Understand invoice and export statuses

Use the invoice and export status together to understand the current work and the next safe action.

Invoice status

Status	What it means	What to do
Processing	Clerked is reading and preparing the invoice.	Wait for the next state.
Needs Password	The source PDF is locked.	Enter the document password through the displayed action.
Needs Review	Extracted data or a configured check needs a person.	Review the invoice and resolve the visible issues.
Pending Approval	The invoice is waiting on its current approval stage.	The eligible reviewer approves it or returns it to AP.
Approved	Approval is finished. The invoice can be pending export, retrying, parked for connection health, failed, not applicable to the current integration, or exported. Material fields stay locked; only during a failed-export recovery can a person with export responsibility change them.	Check the export state and available action.
On Hold	Processing is intentionally paused.	Resolve the reason and resume when appropriate.
Blocked	Clerked cannot admit the invoice into processing.	Contact support with the visible reason.
Cancelled	Work on the invoice ended.	Use the activity history for context; add a new invoice if needed.

If a configured policy approves the invoice automatically, no approver action is needed. Clerked completes approval after checking that the invoice is still eligible.

Continue after a processing error

When a processing-error review offers Continue processing, selecting it resumes work on the same invoice. Clerked reuses saved invoice data when available or runs extraction again when needed, then continues through validation and approval. Follow the resulting status and review any new issues.

Export status

Pending Export means the approved invoice is waiting to be sent.
Export scheduled replaces Pending Export on the invoice page when a safe temporary error left an automatic attempt arranged; the invoice list keeps showing Pending Export. Open the invoice to see when that attempt is due.
Exporting means the connected export is in progress.
Exported means Clerked recorded a successful export to the connected system.
Exported externally means a person recorded that the invoice already exists in the connected system. It is locked like an exported invoice.
Export Failed means the latest export needs attention.

An approved invoice is not the same as an exported invoice. In Insights and reporting, exported covers both invoices Clerked sent and invoices recorded as exported externally; an approved invoice that has not reached the connected system is counted as outstanding.

Use the displayed action

The primary action on the current invoice is the safest guide to what can happen next. Your role can show fewer actions than another person’s role. Reload an old tab before acting so you do not rely on a state that already changed.

Saving a field leaves the invoice in its current step and keeps its approval route. During approval, only the person who can approve the current step can change material fields or lines; everyone else returns the invoice to AP first. A hold follows the stage it paused: on hold from AP review keeps AP-review editing, and on hold from approval keeps the approval rule. Non-material changes leave Approve available. A material change adds a Changes require review from AP disclosure and replaces Approve with Return to AP. Open the disclosure to see the affected fields; Return to AP requires a reason and sends the invoice through fresh validation and approval. When it is submitted again, the route shown before Submit is the route it takes, starting from the first approval stage. You can use it without editing fields once review has progressed. At the first AP review, before anyone has recorded a decision, make corrections here and submit instead. Clerked performs the basis check again before export.

Each invoice has a limit on how many times it can be sent back for fresh review. At that limit Return to AP appears disabled with the reason shown, and the invoice stays where it is rather than being cancelled. Contact support before returning it again.

Announced in Clearer invoice review, validation, and Return to AP.