn't in Disputed or Approved status, or you don't have the Reopen Disputed/Approved Supplier Invoice permission for that invoice's branch. Check the Status at the top of the invoice first - the entry is hidden entirely on Open, Completed, Paid and Cancelled invoices.

Can I reopen a Completed or Paid invoice?

No. Reopening covers Disputed and Approved only, and the action refuses anything else with "Only Disputed or Approved Supplier Invoices can be Reopened". A completed invoice has already been pushed to your accounting integration, so the ways back are a supplier credit note or, if the whole invoice is wrong, Options › Cancel Supplier Invoice and a corrected one.

Do I have to reopen the invoice just to fix a line?

Not always. Existing lines can still be edited and deleted while the invoice is Disputed or Approved - the row controls on the Details tab only disappear once an invoice is Completed, Paid or Cancelled. What needs the invoice to be Open is adding lines, pulling in more purchase order lines, and completing it.

Does reopening clear the dispute?

No. The Dispute Details panel is permanent once a dispute has been raised, and reopening only changes the status. The panel is the only trace on the invoice that it was ever queried, so it's worth reading before you raise a new dispute over the top of it.

Is the person who raised the dispute told that I reopened it?

No. Supplier Invoice Disputed and Supplier Invoice Dispute Approved are the only two notifications in this flow. Reopening sends nothing, in-app or by email.

Can I reopen a supplier credit note?

No. Dispute, approve and reopen are supplier invoice actions - a supplier credit note's Options menu has none of them, even though credit notes carry the same statuses and will show a Dispute Details panel if one was ever raised. If a credit note is wrong, cancel it and raise a corrected one.

The supplier is sending a replacement invoice. Should I reopen this one?

If a line or two changes, reopen it, correct the lines and complete it. If the supplier is cancelling this invoice and issuing a new one under a different reference, cancel this invoice instead and enter theirs - reopening would leave you with two invoices for the same charge.

Watch the Demo

Prefer to watch it? Step through the same flow here.