Move bills back to draft, whatever their status: a guide for Xero users

Which way back to draft applies depends on the bill's status. A bill that is awaiting approval can be sent back, and Xero has a route for that in some organisations. An approved bill has no way back: you copy it, void the original and re-attach the files. A paid bill needs its payment removed first. This guide takes each status in turn and shows how to move a whole batch.

Checked against Xero Central on 12 October 2026 and Xero Product Ideas on 24 October 2026.

Which status are the bills in?

• Draft. Nothing to do. Edit and save.
• Awaiting approval. Reject, edit and save as draft, or delete and re-enter. See the next section.
• Awaiting payment (approved). Edit if the fix is small; otherwise copy, void and re-attach.
• Paid. The payment comes off first, then the same as approved.
• Voided or deleted. Not coming back. Xero says a deleted or voided bill can't be restored, only copied.

Awaiting approval: the native routes

• Reject, if you are in the beta. Xero's page on bill approval workflows says the feature is in beta for selected organisations, and that a rejected bill returns to the Draft tab with the status Rejected. The page describes rejecting one bill at a time, with a reason.
• The request. On the Product Ideas thread Bills: revert from awaiting approval back to drafts (129 votes), Xero's reply of 22 September 2026 marks it "In development": an approver will be able to reject a bill with a reason, returning it to Draft, and an administrator will be able to return a stalled bill to Draft. The same reply says approved bills going back to Draft are covered by a separate request.
• Edit and save as draft. Xero's page on editing bills covers an awaiting approval bill and says you choose on saving whether it stays a draft or goes for approval. The web steps are less explicit than the mobile ones, so try one bill first.
• Delete and re-enter. A draft or awaiting approval bill can be deleted, and Xero's page on deleting or voiding a bill covers it. Xero says a deleted bill can't be restored, only copied, and its steps for copying a bill say a file attachment isn't copied across.

Approved or paid: the native routes

There is no unapprove for an approved bill. On the bill unapprove request (678 votes), Xero's reply of 20 November 2025 says the Bills pages are being rebuilt first and that it is not in the roadmap at the moment. First check whether editing is enough: an awaiting payment bill with no part-payments or credit notes can be edited in any field, and a paid bill allows changes that do not affect the total. If the bill has to be re-entered, the route is below.

1. Remove any payment. A paid bill can't be voided. Use Remove & Redo on the bill, one payment at a time (Delete an invoice or bill payment).
2. Download the attached files. Open the bill, click Files, then View and Download for each one (View, download and delete files in transactions).
3. Copy the bill. Purchases > Bills, open the bill, click Copy.
4. Void the original. Awaiting Payment tab, tick the bills, click Void. Several bills can be voided at once.
5. Re-attach the files to the copy (Attach a file to a transaction), then edit it and approve it again.

Xero says voiding a bill could have tax implications, so check with your accountant or bookkeeper first, and that a void is permanent.

Where the native way runs out

• Only the void is bulk. Copying, downloading and re-attaching files are done bill by bill.
• Awaiting approval has one door in, and it is a beta that Xero says covers selected organisations.
• Lock dates. Users can't add or edit transactions dated on or before a lock date (Set up or remove lock dates).

The faster way: Unapprove

Unapprove is a web app that works with Xero. It has a run for each of the two statuses that matter. Filter the list to bills, set the status, and the preview shows what would happen to each one. It writes nothing, and a run starts only when you type the count.

Awaiting approval: the Send back to draft run. It changes the status of the selected bills from awaiting approval to draft. Nothing is voided or copied, so each bill keeps its number, lines, attachments and history. You type, for example, TO DRAFT 25. The bills go to Xero in batches of 50, and every one is read back: only a bill that now reads as draft counts as done. It skips anything that is not awaiting approval, and bills inside a locked period (why). The awaiting approval guide has the detail.

Approved: the Unapprove run. For each bill it creates a draft copy first, carries the attachments across and checks the file count, then voids the original. A bill's copy takes the original number from the start, so nothing is renamed. Both bills get a history note naming the other. You type, for example, UNAPPROVE 24, and the preview offers a CSV backup of the selection to download. The bulk unapprove bills guide has the detail.

What it skips, and tells you why: in the Unapprove run, bills with a payment applied or a credit note allocated (why), bills inside a locked period, bills for an archived contact (why), and any bill processed in the last 24 hours. A bill with a file over 10 MB, or more than 10 files, can only be voided, because no complete copy can be made. Paid bills have a separate "Remove payments and void" run, which does not create a draft and leaves reconciled and batch payments alone.

What access it asks for: your name and email to sign you in, read and write on invoices and bills, read and write on attachments, and read-only on organisation settings and contacts. A payments permission is requested only if you choose "Remove payments and void". It never sees your Xero password and never stores your files.

Price: free for 14 days, with unlimited previews and three documents processed in total. After that, $29 per month per connected organisation, or a one-off $49 Clean-up Pass for 7 days and up to 500 documents. Prices are in US dollars and exclude VAT and sales tax (added at checkout); the pricing page has the details.

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