How to bulk unapprove invoices in Xero
Xero cannot bulk unapprove invoices. It has no Unapprove button at all, and it voids Awaiting Payment invoices one at a time. The way back to a draft is to copy each approved invoice to a draft and void the original. A tool can run that copy-and-void routine over a whole batch.
What Xero offers instead of unapprove
The request Invoices - Unapprove option on Xero Product Ideas is marked Not in pipeline. In a reply dated 11 August 2025, Xero's community manager said there are no plans to build it, and suggested voiding the invoice and copying it to a new draft.
Xero Central's article Delete or void an invoice adds two limits. Only an invoice awaiting payment can be voided, and you can't void those in bulk. Bulk delete exists only for drafts and invoices awaiting approval.
If nothing has gone to the customer and one detail is wrong, edit the invoice instead. A paid invoice lets you change only some fields unless you first remove its payments, credit notes, prepayments or overpayments. If the customer already has it, Xero Central advises a credit note.
How to unapprove one invoice in Xero by hand
A void cannot be reversed, so go in this order.
- Check for a lock date. Users can't add or edit transactions dated on or before it. An administrator can remove it temporarily under Accounting settings, then Financial settings (Set up or remove lock dates).
- Remove any payment. Open the invoice, click Less payment, then Options and Remove & Redo. The payment can't be restored, and its bank statement line stays so you can reconcile it again (Delete an invoice or bill payment).
- Free the number. Xero Central says to reuse the number of an approved invoice, change it before you void the invoice.
- Copy it to a draft. Click the menu icon and select Copy to draft invoice. Do one at a time: tick several in a list and Xero creates one draft with all their lines (Create an invoice for your customer).
- Compare the draft with the original. Details can change with your organisation, contact or item defaults. Our single-invoice test turned a Tax inclusive 550.00 invoice into a Tax exclusive 595.38 draft, so check every total.
- Void the original. Click the menu icon, select Void and confirm. A voided invoice can't be reinstated, but it shows on the All tab with Include Deleted & Voided ticked.
- Restore the number and check the rest. Put the original number on the draft, check the attached files and add a note to both histories.
What stops an invoice from being unapproved
- A payment. Unapprove skips these documents. Its separate remove-payments run never touches a reconciled payment or one inside a batch payment.
- An allocated credit note. Unapprove skips a document with one.
- A lock date. A document in a locked period is skipped and listed with the reason.
- Attached files. Xero Central's copy steps do not list attachments. Unapprove copies supported ones and skips a draft run for a file over 10 MB.
- US organisations. Unapprove makes no draft copies there, because copies made through the Xero API can lose automatic sales tax. It can void and export only.
Option: Unapprove
Unapprove is a web app that runs the copy-and-void routine on a batch. You connect one organisation on Xero's own page, select approved invoices and bills, and see a preview before anything changes. For each eligible document it makes the draft copy first, then voids the original, renamed with a -V suffix so the draft can take the number. If the copy fails, the original is left as it was.
You type the document count to confirm, a CSV of the selected documents is saved first and an interrupted run can be resumed. Regular runs take up to 50 documents at a time.
Disclosure. Atesen Software, which publishes this guide, makes Unapprove. The manual steps above work without it.
Price. Preview is free. The free trial costs $0, needs no card and processes 3 documents within 14 days. Monthly is $39 per connected organisation. The Clean-up Pass is a one-off $49 for 30 days with unlimited documents and no renewal. Prices exclude tax; see the pricing page for the current plans.
Short on time? We can do the whole clean-up for you for a fixed price.
How the ways to bulk unapprove compare
| Route | Draft copy | Payments | Before it writes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xero by hand | Copy to draft invoice, one at a time. | Remove & Redo on each. | A confirmation on every void. |
| Bulk Void for Xero, a Chrome extension | Its product page describes voiding, not draft copies. | An option removes each payment, then voids. | A dry run, a CSV of the batch, then you type the count. |
| Unapprove, a web app | Yes, made first. Not for US organisations. | Skipped. A separate run removes them, never reconciled or batch ones. | A preview with a reason for each skip, a CSV, then you type the count. |
Bulk Void for Xero: its product page, opened on 13 November 2026. Bulkdozer and SaasAnt are in the full comparison, Unapprove vs Bulkdozer vs Bulk Void for Xero vs SaasAnt.
Which route fits
- One wrong detail, nothing sent: edit the invoice.
- A few invoices that must be drafts: copy and void by hand.
- Dozens approved early by a sync or import: a batch tool with a preview.
- A void with no draft: void multiple approved invoices at once.
- Supplier bills: unapprove a bill in Xero.
Atesen Software is independent. Xero is a trademark of Xero Limited, and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Xero. Xero Central and Xero Product Ideas were checked on 13 November 2026; menus and options can change.
Questions about this guide: support@atesensoftware.com.
Questions people ask
Can you bulk unapprove invoices in Xero?
Not with Xero alone. Xero has no Unapprove button, and its community manager said in August 2025 there are no plans to build one. You copy each approved invoice to a draft and void the original, or run that routine with a batch tool.
What is the difference between unapprove and void in Xero?
A void takes the invoice out of your figures and cannot be undone. Unapprove, in practice, means a void plus a new draft copy you can edit and approve again.
Can I unapprove an invoice that has a payment?
Remove the payment first with Remove & Redo. Unapprove skips a document with a payment and lists the reason. Its separate remove-payments run never removes a reconciled payment or one in a batch payment.
Does the draft copy keep the invoice number and attachments?
By hand you free the number first and check the files yourself. Unapprove renames the original with a -V suffix, gives an eligible sales invoice draft its number and copies supported attachments.
Can a bulk unapprove be undone?
No. Xero says a voided invoice can't be reinstated or restored. The draft is a new document. Unapprove makes the copy first, and if it fails the original is left as it was.