Unapprove vs Xero's manual Copy to Draft
Xero does not move an approved invoice or bill back to draft. The built-in way is to void the original and use Copy to draft invoice, one document at a time. That is fine for a few. Unapprove runs the same routine over a selection, with a preview first. Xero's side is taken from Xero Central; facts below were read on 5 November 2026.
Side by side
| Xero's manual route | Unapprove | |
|---|---|---|
| Steps per document | Remove any payment, change the number if you want to reuse it, void, copy to a draft, then compare the draft with the original and save it, up to five steps for each invoice | You choose the documents once; each one gets a draft copy, then the original is voided |
| Many at once | No: Xero says awaiting payment invoices cannot be voided in bulk | Yes, on a selected batch of approved invoices and bills |
| Preview | You open each draft and compare it yourself, because Xero warns some details can change from your organisation, contact or item defaults | A free, read-only preview shows every result and every skipped document with its reason before anything changes |
| Same number and files | You rename the original before you void it, and re-attach files yourself | Eligible copies keep the original number (the original is renamed with a -V suffix) and the supported attachments |
| Documents with a payment | You remove the payment first, by hand (Xero Central) | Skipped in an unapprove run and listed with the reason; a separate, typed-confirmation run removes payments and then voids |
| Locked periods | Blocked once a lock date is set, until an administrator moves it (Xero Central) | Skipped and listed; it does not change lock dates |
| Undo | A void cannot be undone | A void still cannot be undone, and the draft is a new document, not a restoration of the original; a CSV backup is made first |
| Price | Included in Xero | Preview free; free trial of 3 documents, no card; from $29 a month, or a one-off $49 Clean-up Pass for 7 days and up to 500 documents |
Which one fits
- You have a handful of documents: the manual route costs nothing and is fine. Our step-by-step guide to unapproving an invoice in Xero covers it.
- An import, a sync or an app approved dozens at once: repeating the same five steps for each one is where numbers and files get lost. A previewed batch is the reason Unapprove exists.
- You only need the originals gone: a void-only run is available, and it is the only run for US organisations, where Unapprove makes no copies because a copy made through Xero's API can lose automatic sales tax.
Unapprove does not delete invoices and cannot undo a void. Run the free preview first.
Try Unapprove free, no card See Unapprove
Founding offer: the code FOUNDING40 takes 40% off the first payment until 30 November 2026, applied at checkout. Full refund within 14 days if no document was processed. Checkout by Paddle.
Atesen Software makes Unapprove. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Xero. Xero's behaviour is described from the Xero Central articles linked above, as read for our guide on 5 November 2026; menus and limits can change, so check Xero Central before you decide.